'Narcos' Season 3 Teaser And New Photos Shift The Focus To A New Cartel

By Ben PearsonJuly 14, 2017 1:30 pm EST

Narcos has been sitting in my Netflix queue since the day season 1 premiered, but I've never been inspired to watch it because I've seen the story of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar on screen so many times before. The excellent documentary Cocaine Cowboys, ESPN's 30 for 30 entry The Two Escobars, heck, even one of Entourage's fake movies covered it. But the upcoming third season is moving beyond the well-trod Escobar saga and into new territory, and a new Narcos season 3 teaser (and a handful of new photos) show us exactly what Pedro Pascal's Javier Peña and the rest of the DEA are up against – plus, we can now mark our calendars for the season 3 premiere date.

Narcos season 3 teaser

Now that – spoiler alert for a real life event – Pablo Escobar has died in the show, someone has to fill the power vacuum. I've never even heard of the Cali cartel before, let alone seen anything about them in movies or television, so that automatically piques my interest. Here's the synopsis for season 3:

Now that the bloody hunt for Pablo Escobar has ended, the DEA turns its attention to the richest drug trafficking organization in the world: the Cali Cartel. Led by four powerful godfathers, this cartel operates much differently than Escobar's, preferring to bribe government officials and keep its violent actions out of the headlines. Just as Gilberto announces a bold plan to walk away from the business, DEA agent Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal) enlists the help of American and Colombian law enforcement to take it down. This season opens up a complex and ruthless world of new figures. This time around, all rules have changed for the narcos and their opponents – a fact many won't realize until it's too late.

And just like the image at the top of this article, Netflix's press release lays out the new characters and their connections to each other:

Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela (Damian Alcazar): leader of Cali Cartel, "boss of bosses." You can read much more about him here.

Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela (Francisco Denis): the brains behind the rise of the of Cali Cartel and Gilberto's brother.

Pacho Herrera (Alberto Ammann): the on-the-low hitman, runs the Mexican connection and international distribution.

Chepe Santacruz Londono (Pepe Rapazote): runs the satellite NYC empire of the Colombian drug network.

Jorge Salcedo (Matias Varela): Cali's head of security who prioritizes his wife and kids' protection over his bosses.

DEA agents Chris Feistl (Michael Stahl-David) and Daniel Van Ness (Matt Whelan), who enter the operation with enthusiasm and inexperience.

Franklin Jurado (Miguel Angel Silvestre): the cartel's money launderer who unknowingly puts his wife, Christina (Kerry Bishe) in mortal danger.

David Rodriguez (Arturo Castro): Miguel's oldest son, who is reluctant at first to take a leading role in the cartel structure.

There are at least two more seasons of Narcos left, because Netflix renewed it through season 4 last September. Season 3 debuts on Netflix on September 1, 2017, and you can take a look at the new photos in the gallery below.