Former undercover FBI Agent Bob Hamer is BACK in the tent to take us on a deep dive into Operation Smoking Dragon, where he took down an intricate Chinese crime syndicate. What started as a mission to investigate the illegal flow of counterfeit cigarettes turned into uncovering a sophisticated network of characters and criminals that were also bringing in counterfeit money, drugs and war-grade weapons into the United States.
Follow along as the Forrest Gump of the FBI takes us through the start of his decorated 26-year career in the FBI and one of his biggest assignments on this episode. WELCOME TO CAMP!
Check out Bob's first episode if you haven't already:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hh6PSHVunllmPsCxWKQLF?si=d2ec467ae79645cc
Edit and Produced: Christos Papastefanou
Shoutout to our sponsors - Whoop, MDhair, Morgan & Morgan, and Bluechew.
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TIME STAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:13 Bobs Background + Joining FBI + Undercover Work
9:49 Being Accepted to FBI Academy
13:30 How are Agents Selected
17:34 Operation Smoking Dragon + Counterfeit Cigarettes
20:41 How Were Cigarettes Imported?
22:50 Meeting The Informant + Cafe Roma
26:14 Can You Trust Informants?
28:08 Meeting The Bad Guys + Osteogenesis Osteomyelitis
32:00 Re-routing Counterfeits to FBI Warehouse + KGB Mob
43:07 How Much Was a Shipment? + Destroying $250,000 Investment
49:52 Meeting Chen, Jenny, and Michael + Ecstasy + Crystal Meth
55:14 How Bob Stayed Safe + Payments
57:07 Empathy For Criminals?
1:02:35 Circulation of Money and Drugs + Fake Viagra
1:06:44 Finding Stolen Guns + Cambodian Bribe
1:15:50 Chinese Involvement + Chen Chiang Liu
1:19:43 Counterfeit Postage Stamps + Counterfeit Credit Cards
1:24:42 Was Chen Intimidating?
1:26:26 Supernote Investigation + New $100 Bill
1:40:30 North Korean Involvement + Wilson Liu
1:47:27 Casino Money Laundering + Identifying Counterfeit Bills in Court
1:51:42 Obtaining The Supernotes + Ritz Carlton Story
2:01:42 How Were Supernotes Distributed? + Seizing The Money
2:07:36 Was Bob Scared? + Jenny’s Birthday Party + Chen’s arrest
2:14:55 What Classifies as Entrapment?
2:18:09 Building a Meth Lab in North Korea + Bob’s Aliases
2:23:47 Seeing Chen in Court
2:25:46 Bob’s Life After The Arrest + Fake Divorce
2:31:06 Bob’s Preparation For a Case
2:32:39 Outro
