Spotlight: The global drug crisis' other side
November 26, 2025 Brendan McCarthy Spotlight Editor 📥 brendan.mccarthy@globe.com This week, we have an important follow-up to the team's big DEA drug cartel story. It's a beautifully rendered portrait of a struggling man in a small, drug-wracked town. Bill May is the end user in the global drug game — and this is a must-read story from reporter Hanna Krueger. In addition, we have a behind-the-scenes accounting of how this whole investigation came to be. Andrew Ryan walks you through it below. As always, thanks for reading, sharing, and supporting this journalism. For this we are grateful. Spotlight follow-up The DEA cast him as a cartel member. He calls himself the poster child of America’s drug crisis. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff Hanna Krueger Investigative Reporter 📥 hanna.krueger@globe.com FRANKLIN, N.H. — Bill May’s leg spasmed as he sank into a tattered chair and recounted the life that brought him here: to a living room with ho...