“A contract killing. A brutal murder. A neighborhood in chaos. For the New York City Police Department and the FBI, New York City becomes the front lines in a relentless battle. The enemy: powerful drug dealers who will stop at nothing to protect their profits.”
“In the 1980s, the drug trade in New York City was a nightmare. Dealers made millions. Street violence was out of control. The NYPD battled the drug gangs only to become their target. I’m Jim Kelstrom, former head of the FBI’s New York office. Hundreds of FBI agents and police officers launched a bold plan to stop the violence and shut down the gang’s deadly business.”
“In New York City in the 1980s, the NYPD was fighting a losing battle against the drug lords. NYPD detective Sergeant Mike McGinness worked narcotics in the Borough of Queens. There were several major organizations selling cocaine and heroin in southeast Queens, and one of them was Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols’ organization. 26-year-old Queens native Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols is a drug wholesaler; he distributes cocaine and heroin to mid-level dealers. His price for a kilo of coke is $50,000. He’s worth millions.”
“Hey, can I get one?”
“Nichols protects his operation by surrounding himself with a tight group of loyal associates. Many are family members. For police in Queens, cracking Nichols’ operation will not be easy. His headquarters is at a deli at 107th Avenue and 150th Street in Jamaica, Queens. We had conducted surveillances there. We had talked to many informants there. We had done a lot of buy-and-bust operations there, where we’d send out undercovers and buy drugs, and it was a continuing problem in the area. But we couldn’t really make a case at that point against ‘Fatcat’ or any of the principals in his organization.”
“That all changed in July 1985. One of our units was doing a buy-and-bust operation and developed some information that led us to get a search warrant for ‘Fatcat’s’ grocery store and for an apartment above the grocery store. The informant told us that there was weapons, cash, and numerous drugs stored there. Myself and two detectives went into the grocery store. I went behind the counter, and I walked towards the rear of the counter, and I saw there was a light on in the back room, so I went into the back room. There were three men behind a big desk, and I realized one of them was ‘Fatcat’ Nichols.”
“Put your hands up on the wall! Put your hands up on the wall! Put your hands up on the wall!”
“Police order the men up against the wall. Put your hands on the wall now!”
“Nichols reaches down for something.”
“Check the chair over here, you understand? Under a towel on the chair where Nichols was sitting. Check the chair.”
“Detectives find a loaded automatic and a revolver.”
“Man!”
“Police search the room and find heroin, cocaine, and $30,000 in cash. Several ounces of marijuana is on Nichols’ desk.”
“The raiding party that went to the second-floor apartment found $150,000 in cash in boxes.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of cash.”
“Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pieces of cocaine, street cocaine wrapped in tin foil, and glassines of heroin, and additional weapons. Nichols is arrested on drugs and weapons charges. 24 hours later, he’s free on $70,000 bail. At the time of his arrest, Nichols was already on parole. He reports to his parole officer to see if the arrest violated the terms of his parole. He tells his parole officer, Brian Rooney, that he was only in the grocery to order a sandwich.”
“Have a seat outside, all right? You take care of this for me, man. I’m going to try to do all right. Thank you.”
“Just got a seat right here, okay?”
“All right, thanks.”
“Rooney calls McGinness to check his story out.”
“So I told him what had happened: that we had arrested Nichols in the grocery store, that he had a number of weapons, but unfortunately he made bail and I’m sure he’s gone. And Rooney said to me, ‘No, he’s not.’ And he says, ‘He’s sitting outside my office here.'”
“Rooney rearrests Nichols on the spot for violating his parole. Now, for Nichols, what that meant was even though he had made bail on the case where we got him, he was in on the parole violation, and there’s no way around that. You can’t get bail on it. So not counting the trouble that he was in with me, he owed 14 years to the state, so he was in big trouble.”
“A week later, McGinness and Rooney testify at Nichols’ parole hearing.”
“I briefly described what had happened that night, and the adjudicator immediately continued his violation of parole, which meant he was entitled to one more hearing like that, and then he would go back in for the remainder of those 14 years. But the drug dealer has no intention of letting that happen.”
“Two months after the hearing, Nichols’ parole officer, Brian Rooney, gives a co-worker a ride home from work. He drives through South Jamaica, a neighborhood in Queens. He knows this section of Queens is dangerous, but he has no idea he is being followed. Suddenly, a car pulls up beside him. Brian Rooney is shot once in the arm and once in the back. He dies instantly. His killers disappear into the night.”
“Police arrive quickly, but there is nothing they can do. They process the scene and find little evidence; no shell casings were left behind, no one saw the shooting. News of the murder quickly reaches Detective Sergeant Mike McGinness.”
“Sergeant who worked in my office called me up and told me about it. Said they just killed a parole officer up on Sutton Boulevard, and it was Brian Rooney. He was a very fine guy and a good parole officer. He was just a real good combination of social worker, police officer that’s necessary to be a good parole officer.”
“Police hit the streets to gather intelligence and find the killer. Rooney’s murder is the latest in a string of homicides in South Jamaica. Rival drug gangs battle each other for territory and control of the profits.”
“The homicide rate in that part of the city, where the drugs were being sold, was skyrocketing. Shootings were commonplace. Citizens were terrified to come out of their houses, and for that reason, we knew that we had no choice but to go after these drug gangs.”
“The NYPD steps up their efforts in Operation Cleanup, a major long-term anti-drug operation. They bring in hundreds of officers from precincts all over the city. The operation targets drug dealers in the Jamaica, Queens area where Rooney was murdered. Detectives also canvas the neighborhood near Sutton Boulevard where the shooting occurred.”
“Hey man, come here for a minute.”
“They interview locals hoping that somebody saw something out of the ordinary the day Rooney was killed.”
“What you want to know? You heard about the parole officer that got shot, right?”
“Yeah man, I heard about the parole officer that got shot. What you want to know about that? You got any names? You heard anything on the street?”
“Two dudes calling… two dudes. That’s all you can tell me? Two dudes?”
“Police learned that two men associated with Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols were both seen in the area: Howard Mason and Perry Bellamy. Nichols had a strong motivation for killing Rooney. Investigators suspect he may have ordered Mason and Bellamy to kill his parole officer.”
“In 1985, parole officer Brian Rooney is shot to death on a street in South Jamaica, Queens. Police suspect that one of his parolees, Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols, ordered the hit.”
“Mike McGinness, former detective sergeant with the NYPD: We were all astounded with what happened to Brian Rooney, that they would have the audacity to kill him. I think their thinking was, if they got Rooney out of the way, Nichols would be able to make the street. And where they got that from, I don’t know, but that was their thinking.”
“As the detective who arrested Nichols, McGinness knows he could be next on the hit list.”
“I looked over my shoulder, I was careful, but I never let it stop me from what I was doing. To have it happen where somebody actually says, ‘I’m going to kill this officer to get a benefit and maybe get myself out of jail.’ That was very unusual, and I think people in law enforcement and the citizens in general found it kind of unnerving.”
“Police know that Howard ‘Papy’ Mason, a lieutenant in the Nichols organization, and Perry Bellamy, a Mason associate, were seen in the neighborhood the night Rooney was murdered. An anonymous caller claims Bellamy was outside the car when Rooney was shot. The next day, another informant tells detectives where to find Bellamy. The tip leads investigators right to it.”
“Stick your hands up on the wall! Stick your hands on the wall now! Stick your hands on the wall!”
“Bellamy is picked up on the street in his neighborhood and brought in for questioning.”
“Field day with this, you understand me?”
“I got my rights.”
“He admits he saw Rooney just hours before he was murdered in the car with Rooney. He claims he knew about the hit and tried to warn Rooney. That’s why he was seen in the area that night.”
“You set him up, I think. I know something happened to a cop.”
“After hours of questioning, detectives learn he did more than warn Rooney.”
“Look, so that’s who did…”
“Bellamy reveals he was in the car with Rooney the night he was killed.”
“You’re just going to hand on more problems for yourself.”
“He says Howard Mason shot Rooney. Bellamy was in jail weeks before the murder. He claims to have overheard Nichols telling another inmate that his parole officer was going to get what’s coming to him. Authorities charged Bellamy with aiding and abetting the murder of Officer Rooney. Next, detectives track down Howard ‘Papy’ Mason.”
“What’s up, officer? What’s your name?”
“Well, stick your hands up against the wall for… stick your hands on the wall!”
“I got somewhere, man. I don’t know about…”
“In the suspect’s boot, they find a fully loaded .22 Derringer. Mason is charged with murder and weapons possession.”
“Come on man, I got stuff I got to do.”
“Investigators have put the conspirators behind bars, but they can’t prove ‘Fatcat’ Nichols ordered Mason and Bellamy to kill his parole officer. While police try to build a case against Nichols, who is still in jail, his organization continues to grow.”
“In 1987, the illegal drug crisis in New York goes from bad to worse. A new drug explodes onto the scene.”
“The crack cocaine swept over the community. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“FBI special agent David Higgins worked drug cases in New York: Okay, basically, what happens in the preparation of crack, you can take a relatively small amount of cocaine and combining it with other ingredients, you stretch it tremendously. So that something that might have been sold previously as a gram amount for $100 could turn around and make the drug trafficker $1,000.”
“The drug sells cheap, as little as $2 a vial, and it’s highly addictive. For a working-class neighborhood like South Jamaica, crack cocaine is the perfect storm because of the high level of addiction. The drug users were repeatedly looking to get high, and therefore they were out trying to find sources of income anywhere they could. Naturally, they turned to crimes such as burglary and robbery, and of course, the general level of crime in these neighborhoods increased as a result.”
“The NYPD steps up its efforts. They renamed Operation Cleanup ‘Operation Queens’ in the early 80s. A federal organized crime drug enforcement task force was formed in New York City to go after the drug dealers and the major distributors. Special Agent Richard Martinez was assigned to the task force.”
“It was set up as an organization that utilized FBI, New York City Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and other agencies to coordinate a direct attack against these elements.”
“Here it is right here, South Jamaica.”
“The OCF task force was divided up into squads, and each squad had its own mission to accomplish. Our particular mission happened to be the cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin dealers operating in the city. The task force is investigating several drug gangs in Jamaica, Queens.”
“We felt that was the best thing we could do for the citizens in that community was to get as much power into this group as was going to go after these guys—as much power as possible.”
“Dealing drugs in South Jamaica, Queens is a lucrative business. The high profits lead to more competition and more violence. Nearly half the serious crimes in New York City are crack-related. In October 1987, a taxi dispatcher is murdered for testifying about a gun battle she witnessed. A month later, a Guyanese immigrant complains to police that drug dealers have been selling crack on his street. The next evening, someone firebombs his home.”
“Fire! 911!”
“NYPD officers from the 103rd precinct in South Jamaica are assigned to protect the witness and his family, but the threats continue. Thomas ‘Godbolt,’ a member of Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols’ organization, approaches the witness on the street. ‘Godbolt’ says he has three weeks to leave the neighborhood or his entire family will die.”
“You understand me?”
“In 1987, drug dealers rule South Jamaica, Queens. Citizens brave enough to stand up to the dealers are intimidated and murdered. The New York City Police Department and a federal task force turn up the heat on all the drug organizations in Jamaica, Queens. They make over 2,000 arrests for the sale and possession of drugs in the 4 months between October 1987 and January 1988.”
“In late January 1988, one of Lorenzo Nichols’ lieutenants, Thomas ‘Mustafa Godbolt,’ is sent to Riker’s Island for threatening the Guyanese witness. On February 24th, Howard Patton Mason, suspected of shooting parole officer Brian Rooney, is convicted on a weapons possession charge. The next day, Lorenzo Nichols is sentenced to 25 years to life on 11 counts of drugs and weapons possession.”
“We had cut off the head of the snake and caught a couple of his top people with him and had had a great case. And so we really felt we had put that organization pretty much on the sidelines.”
“The NYPD and the FBI are making headway in the battle to take back the streets of South Jamaica from the drug dealers, but the war is about to take a dark turn. February 26th, 1988: just days after Nichols and Mason were convicted, Officer Edward Byrne is guarding the Guyanese witness. Even with the man who threatened his family in jail, the witness continues to receive threats. Byrne is a rookie, just 22 years old. This is just another routine night.”
“At 3:00 a.m., a car drives past Officer Byrne’s position. There are four men inside. The sedan drives around the block and out of sight. 20 minutes later, three men sneak up behind Officer Byrne’s car. The witness hears the gunshots. At 3:28 a.m., dispatch sends out the call: ‘Officer down in Jamaica, Queens.'”
“Police arrive at the scene minutes later. Both front windows of Officer Byrne’s police cruiser have been shot out. The rookie cop is dead.”
“Every police officer responds to that. Every police officer takes that personal when a police officer is murdered.”
“The witness Officer Byrne was protecting tells police he heard the shots and saw several men get in a tan-colored car and speed away. Investigators find an abandoned 1976 Olds Cutlass parked about 2 miles from where Byrne was shot. They find nothing in the car linking it to the murder.”
“Right after the murder of Officer Byrne, New York City Police Department started cracking down on all the drug dealers. A tremendous amount of heat was put on all the drug dealers in Jamaica, Queens. They wanted the murderers of Officer Byrne.”
“Hundreds of police officers working 12-hour shifts blanket three precincts: the 103rd, the 105th, and the 113th in southeastern Queens. They raid nearly 200 locations and question more than 300 suspected drug dealers.”
“Please get down!”
“Investigators believe Lorenzo Nichols ordered the murder of his parole officer from jail, and the man who threatened the witness Officer Byrne was protecting had ties to Nichols’ organization. Nichols is a natural suspect.”
“At the time of Officer Byrne’s murder, several members of the FBI task force are investigating a Queens drug dealer with ties to the Nichols organization.”
“What we did was we simply shifted focus. We were looking at something called the Smith organization, who had dealings with a number of Nichols’ associates. We simply moved full power. We looked right at the Nichols organization because we were gaining intelligence from the same informants that were telling us about the Smith organization.”
“They had intelligence on the Nichols organization. We targeted the members of the organization who were still on the street operating his drug conspiracy group.”
“To get inside the organization, investigators use a variety of weapons. They set up undercover drug buys. FBI and NYPD use telephone wiretaps.”
“If Nichols was involved in the murder of Officer Byrne, he’s just made the biggest mistake of his life. Now, the resources of the FBI, the NYPD, and the DEA are focused on bringing down his operation.”
“A rookie cop is killed, shot to death on a street in New York City. 22-year-old officer Eddie Byrne gave his life protecting a witness from a deadly drug gang.”
“On February 29th, Officer Eddie Byrne is laid to rest. 10,000 police officers attend the funeral.”
“You can’t kill a police officer and get away with it.”
“Special Agent Richard Martinez: That’s why police react so quickly. You can’t kill a police officer and get away with it.”
“New York City Mayor Ed Koch vows to find those responsible. To add to the convictions, the city offers a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Byrne’s killers. The community is outraged. After years of being intimidated, they are fed up with the drug dealers.”
“Special Agent David Higgins: Shootings would take place at any time of day. Many times, bystanders—innocent bystanders in the neighborhood—would be caught in the crossfire. And there were a number of notorious cases in which children were killed as a result of these shootings.”
“Police set up a hotline to field tips. They answered 400 calls every 8 hours. Within days, the reward money climbs to $130,000. 3 days after the shooting, an anonymous caller says he knows who shot the cop. The detective convinces the caller to meet him.”
“The tipster tells police the shooter was Todd Scott. Police are familiar with Scott; he’s a suspect in the murder of a prostitute. Detectives go looking for Scott at the apartment of a relative. They find a witness who is willing to talk. He tells detectives he knows the men who carried out the shooting. He was present when the hit was planned, and he knows who ordered it.”
“On February 24th, only hours after his conviction on a gun charge, Howard Mason called one of his dealers, Philip Copeland, from a pay phone at Riker’s Island. The next day, Copeland met with fellow gang members Todd Scott, David McClary, and Scott Cobb in an apartment 10 blocks from the murder scene.”
“Just got back to talking to your boy Mason, man.”
“Copeland told them the boss is mad. He ordered them to hit a cop. Any cop, but…”
“We got to take out a cop.”
“The price of the contract was $8,000, but…”
“Got to take them out.”
“According to the informant, the men drew straws to choose the shooter. Todd Scott would pull the trigger.”
“There it is. Yeah, I got it. What you going to do?”
“That’s what’s up. That’s what I like to hear.”
“The officer’s fate was sealed. The next morning, Scott came back to the apartment bragging about what they had done. They only collected a few hundred of the $8,000 they’d been promised.”
“That individual told how the murder actually went down—who they chose. That it wasn’t Officer Byrne chosen as an individual, but they chose the police officer that was guarding the cooperating witness’s house; that he was a target of opportunity.”
“Howard Mason wanted Byrne’s murder to send a chilling message to law enforcement.”
“Your reputation is everything on the street. If you’re a drug trafficker, if it’s known in your neighborhood that you are unwilling to take violent retribution for acts against you or your organization, you’re not going to last very long as a drug trafficker.”
“This was a killing that really galvanized law enforcement in New York City. The execution of a uniformed police officer who’s targeted, not because of any particular act or case, but because he was a police officer, in and of itself.”
“The NYPD finally have names to link to the shooting. They issue warrants for Philip Copeland, Todd Scott, Scott Cobb, and David McClary. Copeland is already in jail on another charge. Police go looking for the other three men. Later that same afternoon, Scott Cobb’s mother calls police; she wants to arrange her son’s surrender. He never shows up. Investigators believe Cobb will eventually contact his mother; they install a trap on her telephone line to catch the numbers of all incoming calls.”
“The shooting continues to dominate the news, and police keep up the pressure on the street. It’s not long before another important witness comes forward. A young woman tells detectives she witnessed the shooting of Officer Byrne.”
“The woman said she was on the street when she heard a shot and saw men around the police car. She hid behind a car until the men left. She doesn’t think they saw her.”
“Investigators show the witness photo lineups. She confirms Todd Scott as the man she saw at the passenger window of the patrol car. She also identifies David McClary as the man standing by the driver’s side window, and Copeland is the man she saw standing behind McClary.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Police now have a witness to the shooting. They need to find the three suspects still at large. The day after the trap on Scott Cobb’s mother’s phone is set up, police get a hit. An incoming call is traced to an address in Queens Village. It’s one of several safe houses owned by Howard Mason. On March 3rd, less than a week after the Byrne shooting, detectives spot Scott Cobb.”
“Hey man!”
“Stop running!”
“Step down and put your hands behind your back. Slow, slow.”
“He is quickly taken into custody. Police search the safe house. In the basement, they find Todd Scott. At noon the next day, David McClary surrenders to police; he is accompanied by his mother. Of the four men accused of Byrne’s death, McClary is the only one who doesn’t have a criminal record.”
“Todd Scott and David McClary give conflicting statements; each accuses the other of actually pulling the trigger. All versions of the events place Scott Cobb behind the wheel of the getaway car.”
“Police and prosecutors are eventually able to piece together this version of events: At 3:25 a.m., Todd Scott distracted Officer Byrne by tapping on the window on the passenger side of the patrol car. David McClary shot Officer Byrne five times through the driver’s side window. Philip Copeland was just behind McClary. All four men are charged with second-degree murder.”
“But for the agents and police, larger questions loom: did Howard ‘Papy’ Mason act on his own? Was ‘Fatcat’ Nichols involved in the murder? And can they prove it?”
“Police and FBI agents suspect one of two men is responsible for ordering the murder of a New York City police officer: drug wholesaler Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols or his former employee, ‘Papy’ Mason.”
“Special Agent David Higgins: The murder of police officer Byrne was a state investigation. It was conducted by the New York City Police Department, and while they conducted their homicide investigation, the federal authorities and the local members of the federal task force conducted a parallel investigation targeting the Nichols organization as a whole.”
“Investigators realized that it’s not enough to put the organization’s leaders and their lieutenants in jail. If they hope to stop the violence, they must destroy the gangs. ‘Fatcat’ Nichols’ drug operation is huge; it brings in over $20 million a year.”
“We had already established through informant information that the Nichols organization nerve center was the ‘Big Mac Deli’ located in the Laurel section of Queens, New York. We immediately obtained subpoenas to examine the telephone toll records for that location.”
“To investigate this large and dangerous organization, the FBI turns to wiretaps. Special Agent Richard Martinez is the assigned case agent.”
“Only that type of investigation can collect information on major conspiracies. When an undercover officer deals with one person buying drugs, he’s dealt with one or two people. To get an enterprise or an organization, you need the ability to wiretap.”
“Agents wiretap Nichols’ headquarters, but they immediately run into a problem.”
“The suspects involved in the Nichols organization were so paranoid about the attention of law enforcement in the neighborhood—which had occurred as a result of the Byrne shooting—they became convinced that they were the target of a wiretap, so they immediately shifted their operation to a new location.”
“The agents target Nichols’ family. The week after the shooting, the FBI begins wiretapping Lorenzo Nichols’ sister.”
“We knew that a lot of mid-level distributors were dealing with her, so hers was an ideal phone to get into. She was talking to Lorenzo Nichols, she was talking to about 12 mid-level distributors that she was bagging for. She was passing on instructions or conversations from the drug dealers to Lorenzo Nichols. She was in the middle of this whole organization, and that was the beauty of it. She liked to talk.”
“You know, we got to get rid of… Nichols’ sister is paranoid. Someone is spying on her.”
“I need to get rid of him. He’s causing too many problems.”
“Every day, she was saying, ‘My phone’s tapped, don’t talk.’ But then she would turn around and talk for one day.”
“At times, she would leave the phone off the hook, which is basically a bug into her house, and you could hear her have conversations with these guys when they would pick up their drugs.”
“Hurry up!”
“Over the wiretap, the FBI intercepts a key call between Nichols and his sister. They’re talking about ‘Papy’ Mason. In one particular conversation, she discussed why ‘Papy’ Mason had done that thing—a reference to the actual murder of Officer Byrne—and Lorenzo responded that he didn’t know why he did it.”
“‘Papy’ Mason had a reputation of being a kind of violent guy, and Lorenzo, near the end, was kind of pushing him away, not really wanting to directly deal with him because he drew too much pressure from law enforcement. All indications prior to that—that Lorenzo Nichols was involved in this—but through that conversation, which was later backed up with debriefing of cooperating witnesses, Howard Mason ordered the execution murder of police officer Byrne. ‘Papy’ Mason thought that the police department disrespected him, so therefore he ordered his contemporaries to go out and to kill any police officer.”
“Nichols was not involved in the murder of Officer Byrne, but his operation still continues to grow and to supply very dangerous street gangs with product.”
“We were able to establish from listening on the telephone that, in fact, Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols was communicating with core members of the conspiracy. Every week or two weeks, a group of individuals would go up and have meetings with him and receive orders from him in person as to how the operation was to be managed.”
“Agents place a microphone in the visiting room at Riker’s Island. They try to listen in on Lorenzo Nichols’ meetings with his lieutenants. Unfortunately, the sound quality is too poor to hear anything.”
“Agents and police continue to build a case.”
“We learned their methods of distribution, we learned their methods of drug preparation. We were able to identify some of their sources of supply, who was communicating with who, how it was done, what the level of their trafficking was, who some of their customers were. As a result, it established a hierarchy of the organization for us.”
“Yes, we continued to conduct surveillances related to the information that we received from the wiretap, but surveillance is difficult.”
“Most successful drug dealers are savvy and know how law enforcement gathers information. The drug traffickers employ counter-surveillance techniques. They actually pay people on the street, for a radius of several blocks, to maintain a lookout for police authorities in the area.”
“When agents get enough information from the wiretap, they make arrests.”
“If, at a time, say for example, we intercepted a call in which there was a drug transaction occurring or a transport of drugs from one location to another, I could say to the investigators working the case, ‘We need to take this load off.'”
“After five long months, agents meet with the prosecutor.”
“It was time to put some charges on some subjects, to get some cooperators, and to execute the search warrants—to get the guns, to get the drugs—that’ll confirm the conversations that you have.”
“Martinez feels they have enough probable cause to issue arrest and search warrants.”
“You got to know when it’s time to bring the case down, and that’s when we brought this case down in August.”
“The prosecutor agrees it’s time to take down the Nichols organization.”
“After five months of investigation, Special Agent Richard Martinez plans a complex and potentially dangerous arrest operation. The goal is to completely dismantle the Nichols Drug Organization.”
“The jury needs to hear three things to prove guilt beyond a doubt: one, they want the testimony of somebody inside, a cooperator. As an investigator, I want to provide tapes of the participants in the organization in their day-to-day activities; and lastly, physical evidence.”
“The arrest operation will hit over 20 locations. Agents believe the search warrants will give them the physical evidence they need: guns, drugs, and money. They also have arrest warrants for 38 members of Nichols’ organization. They hope a few of these people will turn and become cooperators.”
“When a jury looks at a cooperator, the conversations that have been either intercepted through Title III or consensually recording, and physical evidence, and they all say the same thing, there’s only one verdict that a jury can come back with, and that’s guilty.”
“Agents prepare affidavit and coordinate the 400 bodies needed to execute the operation. Everyone involved understands the risks.”
“There’s always danger when you’re executing an arrest warrant and search warrant. You never know how a person’s going to react. That’s why you go well-armed and well-equipped and with enough people to control a scenario to minimize that potential violence.”
“August 11th, 1988: the affidavit has been written, the arrest and search warrants have been issued, the arrest teams are prepared. Everything is in place; everybody knows what they’re going to do, knows who they’re going to pick up, knows where they have to go, and it’s just time to execute.”
“Several of the targeted locations are very dangerous. In this case, we deployed three SWAT teams in three locations in which we thought we might get a potential violent reaction.”
“The teams hit locations where drugs are being stored and sold. Fortunately, we never tipped our hand in this investigation, so none of the defendants knew we were coming when we decided to come for them.”
“Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!”
“Nichols’ sister is surprised by the arrest team; she reacts with anger.”
“This was a unique investigation that mothers of the main subjects of this case were involved. My son is not even… my father…”
“Lorenzo Nichols’ mom was involved, Howard Mason’s mother was involved. Howard Mason’s mom we arrested with kilos, crack cocaine, and a handgun in her residence.”
“I have… I have… done… please take your hand off of my…”
“All over the Jamaica section of Queens, one by one, members of the Nichols organization are arrested and evidence is collected.”
“During the execution of search warrants, we found guns, we found a substantial amount of packaging material, a substantial amount of crack cocaine, and numerous individuals with cash money and seized all those items.”
“Lorenzo ‘Fatcat’ Nichols and Howard ‘Papy’ Mason are both arrested in prison on drug charges that will keep them behind bars forever.”
“By the end of the day, 30 people are arrested; five pieces of property are seized.”
“Nichols’ sister and other key players in the organization decide to become cooperators.”
“Tell us… you got to help yourself out.”
“The multi-million dollar violent drug operation is effectively destroyed. For Lorenzo Nichols, it was the murder of Officer Edward Byrne—a murder he had nothing to do with—that finally brought down his drug empire.”
“This case dismantled the Lorenzo Nichols organization. Lorenzo was convicted and went to trial. Every member of this organization that was charged was convicted and went to prison. In 1992, Lorenzo Nichols also pleads guilty to ordering the murder of parole officer Brian Rooney.”
“Later that same year, there is a surprising development in the Rooney murder case. Randolph Lucas is arrested on an unrelated charge and confesses his involvement in the crime. He claims his brother, Eric, drove the car and that he shot and killed Brian Rooney. They were hired by a Nichols associate to hurt Rooney, but they panicked and fatally shot the parole officer.”
“No one knows why Perry Bellamy claimed to have been at the scene that night and why he said he witnessed Howard Mason shoot Brian Rooney.”
“The NYPD anti-drug operation and the federal task force targeting Queens’ drug dealers had a decided effect on drug-related crime in New York City.”
“Special Agent David Higgins: The task force cases in New York sent the message to the streets eventually that crime doesn’t pay. That if you’re going to be involved in violent drug trafficking in New York City, you’re ultimately going to face justice in a federal court. I believe that that message resounded on the streets because the crime rate in New York City and many other major US cities—the violent crime rate—dropped significantly in the 1990s, and it’s my belief that it dropped because of all these successful prosecutions.”
“Brian Rooney’s name was placed on the memorial for parole officers killed in the line of duty. The foundation was created in Officer Edward Byrne’s name. Their legacy is the destruction of a deadly organization that threatened the neighborhoods they had sworn to protect.”
“From the Caribbean islands to the east coast of the United States, a deadly drug gang makes millions, but its leader remains a mystery. As their cocaine trafficking business thrives, the violence rages out of control. Too late to destroy the gang, agents and police know they must identify the leader and take him down.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“The United States is one of the most profitable drug markets in the world for ruthless and sophisticated drug traffickers. It is truly the land of opportunity. I’m Jim Kelstrom, former head of the FBI’s New York office. In the 1990s, a violent drug organization moved thousands of kilos of Colombian cocaine through the Virgin Islands and into Georgia. It would take a task force of dedicated agents and police to shut down this multi-million dollar operation and destroy a cocaine empire.”
“The US Virgin Islands are a tourist’s paradise—lush tropical islands and miles of sandy beaches, all in America’s backyard. But these islands hold a dark secret. Law enforcement refers to them as the ‘cocaine funnel’ because they are located halfway between South America and the US mainland. Drug gangs use the islands to ship large amounts of cocaine into the US.”
“Starting in the early 90s, a drug gang called the ‘Island Boys’ shipped thousands of kilos of cocaine into the US through the Virgin Islands. They chose the unlikely city of Augusta, Georgia as their main point of entry. There, they turned the cocaine into crack.”
“FBI Special Agent Tim Cox: It was primarily the population that drew them in. At the time, there were several projects that were ripe for selling crack cocaine. It’s also a two-hour city—you’re two hours away from Atlanta, you’re two hours away from Savannah. But the competition between the ‘Island Boys’ and local drug gangs is brutal.”
“Eugene Smalls runs the Augusta operation for the ‘Island Boys.’ Business is good. In 1991, the gang is raking in millions, and Smalls makes a big target. There are rumors he keeps a million dollars in cash in his safety deposit box. He wears the key around his neck.”
“By the time Augusta police arrive, Eugene Smalls’ safety deposit box is empty, and the powerful drug dealer is fighting for his life. He survives, but his injuries are severe. The rising violence in Augusta concerns police, and the ‘Island Boys’ are at the center of it. The Augusta police discuss the problem with the FBI. They start by explaining what they know about the gang.”
“The local authorities, through their contacts with informants and some of the arrests that they’d made previously, knew that there was an increasing number of these gentlemen coming up from the Virgin Islands. The informants had given indication that they were moving more and more cocaine into the area.”
“In October 1992, the FBI and US Customs worked to build a federal conspiracy case against the ‘Island Boys.’ Cox suspects the ‘Island Boys’ are working with a major Colombian cocaine cartel. One thing is clear: they are as mysterious as they are deadly.”
“We didn’t have any inroads into the group, so we’re having to put together as much intel as we could by bits and pieces.”
“Agents assemble photos of suspected gang members taken by the local drug squad.”
“Former US Customs agent Larry Sap: No, we didn’t even know who they were. We’d put them in there to see if somebody would later identify them.”
“They also scour every report they can find that has any connection to the ‘Island Boys.’ One report stands out. A month earlier, two DEA agents spotted Eugene Smalls at the airport in Atlanta. Despite his injuries, the local drug boss personally picked up a passenger on a flight from the Virgin Islands. The DEA decided to follow Smalls. Agents radioed the Georgia Highway Patrol and asked them to pull the car over for speeding.”
“DEA had enough of the following them and joined the locals there and got them. They got them all out the car, searched them, took all their money, tried to interview them.”
“I can’t walk.”
“Smalls could barely walk. His passenger, James Springette, was carrying a passport from the US Virgin Islands. Agents also searched the car; they found nothing—no drugs, no weapons, and surprisingly little cash. The DEA photographed the two men as well as their credit cards and IDs and had to let them go.”
“Look at this.”
“Agents can use the credit card information to track the movements of all four suspects, but there’s also a downside.”
“Then they know that they’ve been watched or being watched, and may affect their behavior in the future. Maybe more careful of surveillances and more careful of movements and things of this nature.”
“Agents wonder about James Springette: who is he and what role does he play? Eugene Smalls picked him up at the airport personally, even though Smalls was still recovering from bullet wounds. Obviously, James Springette is important.”
“Special Agent Cox contacts the local police to see if they have any information.”
“The Richmond County Sheriff’s Department narcotics squad have been fighting the gang since it first arrived in Augusta, but they have never heard of James Springette. If law enforcement hopes to take down the ‘Island Boys,’ they’re going to have to do it the hard way: from the bottom up.”
“We started on the street level doing surveillances when we could, getting information from the local authorities, and trying to develop some other inroads into the group.”
“Again, they hit a brick wall. The ‘Island Boys’ have a dangerous reputation. Even paid informants were afraid to talk about the group.”
“It was hard to develop informants because this group was known to be violent, and informants were afraid to do anything with them because they had a reputation for hurting and killing people.”
“Federal authorities conduct surveillance. They observe that members of the gang frequently use motel rooms to do business. After they check out, teams of agents search their rooms.”
“You’d be surprised that you find phone numbers, photos, different things. This whole case was like somebody had filled a room with puzzle pieces, and we’re trying to dig our way out and figure out who was who.”
“The pressure is constant and intense—too intense for Eugene Smalls, the head of the Augusta ‘Island Boys.’ We were putting a lot of heat on him. Eugene Smalls decides to relocate to Virginia.”
“I personally think that the reason Eugene left was things were getting too hot for them around Augusta.”
“In Smalls’ absence, a man named Shaim Gabriel becomes the new leader of the ‘Island Boy’ operation in Augusta, Georgia.”
“Agent Sap alerts Virginia authorities: Eugene Smalls is heading their way.”
“They were on him as soon as he got up there and worked him and a good case up there.”
“Smalls is arrested in Virginia Beach for drug trafficking and eventually convicted and sentenced to 90 years in prison. In Augusta, agents focus on Shaim Gabriel, the new leader of the ‘Island Boys.’ They suspect the gang is bringing drugs in through the Atlanta airport.”
“When you look at the amount of money that they were running, plus the amount of cocaine that we knew they were putting on the street, it was obvious they were having to run lots of loads of luggage through and use lots of couriers.”
“On June 14th, 1995, agents in Atlanta find a suitcase containing 7 kilos—more than 15 lbs—of cocaine.”
“We can change this around. Who you delivering the coke to?”
“Investigators question the courier, James. He tells agents the drugs were going to Shaim Gabriel in Augusta.”
“Gabriel, we had enough cooperating information, you know, through phone tolls, to substantiate exactly what the courier was saying.”
“Based on the courier’s statement, authorities are able to obtain an arrest warrant and a warrant to search Gabriel’s home. On June 15th, 1995, authorities serve both warrants. As the agents close in, they have no idea what Gabriel has waiting for them behind his door.”
“In Augusta, Georgia, the FBI, along with US Customs and local police, take down a violent drug gang. Investigators arrest Shaim Gabriel, the man they believe is the new head of the ‘Island Boys’ in Augusta. Gabriel is accused of attempting to receive 7 kilos of cocaine from a courier from the Virgin Islands. A search of his home turns up documents, photos, and $15,000 in ones.”
“Special Agent Tim Cox: Apparently, Shaim felt it was beneath him to spend dollar bills, so he wouldn’t spend dollar bills. He would stuff them in these jars for law enforcement.”
“Gabriel’s arrest is a big success, but it doesn’t stop the ‘Island Boys.’ As soon as authorities take Gabriel into custody, agents suspect that new leaders are already emerging to take over the gang.”
“Whenever we take people off from the group, make an arrest or anything else, other people from the islands would arrive back in the States and take their place in the group, distributing around Augusta area.”
“Investigators continue to go after the ‘Island Boys’ using the same techniques they used to take down Gabriel, but it’s not working. It seems the ‘Island Boys’ have changed tactics; they must be using another means of getting their drugs past customs at the airport.”
“Agents have to find it. Customs expands its searches both in the Virgin Islands and in US airports. On February 6th, 1996, agents get a break when a random customs check finds cocaine in a suitcase arriving in Atlanta. The bag belongs to a teenage girl from a housing project in Augusta. The gang has been eluding police by using couriers that don’t fit the usual profile.”
“Former US Customs agent Larry Sap: They would find young girls that had no money, no future, and asking, ‘Would they like to go to the Virgin Islands for a week free vacation?’ And of course, any of them would say yes, and the only stipulation was you had to bring back a package for them.”
“Are you going to tell them? These were easily influenced young people that just saw an opportunity to make some money. Granted, it was illegal, but in a sense, they were victims of this group as well.”
“They couldn’t bring a lot to the table for us, but what they could tell us is who offered the deal, what the deal was. The courier tells investigators she was hired by the girlfriend of Brian Gustav. Shortly after Gabriel’s arrest, Gustav and his girlfriend arrived from the Virgin Islands; they’ve been running the Augusta ‘Island Boys.’ The girl also gives them the names of other women who have worked as couriers.”
“It takes more than a year to gather all the evidence against the new local leaders, but investigators have enough to arrest Gustav and his girlfriend. Brian Gustav is convicted of drug trafficking; his girlfriend takes a plea deal. Agents have taken out the leadership of the ‘Island Boys’ in Augusta once again.”
“When you do take them down, and the next week the same group is up and operating again, it gets a little frustrating. But that’s why we work to go up and get to the head of the organization, because that’s eventually the only way you’re going to be able to stop them.”
“Arresting drug dealers in Augusta is not stopping the flow of drugs into the US. Agents know they must find out who is running the ‘Island Boy’ operation; their leader must be in the Virgin Islands. In 1996, the US Virgin Islands became designated a ‘HIDTA,’ which stands for ‘High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.'”
“Detective Chris Howell is on the DEA task force formed to target drug traffickers in the US Virgin Islands.”
“Two minutes out, and up until this timeframe, there hadn’t been a lot of targeting of these people with established routes and cocaine trafficking. So the traffickers, by this point in the game, had become pretty powerful and they had a lot at their disposal, so we had a lot of catching up to do.”
“Agents begin questioning informants and learned that in St. Croix, a prominent local family is involved in the cocaine shipments from Colombia.”
“Intelligence information that was gained from confidential sources stated that one of the family members was the St. Croix girlfriend of James Springette.”
“Investigators recognize the name. In 1992, DEA agents photographed Springette after Eugene Smalls picked him up at the Atlanta airport. And that informant also told us that he was the biggest drug trafficker in the islands, and so our focus kind of started to begin to switch focus from this prominent family over to James Springette.”
“Investigators discovered that Springette’s girlfriend has more than half a dozen cell phones in her name. These phones may hold the key to cracking this dangerous drug gang.”
“When we began to look at those phones and look at the toll information off those phones, other names that came up through informant information began to appear on those tolls, and it was obvious that this girl had something to do with what was going on.”
“While agents pursue the cell phone lead, they continue to work the streets. From informants, agents learned that a small shipment of cocaine is scheduled to leave St. Thomas via seaplane. The surveillance team spots a suspected courier carrying a cardboard box aboard the seaplane. It takes off for the largest of the US Virgin Islands, St. Croix.”
“We let them board the plane and get airborne on their way back to St. Croix, when we establish surveillance where they were going to dock here in St. Croix.”
“When the seaplane lands, Detective Chris Howell and the DEA are waiting. They suspect the box the courier is carrying is full of cocaine. Agents are in place for a routine takedown, but the plan changes. Something has spooked the courier. Agents must move in.”
“The individual who was carrying the box ran straight to the ocean, jumped off the dock into the ocean.”
“As he tore into the box, kilograms of cocaine began to float out into the water.”
“The courier is trying to destroy the evidence. He knew that if he could get those packages open, once that cocaine hit the water, it would just dissolve into nothing. But I wasn’t going to take any chance. I wanted to get all 7 kg. I didn’t want him to tear into anything.”
“Chill out!”
“Detective Howell rescues several kilos of evidence and a cell phone purchased by Springette’s girlfriend.”
“Get him out of the water! Lay it down! Down! Can’t find you! Back!”
“The courier is in serious trouble, and he knows it. Still, he refuses to tell authorities who he’s working for in the islands.”
“It’s very rare to see people cooperating—very rare. When we arrest somebody, even when they’re facing serious jail time, they’ll just do their time, and that’s it.”
“As a result of the operation, the ‘Island Boys’ are now on high alert. They know the feds are watching them. They quickly change their tactics. Springette made an executive decision that they wouldn’t bring cocaine directly into the US Virgin Islands. Instead, the gang will use the island of Tortola to warehouse their drug shipments.”
“The British Virgin Islands is literally a 5 or 10-minute boat ride away from St. Thomas, so you could be in British waters and a minute later you’re in US waters, or international waters for that matter.”
“As a British possession, Tortola is outside the jurisdiction of US law enforcement. On June 19th, 1996, the ‘Island Boys’ bring 1.5 tons of cocaine onshore in Tortola.”
“You’re talking about loads that are worth millions and millions of dollars at a time, and very rarely does a group run that much dope without having some firepower behind them.”
“Heavily armed Colombians are present to verify the delivery.”
“Those people’s job was not only to look after the South American interest, but also to protect the load.”
“Cocaine is loaded into two vehicles, a truck and a van. This shipment is so important that James Springette personally oversees the transfer. The two vehicles head for a safe house to store the cocaine. The drug dealers are unaware the Royal Virgin Island Police are waiting for them.”
“Officers have been watching the van for over a month. Every two weeks, it travels from the east end of the island to the west end, weighted down with something heavy. They suspected it could be drug trafficking, but they also suspected it might have been involved in some burglaries that had been occurring on the east end of the island.”
“When a pickup and van approach, the Royal Virgin Island Police move in. The pickup manages to squeeze through the roadblock, but the van is stopped in its tracks.”
“Put your hands up! Put your hands up! Out of the car! Out of the car now! Out of the car! Move! Put your hands up right now!”
“The suspects open fire with automatic weapons. The police are outgunned.”
“Most of them had six-shot revolvers, shotguns with three rounds, and weaponry of this nature, and they stood up in return fire against automatic M16s firing a full burst.”
“One officer is hit. The round passed out the side of his head, and he was lying in a pool of blood on the street.”
“Man down!”
“And so they basically at that point began to try to keep him alive.”
“The van gets away. The wounded officer is rushed to a hospital.”
“It’s a wonder just the shock, the impact alone, didn’t kill him, but it put his eye out, and they got him to a hospital. He lost his eye, but did live.”
“The next day, police find the van a mile down the road. The tires, the radiator, and the engine have been shot to pieces. In the back of the van, police find 1,260 kg of cocaine. They also find night vision goggles, GPS devices, and lights for signaling aircraft.”
“The Royal Virgin Island Police believe the drug runners will try to escape to a nearby island. They contact police commissioners in the US Virgin Islands and the surrounding area, asking for help. Authorities know they must locate these dangerous men fast. If they’re willing to shoot a cop, no one is safe.”
“In the British Virgin Islands, a firefight erupts between heavily armed drug runners and the Royal Police. The drug runners make a daring escape, but investigators seize a van full of cocaine. The Royal Police warn their counterparts on the surrounding islands to be on the lookout. It was almost like a Caribbean ‘all points bulletin.'”
“Detective Chris Howell: They put it out to all the police officers that this occurred and you know, to be a lookout on the beaches and so forth—marinas, docks, you know, boatyards, and everything—that these individuals may be heading our way.”
“You seen these guys?”
“Police around the islands are on the alert for anything unusual. Early the next morning, officers stop a suspicious boat. There are no drugs or weapons aboard, but there is a large amount of cash.”
“They were questioned and then later released by police as there wasn’t enough evidence at the time to hold them.”
“Those individuals were linked through informant information as being Springette’s boat crew. They were the same boat crew that brought in the cocaine that had been recovered by police in Tortola.”
“A few days later, US Virgin Island police find the body of one of the men from the boat. He’s been shot in the head twice, execution style.”
“To me, that all that was was an indication that Springette’s organization was not going to stop failure. There had to be a cost to losing that load, even if that meant the life of one of his own.”
“At the roadblock, the gunman may have escaped, but the cocaine they lost was worth millions.”
“You don’t lose 1,260 kg of cocaine without someone paying for it. Springette had to go back to South America and explain this to the people he was getting cocaine from, and he didn’t want to go back without there being a body attached to the loss.”
“For Springette, it’s a temporary setback.”
“Kilograms of cocaine were, during this timeframe, almost on every commercial flight headed into the US mainland. They had dirty baggage handlers that would put cocaine in bags, sneak them past customs, put them on the aircraft, and then a mule would actually take custody of that bag when it arrived in a US city and move it on forward.”
“In Georgia, FBI Special Agent Tim Cox and Customs Agent Larry Sap are working leads of their own. They’ve been watching a man named Ronnie Peton; they believe he’s the latest drug dealer to head the Augusta branch of the ‘Island Boys.’ 3 months after the Tortola shootout, FBI Special Agent Tim Cox decides to send a message to Peton at the Atlanta airport.”
“I had heard through our street sources that Peton had called me a punk and said we were never going to catch him. So, I thought I would at least introduce myself. So, I went to the airport when he came back in, and went up and introduced myself and said, ‘Hi Ronnie, welcome back to the country. I’ll be around, come see me if you’d ever like to talk.'”
“But as agents know, ‘Island Boys’ never talk. Months pass. In the Virgin Islands, in early 1997, the two agents get the break they’ve been waiting for. A member of the ‘Island Boys’ sells cocaine out of a hotel room in St. Thomas. A fellow gang member and a buyer sent to kill the dealer pay him a surprise visit. The ‘Island Boy’ tries to warn his friend by using a special knock signaling danger. The dealer gets the message. He escapes out a back window.”
“The island is a small place to try and hide. Gang members are everywhere. The terrified dealer secretly turns himself in to authorities in exchange for protection. He agrees to tell the FBI what he knows about the ‘Island Boys’ and their dealings in Georgia.”
“Both Larry Sap and I were very excited, because we knew that if we actually had someone that could identify more of these people and put us in touch with the routes they use, the methods they’re using to transport this stuff, it could be a huge break in the case.”
“Former US Customs agent Larry Sap: He was the first one to give us all the ins and outs—who was the leaders, how they smuggled, how they distributed, who were distributors, and things of this nature. Real big break in the case.”
“Agents are finally starting to get inside this dangerous gang. They begin trying to make their case against the suspected leader, James Springette.”
“We would search customs travel records, we would find out when he had gone in and out of different countries. We would find out when he would show up on either wire intercepts or show up in conversation with someone else. By doing that, and by tracking the shipments, you can put Jimmy in the same area. This all goes to circumstantial evidence and ties Jimmy with it.”
“Springette is careful to keep his hands clean. He does his dirty work through intermediaries and rarely comes in contact with the coke. At the same time, on the island of St. Croix, the DEA convinces a federal judge to allow them to wiretap the prominent family suspected of drug smuggling and of having ties to Springette.”
“We applied for the first-ever Title III in Virgin Islands history.”
“DEA agents secretly install the wiretap in a switching station and hide the equipment.”
“We had already received information that they had individuals that worked within the phone company that were checking their phones regularly to see if they were tapped. And so we had to hide that equipment within the phone company’s regular wiring.”
“For one month during the summer of 1997, investigators listen to the wiretap and conduct simultaneous surveillance. They hear frequent references to Springette’s girlfriend, but nothing concrete. The ‘Island Boys’ are careful about what they say on the phone.”
“You could tell the conversation was starting to get good, and the next thing that we would hear is, ‘Let me call you back.’ And then surveillance watch him hang up the phone, jump in his car, and drive down to a pay phone and then finish the call with the pay phone. Almost from the onset, they knew we were on that phone.”
“Certainly when you go up on a wire, you don’t… you expect when the wire goes down, there’s going to be a roundup very shortly thereafter. We weren’t there with this wire.”
“The wiretap does provide enough evidence to justify search warrants. On August 7th, agents launch simultaneous raids on 22 island homes and businesses. They have enough to go after several members of the ‘Island Boys’ gang, but they need a lot more to take down James Springette and dismantle his entire drug trafficking organization.”
“In the Virgin Islands, the DEA and police raid 22 locations. They need enough evidence to put suspected drug lord James Springette out of business forever. His girlfriend’s house is a prime target. In her bedroom, agents find a half a million dollars in cash and a business card for an attorney in Panama. They also find Springette’s US passport.”
“The passport is stamped with the dates the drug lord visited other Caribbean islands as well as Colombia, Venezuela, and Europe. By comparing those dates to intelligence on large drug shipments, agents can show whether Springette was in the same country when the drugs arrived.”
“Virgin Islands police detective Chris Howell flies up to Augusta, Georgia to meet with FBI Special Agent Tim Cox and Customs Agent Larry Sap.”
“We hooked up with Chris Howell, and it was another one of those breaks in the case. Chris had a wealth of information down there about activities in St. Thomas. We had a wealth of information about activities going on in the States. And when we compared the two, we found out that his departures were our arrivals. We cross-matched some of the trips—who was going, who was coming. It was great information that we were able to collaborate on.”
“Authorities finally have enough circumstantial evidence to nail James Springette.”
“Independently, we could have probably put together a case in the islands, and likewise, they probably had the ability to do that there in Georgia. But you combine the two cases together, it seems like it’s an unstoppable force.”
“Chris Howell wants all the cases tried in Georgia. It will be too difficult to convict Springette in the Virgin Islands.”
“He had evolved into a monster by this point. I mean, he was very well established in South America. He had his own routes here; he had his own assets available to him. So, anything you can throw into that on your end is beneficial.”
“It would help their case if they could find a more specific link between Springette and the cocaine shipments. Agents review the evidence one more time.”
“When we had done the search warrant at Springette’s St. Croix girlfriend’s house, we had found business cards for a Panamanian attorney, and we also found business cards in the name of ‘Omega C Cargo.'”
“According to customs records, a freighter owned by ‘Omega C Cargo’ was stopped a few months after the Tortola shootout. The ship was searched; eight tons of Colombian cocaine was found in the cargo.”
“Working on a hunch, agents research ‘Omega C Cargo.’ The company is owned by James Springette.”
“It was huge. It was a huge chunk of the case right there. I mean, now we had 6,000 kg on Mr. Springette. That was a good feeling.”
“Federal authorities develop a plan to dismantle the ‘Island Boys,’ starting in Augusta, Georgia. December 15th, 1997: Ronnie Peton, the local head of the Augusta gang, attempts to buy 2 kilos of cocaine from a Virgin Island supplier. The FBI is watching.”
“In the motel room next door, Customs Agent Larry Sap and FBI special agents Tim Cox and Mike Varacalli videotape the buy via hidden camera.”
“Our ultimate goal was to tie the organization all the way back to a Colombian connection, find out where the drugs were being processed, and at what point they were being handed over to Springette and his organization, so we could get to the highest level we possibly could.”
“Ronnie Peton came in, met the informant. We got all on video with him holding up the keys and hand-balancing, waiting to see which one weighed a little more than the other.”
“Peton takes his time examining the bags of cocaine. Finally, he picked two he wanted.”
“On the ground! On the ground! On the ground! Behind!”
“All right, roll over, sit up.”
“Special Agent Tim Cox personally arrests Peton.”
“I said, ‘Hello, Ronnie. Remember me from the airport?’ And he nodded, and I said, ‘Well, who’s the punk now?'”
“Shortly after Peton’s arrest, FBI Special Agent Tim Cox is promoted and transferred.”
“It’s a bittersweet pill, because I was with this case since its inception. I knew we were headed towards taking Jimmy Springette off, but also knew I would not be there for the finish.”
“Cox leaves Special Agent Mike Varacalli in charge of the ‘Island Boys’ investigation. Over the next few months, Varacalli and his team continue methodically building a case against Springette and the ‘Island Boys.'”
“The more we looked into it, the more we uncovered—10,000 kilograms turned into 20,000, which turned into 50,000.”
“Less than a year after Peton’s arrest, an Augusta grand jury delivers indictments against Springette, his girlfriend, and five of his closest associates.”
“We had a sealed indictment for quite a long time, and we’re just building a case. We were building a story. We’re basically building our case for court. We identified individuals, we identified assets.”
“Investigators want to arrest all suspects simultaneously so that none of them can run. But there’s a snag: Springette has gone into hiding.”
“It was a frustrating time period, because here we are ready for this party and we can’t find our main guy.”
“Springette is smart and careful. He did not use the phone unnecessarily; he did not spend a lot of time in one location, and he tended to reside in areas where the US government didn’t have complete access and total reach.”
“For two long months, authorities can’t find him. Then, in Medellín, Colombia, the case takes a dramatic turn.”
“Please have a seat.”
“A local woman approaches DEA agents.”
“How can we help you?”
“She tells them she knows a big American drug dealer. ‘Pray for my family.’ His name is James Springette.”
“In Medellín, Colombia, DEA agents get a big break in the search for drug trafficker James Springette. An informant claims she knows where Springette lives.”
“She basically walked into the DEA office there and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement.”
“How can I help you?”
“Detective Chris Howell: ‘Big American drug dealer,’ she indicated he had a penthouse apartment in Medellín. We knew the apartment existed; we just didn’t know where it was. The apartment had like muraled ceilings, you know, solid gold faucets—very expensive apartment.”
“The woman agrees to give the DEA the location of Springette’s apartment. In exchange, she wants a fresh start for her family in the witness protection program.”
“We’ve been looking for… authorities agree to the deal.”
“Special Agent Mike Varacalli: James Springette was pretty well-insulated in Medellín, Colombia. Medellín seems to be a haven for high-ranking drug organization members, so it’s traditionally difficult to locate and apprehend an individual for drugs in Medellín.”
“The DEA requests an arrest warrant from the FBI and US Customs in Augusta, Georgia.”
“Former US Customs agent Larry Sap: The agent there called me and asked me, ‘Do we actually, in fact, have a warrant for a James Springette?’ Of course, I enthusiastically told him yes. He asked for me to fax down fingerprints, the pictures, and all the stuff he would need to get him picked up.”
“The DEA also contacts trusted members of the Colombian police. Two Colombian police officers stake out Springette’s luxury apartment, waiting for him to appear. To the Colombians, it looks like Springette is leaving for good.”
“They have to move fast.”
“They felt like their surveillance was burned; they better go ahead and arrest him, and that’s what they did.”
“The officers don’t have time to wait for backup; they move in.”
“Those two stopped the vehicle and arrested Springette and his driver by themselves, which we thought was mighty courageous.”
“Special Agent Tim Cox: When I first heard that they had him in custody down in Colombia, I was elated. This was the culmination of a 14-year investigation, which started from the lowest-level street dealers all the way up to the made man with the Colombian mafia who had the direct Colombian connection supplying cocaine.”
“Agents from the FBI, Customs, and the DEA converge on the Virgin Islands to arrest Springette’s associates. Local drug dealers quickly retreat into their fortified mansions.”
“We probably got dope dealers flushing their dope everywhere on St. Croix.”
“One mansion on St. Thomas is so remote and well-protected that Virgin Island police have to rappel down the cliff above it and approach it from the rear.”
“They had walls up around the house, electric gates. There was a real security issue on how we could do these things successfully.”
“House by house, the task force arrests the leadership of the ‘Island Boys.’ Although they finally have Springette in custody, getting him back to the US proves to be far more difficult than anyone had ever imagined.”
“He’s in custody in Colombia. Yeah, and that’s the big problem, because extradition out of Colombia is a difficult task. And what made it more difficult is he had citizenship at that point in Colombia.”
“Investigators will now have to go through a long bureaucratic process to try to extradite him back to the US.”
“It’s like beating a dead horse. I mean, there’s nothing you can really do to speed the process. You put in the request and it goes through the channels, and then you just wait.”
“I knew that the longer Jimmy was down there, the longer we didn’t have him on American soil in our custody, the greater the chance that he would either escape or someone would break him out.”
“While in prison, Springette pays to have luxuries brought in to pass the time in comfort.”
“They have people that wait on kind of like orderlies, to go get them stuff. If they can’t leave the penitentiary, they’ll go outside the penitentiary and get it and bring it back to them.”
“On March 1st, 2000, a few days before his extradition becomes final, Springette orders a new mattress.”
“When the new mattress was delivered to his cell, he was able to insert himself in the new mattress. It was just wide enough to fit his body. And the individual that brought the mattress to him aided him in sewing the mattress back up. So, there was no hole; there was no evidence that someone had been inserted into the mattress.”
“He don’t like to… one of the most dangerous drug dealers in the world is carried out of his cell, past unsuspecting guards.”
“American drug trafficker James Springette attempts a daring escape from a prison in Colombia, sealed inside a mattress.”
“What do you think of this?”
“FBI Special Agent Tim Cox: Jimmy got into the mattress, they stitched him back up in there, and proceeded to carry him through I think about five checkpoints, getting him out of the prison.”
“He don’t like him.”
“An investigation later shows that Springette paid more than $3 million in bribes to set up his incredible escape. Investigators take the news hard.”
“James has escaped! I’d put 10 years of my investigative career into eventually getting this guy, and now he was gone. I was completely deflated. We had a hard enough time catching him the first time. It was my fear that because he’d been caught one time, that we’d never be able to get him again.”
“Got to get more moving on this.”
“Detective Chris Howell: We’re back at ground zero, trying to figure out where do we go from here. At that point, we have no idea to even… you know, where to look. We have no leads, we have no idea. He could have been anywhere in the world.”
“Exactly.”
“Agents notify FBI legal attachés at US embassies throughout Latin America. They also notify Customs and DEA agents working in those countries.”
“FBI Special Agent Mike Varacalli: We basically contacted Interpol, we contacted all the countries we know he has ties to, and got the word out as far as where he last was, what he looks like.”
“There was rumors starting to spread that he had had reconstructive surgery, you know, changed his appearance and everything, and he just kind of became like this urban legend, you know? This guy who was out there, but no one knew how to find him.”
“According to rumors, Springette is living somewhere in Latin America and running his organization by phone.”
“Jimmy, just like anybody else, has to have an income. When you’re spending $5 million on an escape and you’re living the lifestyle that he’s accustomed to doing, you have to have an income. So, he had started generating that income again.”
“In April 2002, the FBI adds Springette to their list of top 10 fugitives.”
“To put him on the FBI ‘Top Most Wanted’ list during this timeframe was major, because, I mean, he was sharing poster space with guys like Osama bin Laden at that point.”
“Investigators also play a few long shots. They set up surveillance on a drug dealer known to be part of Springette’s group. Agents wait until they have probable cause and then search him. They cut him free; they find a large amount of cocaine and take him into custody.”
“Help us find your uncle, he’ll do a lot less time.”
“Investigators pressure the dealer.”
“What city is he in?”
“I don’t know.”
“What country is he in?”
“He decides to talk. He tells them Springette now lives in Venezuela. He doesn’t know which city; he only knows the phone number. The FBI legal attaché in Venezuela gives the phone number to an elite team of trusted local police officers. Using the phone number and informants, the Venezuelan police locate Springette’s home and stake it out.”
“But now I’m having enough time, okay.”
“Springette offered $2 to $3 million to let… just let him walk away from the scene.”
“There are many honest law enforcement officials; there’s no amount of money that would entice them to do that. Thankfully, we had some down in Venezuela.”
“FBI, DEA, and Customs agents work to get Springette back to the US as soon as possible. Venezuelan authorities declare him ‘persona non grata’ because he’s in the country on a false passport, and ordered to be removed from the country immediately.”
“Less than 24 hours after the arrest, Venezuelan police handed over to FBI and Customs agents at the airport. Agents fly him back to the United States.”
“He knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance going to trial in Augusta, Georgia with all the evidence that had mounted against him. I think he knew the only thing he had available to him and his only chance of ever having… you know, the chance to see the light of day again, would be to accept a plea agreement.”
“Springette pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to import cocaine. The notorious drug lord is sentenced to 35 years without parole.”
“Hard to beat the significance of this investigation, when you talk about a street-level case being worked all the way up to a ’10 Most Wanted’ and an ultimate capture. It’s kind of hard to beat that. It’s definitely a highlight of my career.”
“Heat… heat…”
“Heat… heat…”
“I believe…”
“You.”
