Mr. Magoo Woos The Press: My Broad + Liberty Piece On President Biden At The White House Correspondents’ Association Annual Dinner

 Broad + Liberty ran my piece on President Biden at the White House Correspondents’ Association Annual Dinner. 

You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

Paul Davis: Mr. Magoo woos the press (broadandliberty.com)

On April 29th, President Biden attended the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington D.C. 

In addition to the press and politicians in attendance, there were so-called celebrities at the dinner, including actor Bradley Whitford, singer John Legend and his former model wife Chrissy Teigen, Reality TV cast members, actresses, and other personages. One actress, Julia Fox, inexplicitly wore stark white makeup on her face like a Kabuki character.

National Public Radio’s Tamara Keith first spoke at the dinner, and in a humorless and pretentious manner, she proclaimed that the dinner was a special affair. 

“There is something uniquely American about the fact that we can all be here together. And then these reporters can go out on Monday and do stories about these very same politicians that pull no punches. When we’re asking questions in the Oval Office, or under the wing of Air Force One, or in the briefing room we are stand-ins for the American people. Our responsibility to the country is woven into the fabric of the nation. Enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

One might note that Biden rarely answers questions from the press in the Oval Office, under the wing of Air Force One, in the briefing room, or anywhere else. 

President Biden, who often appears clueless and stumbles about like the cartoon character Mr. Magoo, addressed the gathering at the dinner. Although the dinner is traditionally a roast and light-hearted affair, Biden, tone-deaf as usual, spent far more time speaking about serious issues and self-serving reelection politics than he did delivering his staff-written lame jokes. 

(Poorly delivered jokes, I might add. Don’t quit your day job, Mr. President). 

And he sucked up to the journalists in attendance by stating, “Let me start on a serious note.  Jill, Kamala, Doug, and I, and members of our administration are here to send a message to the country and, quite frankly, to the world: The free press is a pillar — maybe the pillar — of a free society, not the enemy.

“Thomas Jefferson wrote – you all know this quote – Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.” 

The mainstream journalists, largely Democrats and Biden supporters, applauded, even though Biden is one of the least accessible presidents to the press. Biden even made a joke of dodging the press by stating, “In a lot of ways, this dinner sums up my first two years in office: I’ll talk for ten minutes, take zero questions and cheerfully walk away.”

And the mainstream media laughed about being made impotent by the president.

Say what you will about President Trump, but he always faced the press and fielded their mostly hostile questions with gusto. 

“As I said last year at this dinner, a poison is running through our democracy and parts of the extreme press,” Biden stated. “The truth buried by lies and lies living on as truth. Lies told for profit and power. Lies of conspiracy and malice repeated over and over again, designed to generate a cycle of anger, hate, and even violence.” 

And this is from a career-long serial liar, exaggerator and plagiarist.

One joke that made me chuckle was when Daily Show comic correspondent Roy Wood Jr., took to the podium after Biden and said, “Real quick, Mr. President. I think you left some of your classified documents up here.” 

President Biden, who was caught illegally storing classified documents in his Delaware home after criticizing former President Trump for having classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago Resort, yukked it up.

But not everyone found the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to be a notable event. 

Greg Gutfeld, speaking on his late-night Fox Cable News show, Gutfeld! noted, “The mainstream media sucks, and it’s worse in a tux because the coverage reminds us of exactly what it really is about — something I call ego-affirming care. 

“It’s where members of the so-called free press can inflate their self-esteem. And like every award show, it’s artificially created as a reminder that they matter.”

Former Fox News and NBC News broadcaster Megyn Kelly also took issue with the dinner. On her SiriusXM’s program, The Megyn Kelly Show, she criticized the dinner and the attendees.

“You know who they think is relevant? Chrissy Teigen. That’s who they invited as their big star,” Kelly said. “We’ve gone from George Clooney to Chrissy Teigen, who showed up there like she was literally going to the coronation.”

Kelly spoke of a video that showed Teigen arriving at the dinner with her husband John Legend and three women who held the back of her dress. 

“She has by my count three minions following her — that’s minions in her view — following her, holding the dress or the train of her existent dress,” Kelly said. ““I can see underwear, ok? I can see London, I see France, I see Chrissy’s underpants.

“Nobody shows underpants at the White House Correspondents Dinner, okay Chrissy? They just don’t do it. And nobody shows up with serfs to carry their train, which there shouldn’t be on your White House Correspondents Dinner dress anyway because it’s barely a formal event.”

Kelly noted that Teigen’s flashy entrance was a picture of “everything wrong with the elitism, the self-importance, the aggrandizement of this fake, stupid event.”

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer, also writes the On Crime column in the Washington Times and he is a contributor to Counterterrorism magazine.

My Washington Times 'On Crime' Column: 'One Day In August: Ian Fleming, Enigma And The Deadly Raid On Dieppe

Some years ago, I came across an account of the disastrous World War II raid on Dieppe written by a British naval intelligence officer who viewed the raid from the deck of a warship off the coast of France. 

The intelligence report read like a thriller, which should come as no surprise, as the naval intelligence officer was Royal Navy Lt. Commander Ian Fleming, who went on to write the classic James Bond thrillers.

 

The Dieppe Raid was the stuff of thrillers, and Canadian historian David O’Keefe has written a fine book about the failed operation called “One Day in August: Ian Fleming, Enigma and the Deadly Raid on Dieppe.”

 

I reached out to David O’Keefe and I asked him why the Dieppe Raid was controversial, tragic and something of a mystery. 

As an Ian Fleming aficionado, I wrote about One Day in August: Ian Fleming, Enigma and the Deadly Raid On Dieppe and offered my interview with David O’Keefe in my Washington Times On Crime column back in December of 2020.

You can read the column via the below link to the Washington Times or the text below:  

BOOK REVIEW: 'One Day in August' - Washington Times

Some years ago, I came across an account of the disastrous World War II raid on Dieppe written by a British naval intelligence officer who viewed the raid from the deck of a warship off the coast of France. 

The intelligence report read like a thriller, which should come as no surprise, as the naval intelligence officer was Royal Navy Lt. Commander Ian Fleming, who went on to write the James Bond thrillers.

 

The Dieppe Raid was the stuff of thrillers, and Canadian historian David O’Keefe has written a fine book about the failed operation called “One Day in August: Ian Fleming, Enigma and the Deadly Raid on Dieppe.”

 

I reached out to David O’Keefe (seen in the bottom photo) and I asked him why the Dieppe Raid was controversial, tragic and something of a mystery.

“In less than 9 hours on August 19th, 1942, over 1,000 Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen died in a raid on the German-held port of Dieppe, France in the English Channel,” Mr. O’Keefe said. “The vast majority of these deaths, 907, were taken by the Canadians, but the British and the Americans (fighting their first actions against Hitler in Europe) also paid a heavy toll. Right from the start, the excuses given for the inception and the intent behind the raid did not seem to fully explain what the Allies were attempting to do on that one day in August.”

 

Mr. O’Keefe went on to explain that newly released secret documents established that the raid was planned and launched primarily to solve the cryptographic blackout experience by both British and American Codebreakers when the Germans introduced a new version of their Naval Enigma machine for enciphering their Top-Secret communications.

 

“This blackout led to the inability to find U-Boats in the Atlantic, which in turn led to the dramatic sinking of American and British merchant shipping, mostly off the eastern seaboard, throughout 1942,” Mr. O’Keefe said. “Like the veins that bring life-giving blood throughout the body, controlling the sea-lanes between America and Great Britain was the center of gravity for the entire Allied war effort. Captured material used to “cheat” the system and speed up the process of cryptanalysis was desperately needed by legendary codebreakers like Alan Turing (of “Imitation Game” fame) who worked at Bletchley Park, the Ultra-Secret codebreaking center.

 

He said that previously he thought these operations were “ad hoc” rather than a coordinated and developing policy with sanction at the highest government levels in both the U.K. and the U.S.

 

“This gave me the confidence to come forward and say this is what Dieppe was about.”

 

I asked what role Ian Fleming played in the raid and Mr. O’Keefe replied, “Lt. Commander Ian Fleming worked for the Royal Navy’s Directorate of Naval Intelligence during the war before becoming famous for his James Bond novels.

 

Fleming was the assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral John Godfrey and worked as his “ideas man,” his “hitter” his “go-to guy” with his finger in every pie in the Allied intelligence world,” Mr. O’Keefe said.

 

“As established for the first time in the book, Fleming worked as an integral liaison officer linking the Naval Intelligence Division with MI5, MI6, the Joint Intelligence Committee, Ministry of Economic Warfare, Political Warfare Executive, Strategic Operations Executive, and Bletchley Park in England. He also was responsible for liaison with the FBI, the OSS (forerunner to the CIA) and the Office of Naval Intelligence in the United States.

 

“At the core of that multi-faceted portfolio was his responsibility for developing “pinch” policy or doctrine to aid the codebreakers at Bletchley Park and, in turn, to ‘sell’ that approach to the Americans once they entered the war.”

 

Mr. O’Keefe noted that prior to the Dieppe Raid, Fleming created a special Intelligence Assault Unit to capture the desired material. He stood offshore, prepared to act as the “anchor-man” in the relay race to extract any material pinched from the harbor in the French port.

 

I asked Mr. O’Keefe if the veterans he interviewed thought the raid was worth it.

“In part, as no amount of research, truth and understanding will ever take the sting of truth out of the Dieppe Raid,” Mr. O’Keefe replied. “One thousand men died in one morning in a raid that failed to achieve its primary objective – although the raiders got so close. However, for some veterans/survivors who had spent their lives trying to figure out what was at the heart of their horrific experience in 1942, just knowing the truth behind the raid gave them a sort of cathartic release.

 

“As one veteran, Ron Beal, told me, “It doesn’t matter that we did not reach our objective. I know there was a genuine purpose for this raid. I now know why my friends died, and so, I can die in peace.”

 

“One Day in August” is a well-written and well-researched book about the Dieppe Raid. 

 

• Paul Davis’ On Crime column covers true crime, crime fiction and thrillers.

Operation Last Mile: DEA Tracks Down Sinaloa And Jalisco Cartel Associates Operating Within the United States

The DEA released the below information: 

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a year-long national operation, “Operation Last Mile,” targeting operatives, associates, and distributors affiliated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels responsible for the last mile of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution on our streets and on social media. 

DEA’s top operational priority is to defeat the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels—the two drug cartels based in Mexico that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl and methamphetamine that is killing Americans.  In Operation Last Mile, DEA tracked down distribution networks across the United States that are connected to the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels.

The Operation shows that the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels use violent local street gangs and criminal groups and individuals across the United States to flood American communities with huge amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine, which drives addiction and violence and kills Americans.  It also shows that the Cartels, their members, and their associates use social media applications—like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat—and encrypted platforms—like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Wire, and Wickr—to coordinate logistics and reach out to victims.

Operation Last Mile comprised 1,436 investigations conducted from May 1, 2022 through May 1, 2023, in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement partners, and resulted in 3,337 arrests and the seizure of nearly 44 million fentanyl pills, more than 6,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, more than 91,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 8,497 firearms, and more than $100 million.  The fentanyl powder and pill seizures equate to nearly 193 million deadly doses of fentanyl removed from communities across the United States, which have prevented countless potential drug poisoning deaths.  Among these investigations, more than 1,100 cases involved social media applications and encrypted communications platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Wire, and Wickr.

“The Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels use multi-city distribution networks, violent local street gangs, and individual dealers across the United States to flood American communities with fentanyl and methamphetamine, drive addiction, fuel violence, and kill Americans,” said Administrator Milgram.  “What is also alarming—American social media platforms are the means by which they do so.  The Cartels use social media and encrypted platforms to run their operations and reach out to victims, and when their product kills Americans, they simply move on to try to victimize the millions of other Americans who are social media users.”

“As our communities continue to grapple with drug poisonings, the sales of illicit drugs, and the violence that so often accompanies these crimes, our local, state, and federal partnerships have never been more important,” said Eddie Garcia, President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. “Working together and towards the same goal has paid dividends when it comes to impacting criminal networks that continue to seek death and destruction on our streets.”

“Arrests focusing on key components of the drug cartel’s illegal drug distribution chain will help all of us in our efforts to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations who are flooding our nation with deadly drugs and violence,” said Sheriff Mike Milstead, Chair of the Drug Enforcement Committee, National Sheriffs’ Association. “The strategy of DEA to coordinate these investigations with state/local/tribal law enforcement agencies has once again proven effective and we applaud the results of this nationwide investigation.”

“The Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) commends the Drug Enforcement Administration for their efforts during Operation Last Mile. The MCSA is proud to stand alongside our partners at the DEA to end this crisis and protect our citizens from the cartels,” said Sheriff Dennis Lemma, MCSA President. “The results of this yearlong investigation are unprecedented and demonstrate the importance of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies working together.”

Operation Last Mile is an example of DEA’s network-based approach to take out Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartel members and associates in the United States and across the globe, stop fentanyl, and save American lives.  In April 2023, the DEA and our federal partners announced the indictment of 28 members and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel operating in Mexico, China, and Central America, including the leaders of the Cartel known as the “Chapitos.” 

A Look Back At William F. Buckley's Spy Thrillers

I’ve been watching old videos of William F. Buckley’s TV program Firing Line. 

The program aired on PBS from 1966 to 1999. There was nothing else on TV quite like Firing Line. I thought that William F. Buckley was brilliant, and he was a huge influence on my thinking. 

You can watch an episode of Firing Line via the below link:

 Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: War Crimes: Part II - YouTube 

In addition to his TV program, newspaper columns, political books and editing his conservative magazine, National Review, William F. Buckley also wrote spy thrillers. 

His series of pro-American and pro-CIA spy thrillers (Buckley served briefly as a CIA officer in Mexico) featured his fictional CIA officer Blackford Oakes involved with actual historical events and real historical figures. 

I enjoyed the novels immensely.

I reviewed his final thriller, Last Call for Blackford Oakes, for the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. 

You can read the review below:  

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge: 

You can also read about his spy thriller series via the below link: 

Blackford Oakes Series by William F. Buckley Jr. (goodreads.com) 

Operation SpecTor: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Deliver Remarks Announcing Results Of The Largest International Operation Against Darknet Trafficking Of Fentanyl and Opioids

The U.S. Justice Department released the below remarks from U.S. Attorney General Garland:

A little over two weeks ago, I announced that the Justice Department had taken significant enforcement actions against the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world: the Sinaloa Cartel.

I said then that the Justice Department is doing everything in our power, and using every authority we have, to bring those responsible for the fentanyl epidemic to justice.

That includes holding accountable the drug traffickers who use the dark web to commit their crimes.

Drug traffickers are increasingly turning to the dark web to sell illegal drugs in exchange for cryptocurrency. They may advertise their drugs on darknet marketplaces as brand name pharmaceuticals. But in reality, the pills are often counterfeit and laced with fentanyl.

The drug traffickers are confident that, by operating anonymously on the dark web, they can operate outside the bounds of the law. 

They are wrong.

I am joined today by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, DEA Principal Deputy Administrator Lou Milione, Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale, IRS-CI Chief Jim Lee, and FDA Investigative Services Division Chief Daniel Burke.

We are here today to announce the results of an unprecedented international enforcement operation led by the FBI – known as Operation SpecTor – against traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs who operate on the dark web.

Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international law enforcement effort, spanning three continents, to disrupt drug trafficking on the dark web.

It involved agencies across the federal government, along with our partners at Europol and Eurojust, and law enforcement agencies in eight foreign countries. It was led by the Department’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement – or JCODE – team.

Across the U.S. and eight other countries, Operation SpecTor resulted in a total of 288 arrests and the seizure of 117 illegal firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs, and $53.4 million dollars in cash and cryptocurrency.

This represents the most funds seized and the highest number of arrests in any coordinated international action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web.

Here in the United States, our Operation SpecTor investigations involved the FBI, DEA, ATF, and more than 30 U.S. Attorneys’ offices – as well as our partners at other federal agencies. 

In the United States, we arrested 153 defendants, seized 104 illegal guns, and seized over 200,000 pills, including those containing fentanyl.

To give just three examples of the cases that made up this massive operation since it began in October 2021:

In the Central District of California, a defendant was charged with drug and weapons offenses for his role in leading an organization that obtained bulk fentanyl; operated labs that used high-speed pill presses to create pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine; and sold millions of pills to thousands of customers on the darknet.

In the Southern District of Florida, we secured the conviction of an individual who distributed narcotics, including fentanyl, on various dark web marketplaces. That defendant possessed a list of over 6,000 customers across the United States.

And in the Eastern District of California, two individuals were charged with drug and money laundering offenses for their role in selling tens of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in exchange for cryptocurrency on the dark web.

I am extremely grateful to the agents, prosecutors, analysts, and staff across the Department who participated in this operation –including the FBI and its JCODE team, the DEA and ATF, our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and OCDETF, and multiple sections of the Criminal Division – including the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section,  the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, the Fraud Section, and the Office of International Affairs.

I also want to thank our partners across the federal government for their assistance in this operation – including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FDA Office of Investigations, and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

I am likewise grateful to our partners at Europol and Eurojust, and to our law enforcement partners in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland – without whom this operation would not have been possible.

The Justice Department is cracking down on criminal cryptocurrency transactions and the online criminal marketplaces that enable them.

In 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the results of another international operation, Operation DarkHunTor, which involved the arrests of 150 Darknet drug traffickers and the seizure of $32 [million] in cash and cryptocurrencies.

Last year, together with our German law enforcement partners, we seized Hydra Market, the world’s largest and longest-running illegal marketplace on the dark web.

Earlier this year, we led a coordinated international operation against Genesis Market, a major criminal marketplace that enabled cybercriminals to victimize individuals, businesses, and governments around the world.

And today, we have announced an unprecedented international enforcement action against drug traffickers on the dark web.

This work will continue.

Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but  the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes.

The Justice Department, together with our American and international partners, will continue to disrupt and dismantle darknet markets.

We will continue to illuminate the dark web.  And we will bring to justice those who try to hide their crimes there. I am now pleased to turn the podium over to FBI Deputy Director Abbate.

You can read about the dark web takedown via the below link:

Paul Davis On Crime: Largest International Operation Against Darknet Trafficking Of Fentanyl And Opioids Results In Record Arrests and Seizures

Largest International Operation Against Darknet Trafficking Of Fentanyl And Opioids Results In Record Arrests and Seizures

 The U.S. Justice Department released the below:

Today, the Department of Justice, and its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team and international partners, announced the results of Operation SpecTor, which included 288 arrests – the most ever for any JCODE operation and nearly double that of the prior operation. Law enforcement also conducted more seizures than any prior operation, including 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs that include 64 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics, and $53.4 million in cash and virtual currencies.

Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international effort spanning three continents to disrupt fentanyl and opioid trafficking on the darknet, or dark web. The operation was conducted across the United States, Europe, and South America, and was a result of the continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services on the darknet. Operation SpecTor builds on the successes of prior years’ operations and takedowns of marketplaces, which result in the seizure of darknet infrastructure providing investigators across the world with investigative leads and evidence. JCODE and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) continue to compile intelligence packages to identify entities of interest. These leads allow U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to identify darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of coordinated, but separate, law enforcement investigations, resulting in the statistics announced today.

This year’s law enforcement operation was accompanied by a public awareness campaign called Operation ProtecTor aimed to promote public safety and spread awareness of resources for those struggling with substance abuse and who go through extreme lengths to obtain opioids. JCODE has worked with every FBI field office in the country to facilitate outreach to households that have purchased individual amounts of opioids from the darknet. The interagency efforts are aimed to both identify those who use anonymizing technologies to purchase illicit narcotics and direct them to available resources.

“Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international law enforcement effort, spanning three continents, to disrupt drug trafficking on the dark web and represents the most funds seized and the highest number of arrests in any coordinated international action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes.”

“The availability of dangerous substances like fentanyl on dark net marketplaces is helping to fuel the crisis that has claimed far too many American lives,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “That's why we will continue to join forces with our law enforcement partners around the globe to attack this problem together. The FBI is proud to stand with our domestic and foreign partners as we continue to shine that light into the deepest corners of the dark net and hold those accountable who continue to peddle this poison around the world.”

“The Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels, and the global networks they operate are killing Americans by sending fentanyl into the United States. Their associates distribute this fentanyl into communities across America by every means possible, including the dark web,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The DEA is committed to shutting down the fentanyl supply chain from beginning to end, and we will relentlessly pursue the associates of these cartels wherever they hide, even in the dark corners of the internet.”

“Our coalition of law enforcement authorities across three continents proves that we all do better when we work together,” said Executive Director Catherine De Bolle of Europol. “This operation sends a strong message to criminals on the dark web: international law enforcement has the means and the ability to identify and hold you accountable for your illegal activities, even on the dark web.”

“Collaboration with our law enforcement partners is key to combatting fentanyl and opioid trafficking,” said Chief Jim Lee of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “Under the JCODE umbrella, law enforcement agencies across the globe have joined forces to take down criminals who use the darknet to buy and sell narcotics. Our team at IRS-CI plays an integral role in these investigations by following the money trail, whether it’s in fiat currency or digital assets on the blockchain.”

“The illicit movement of opioids poses a significant threat to public health and safety – whether by known transnational criminal gang members across international borders or anonymously through darknet spaces,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Director P.J. Lechleitner of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “Our HSI special agents, alongside federal and international partners, continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and dismantle networks responsible for trafficking dangerous, deadly narcotics and other contraband across global communities we are charged with protecting. We will continue to pursue bad actors engaged in these crimes to ensure they face justice, while protecting victims from these lethal substances.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service leverages our specialized knowledge of the postal system as part of sophisticated dark web investigations such as Operation SpecTor with great results,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We are committed to taking all necessary actions to combat illicit drugs in the mail. And we thank our law enforcement partners for working with us to achieve this; removing dangerous illicit substances from the mail and American communities saves lives.”

“Addressing our nation’s drug overdose crisis and epidemic of substance use disorders is an issue of great concern and remains a top public health priority for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” said Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D., of the FDA. “The FDA has undertaken strategic and impactful actions to prevent drug overdoses and reduce deaths and is committed to using all of our cyber-resources to shed light on the darkest corners of illicit medical supply chains for the health and safety of all Americans.”

Operation SpecTor resulted in over 100 federal operations and prosecutions, including:

• On Dec. 1, 2022, Anton Peck, 29, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin. According to court documents, between May 2021 and May 2022, Peck distributed narcotics from various darknet markets using the vendor profile “Syntropy.” After the transactions were carried out using cryptocurrency, Peck and co-conspirators Kevin Fusco and Vincent Banner mailed parcels containing fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine to cities around the country using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Fusco, 35, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. Banner, 31, of Boynton Beach, Florida, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin. Law enforcement recovered kilogram quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin from business and storage locations in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and New York City. Peck possessed a list of more than 6,000 customers living across the United States. The DEA, FBI, USPS Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida is prosecuting the case.
• On Nov. 18, 2022, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Christopher Hampton, 36, of Cerritos, California, with heading an organization that obtained bulk fentanyl, operated labs in California that used high-speed pill presses to create fake pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, and sold millions of pills to thousands of customers on the darknet. Hampton was named in an 11-count indictment that charges him with various narcotics and weapons offenses that could result in a sentence of life in prison. According to court documents, he was active on at least nine darknet marketplaces where he typically used the moniker “Narco710.” Hampton allegedly sold nearly $2 million worth of narcotics on two of these darknet marketplaces alone. He was arrested on Nov. 2, 2022, at which time federal law enforcement executed search warrants that led to the discovery and seizure of 450 pounds of suspected narcotics; six pill press machines, some of which were capable of producing thousands of pills per hour; and illegal firearms that included assault rifles and a machine gun. Agents later located a storage unit linked to the drug conspiracy and seized over 80 pounds of pressed fentanyl pills, eight guns, and precursor materials to press additional pills. The FBI JCODE and DEA HIDTA Tactical Diversion Squad investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is prosecuting the case.
• On May 12, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Holly Adams, 31, and Devlin Hosner, 33, of Indio, California, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, and with conspiracy to launder money. According to court documents, Adams and Hosner operated the vendor accounts “igogrrawwr” and “its4real” on the darknet marketplaces ToRReZ and Darkode, respectively, through which they sold tens of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in exchange for cryptocurrency. Adams and Hosner shipped these fentanyl pills to buyers throughout the United States, using the USPS, UPS, and other means of delivery. In the course of their conspiracy, Adams and Hosner finalized over 1,100 transactions of narcotics and other contraband and received more than $800,000 in cryptocurrency. Federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a hotel in Riverside county where Adams and Hosner were residing and recovered more than 10,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills as well as approximately 60 grams of methamphetamine. The IRS-CI, HSI, FBI, USPIS, and USPS-OIG investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California is prosecuting the case.

Operation SpecTor was a collaborative initiative across JCODE members, including the Department of Justice, FBI, DEA, USPIS, HSI, IRS-CI, ATF, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations. This operation was aided by non-operational supporting participation from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation SpecTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships. The investigations leading to Operation SpecTor were significantly aided by support and coordination by the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF); multi-agency Special Operations Division; the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section’s Digital Currency Initiative, Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, and Fraud Section; the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs; Europol and its Dark Web team; and international partners. The international partners include Eurojust; Austria’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt); France’s Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (Douane); Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), Central Criminal Investigation Department of Oldenburg (Zentrale KriminaIinspektion Oldenburg), General Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt/Main - Cybercrime Center (Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Frankfurt/Main, Zentralstelle zur Bekämpfung der Internetkriminalität), Berlin Police (Polizei Berlin), various police departments (Dienststellen der Länderpolizeien), German Customs Investigation (Zollfahndungsämter); the Netherland’s National Police (Politie); Poland’s Central Cybercrime Bureau (Centralne Biuro Zwalczania Cyberprzestępczości); Brazil’s Civil Police of the State of Piauí (Polícia Civil do Estado do Piauí), Civil Police of the Federal District (Polícia Civil do Distrito Federal), National Secretariat of Public Security - Directorate of Integrated Operations and Intelligence - Cyber Operations Laboratory (Laboratório de Operações Cibernéticas da Diretoria de Operações Integradas e de Inteligência - Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública); Switzerland’s Zurich Cantonal Police (Kantonspolizei Zürich) and Public Prosecutor’s Office II of the Canton of Zurich (Staatsanwaltschaft II); and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC).

Federal investigations and prosecutions are being conducted in more than 30 federal districts, including the District of Arizona, the Central District of California, the Eastern District of California, the Northern District of California, the Southern District of California, the District of Colorado, the District of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, the District of Delaware, the Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of Georgia, the Southern District of Indiana, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the District of Maryland, the District of Massachusetts, the Eastern District of Michigan, the Western District of Michigan, the Eastern District of Missouri, the Western District of Missouri, the District of Nebraska, the District of Nevada, the District of New Jersey, the Eastern District of New York, the Southern District of New York, the Western District of North Carolina, the Northern District of Ohio, the Southern District of Ohio, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the District of South Dakota, the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Eastern District of Texas, the Northern District of Texas, the Southern District of Texas, the District of Vermont, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Western District of Washington.

The Justice Department established the FBI-led JCODE team to lead and coordinate government efforts to detect, disrupt, and dismantle major criminal enterprises reliant on the darknet for trafficking opioids and other illicit narcotics, along with identifying and dismantling their supply chains.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

A Look Back At Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Film 'Fuzz'

I began to read and enjoy Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime novels when I was a teenager in the 1960s. 

(Ed McBain is seen in the below photo). 

I also read his literary novels, written under his name Evan Hunter, such as The Blackboard Jungle, and A Matter of Conviction, a novel about New York street gangs that was made into one of my favorite films from the 1960s, The Young Savages. The film starred Burt Lancaster and Telly Savalas.

Evan Hunter changed his name legally from his name at birth, Salvatore Lombino. He died in 2005.

One of the 87th Precinct crime novels I enjoyed was Fuzz, written in 1968.

The crime novel featured the 87^th regular cops, such as Detective Steve Carella, and a reoccurring bad guy in the crime series, “The Deaf Man.”

I also watched and enjoyed the 1972 film Fuzz, based on McBain’s novel, which starred Burt Reynolds as Carella and Yul Brenner as “The Deaf Man.” McBain wrote the screenplay for the action-comedy.  

Lee Pfeiffer at Cinemaretro.com offers his take on the 1972 film Fuzz.

In reviewing "Fuzz" when it opened in 1972, Vincent Canby of the New York Times noted that the film looks more like a dress rehearsal than a finished movie and was obviously intended to appeal to viewers who had a limited attention span. In contrast, Roger Ebert said he was put off by the exploitive elements of the movie poster, but in the end called it a funny, quietly cheerful movie. I guess I land in the same ballpark as Ebert, although I'm not without criticism of the film, which was based on author Ed McBain's popular "87th Precinct" novels that explored the excitement and absurdities found in a modern, big city police department. The film has an impressive ensemble cast: Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch (reunited after co-starring in "100 Rifles"), Tom Skeritt, Jack Weston and Raquel Welch, who appears rather fleetingly despite her prominent billing. Oh, and the bad guy is played by Yuel Brynner, who appears rather late in the film in a limited number of scenes.

The film is primarily played for laughs and it's scattershot plot jumps around at a dizzying pace. The action takes place in the aforementioned 87th Precinct in Boston, a run-down venue located in a troubled part of the city. The plot focuses on a harried group of cynical detectives who report to their equally cynical, burned-out boss, Lt. Byrnes (Dan Frazer). The precinct is depicted as decrepit and as worn-out as its inhabitants. There's a lot of chaotic action going on throughout the day with various local miscreants and eccentrics clogging up the works, much to the frustration of the burned-out cops.  The plot sees seasoned veteran cops Steve Carella (Burt Reynolds), Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt) and Meyer Meyer (you read that right) (Jack Weston) trying to cope with the chaos- as well as the arrival of a strikingly beautiful policewoman who has been assigned to the precinct, Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch). Among the cases being investigated simultaneously are the identities of the creeps who have been setting local hobos on fire, a serial rapist, various petty crimes and a late-breaking, high-profile threat posed by an unknown man who phones in death threats aimed at local public officials. When the ransom he demands isn't paid, said officials are bumped off in a high profile manner despite intense efforts by the police to thwart the plots. The villain is known as The Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a sophisticated brute with the persona of a Bond villain, who employs a small team of loyal and very competent crooks to help him carry out the various assassinations.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link: 

STREAMING REVIEW: "FUZZ" (1972) STARRING BURT REYNOLDS AND RAQUEL WELCH (SCREENPIX) - Cinema Retro

And you can watch the film via the below link:

Fuzz (1972) Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch - Action, Comedy - YouTube