1 00:00:08,245 --> 00:00:14,125 Speaker 1: School of Humans. It was a storage place right near us, 2 00:00:14,125 --> 00:00:16,925 Speaker 1: that's what we picked. And it was extremely well tucked 3 00:00:16,925 --> 00:00:20,045 Speaker 1: away at the same time as being able to get 4 00:00:20,085 --> 00:00:22,805 Speaker 1: trucks in and out quite easily right just top on 5 00:00:22,845 --> 00:00:27,445 Speaker 1: the freeway, and it's super like hidden, and that that 6 00:00:27,725 --> 00:00:37,805 Speaker 1: specific one was really sort of stashed. Okay, so I 7 00:00:37,845 --> 00:00:41,165 Speaker 1: have decided to go to the public storage container. Aware 8 00:00:41,805 --> 00:00:45,165 Speaker 1: my dad used to stash, you know, thousands of pounds 9 00:00:45,205 --> 00:00:48,125 Speaker 1: of pot. So I wanted to come here on my 10 00:00:48,165 --> 00:00:51,565 Speaker 1: way to the city and let's see what it felt like. 11 00:00:54,525 --> 00:00:57,405 Speaker 1: When I was growing up, my dad's storage unit was 12 00:00:57,565 --> 00:01:00,685 Speaker 1: one of my favorite places because a visit there was 13 00:01:00,765 --> 00:01:04,605 Speaker 1: both a rare occurrence and it was a fantastic playland 14 00:01:04,605 --> 00:01:08,525 Speaker 1: of furniture for fort building and romping. It was also 15 00:01:08,605 --> 00:01:12,445 Speaker 1: across the freeway from my favorite restaurant, McDonald's, which I 16 00:01:12,485 --> 00:01:15,045 Speaker 1: only got to go to on my birthday or maybe 17 00:01:15,085 --> 00:01:17,885 Speaker 1: if I was super lucky and my dad totally worn 18 00:01:17,965 --> 00:01:20,965 Speaker 1: down by my whining after a rare trip to the 19 00:01:21,005 --> 00:01:25,005 Speaker 1: storage unit. But this storage unit wasn't where my dad 20 00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:29,205 Speaker 1: would store his vintage and water damaged furniture. The furniture 21 00:01:29,325 --> 00:01:32,365 Speaker 1: was just there to hide thousands of pounds of pot 22 00:01:32,565 --> 00:01:35,005 Speaker 1: that moved in and out of Mill Valley via my 23 00:01:35,045 --> 00:01:39,285 Speaker 1: dad's prolific smuggling business. I got to the storage unit 24 00:01:39,325 --> 00:01:41,325 Speaker 1: and I called my partner to talk to because I 25 00:01:41,365 --> 00:01:45,405 Speaker 1: needed someone besides myself to work this out with. All Right, 26 00:01:45,525 --> 00:01:49,325 Speaker 1: the phone is on, this is happening there. You are high. 27 00:01:50,525 --> 00:01:54,645 Speaker 1: So I just parked at the public storage shed. It's 28 00:01:54,645 --> 00:01:58,005 Speaker 1: not a shed. I mean, there's multiple units where we 29 00:01:58,085 --> 00:02:00,685 Speaker 1: used to come here. It's like cover. There's eucalyptus everywhere, 30 00:02:00,765 --> 00:02:04,485 Speaker 1: Like it's very it's totally magical actually, like it's a 31 00:02:04,565 --> 00:02:06,885 Speaker 1: magical place if you're a kid. It's so it's like 32 00:02:06,925 --> 00:02:11,565 Speaker 1: the memories are so vivid of coming here and getting 33 00:02:11,565 --> 00:02:15,285 Speaker 1: to play on this furniture that was in front of 34 00:02:15,325 --> 00:02:18,405 Speaker 1: the pot which was in the back. Does it feel like, 35 00:02:18,685 --> 00:02:21,365 Speaker 1: oh like this this is not the kind of place 36 00:02:21,405 --> 00:02:25,525 Speaker 1: you would expect anything to be going on here. It 37 00:02:25,565 --> 00:02:29,405 Speaker 1: does feel nestled and hidden and cozy, but that's Mill Valley, 38 00:02:29,605 --> 00:02:32,045 Speaker 1: Like everything in Mill Valley is nestled and cozy because 39 00:02:32,045 --> 00:02:35,805 Speaker 1: it's a valley. So you have fond memories of this 40 00:02:35,925 --> 00:02:39,765 Speaker 1: storage shed, is what you're saying, mega like mega fond memories. 41 00:02:39,805 --> 00:02:42,245 Speaker 1: I didn't get to go here very often, and I love, 42 00:02:42,765 --> 00:02:45,205 Speaker 1: did you wonder why? I know, I know I should 43 00:02:45,205 --> 00:02:48,205 Speaker 1: have wondered why I was so clueless. I didn't wonder 44 00:02:48,245 --> 00:02:51,045 Speaker 1: why I never got to do anything fun. I mean, 45 00:02:51,085 --> 00:02:52,365 Speaker 1: oh no I did. I got to do fun things 46 00:02:52,365 --> 00:02:54,845 Speaker 1: all the time, but I never I was such a loud, 47 00:02:54,845 --> 00:02:57,925 Speaker 1: annoying child. I didn't. I was often told, you know, 48 00:02:57,965 --> 00:03:01,845 Speaker 1: I didn't get to hang with the grown ups. Yeah, 49 00:03:01,925 --> 00:03:05,885 Speaker 1: you were not. You were not a suspicious child. Same 50 00:03:07,525 --> 00:03:09,925 Speaker 1: I well, I still am not a suspicious human. Like 51 00:03:09,965 --> 00:03:12,285 Speaker 1: I'm not a suspicious adult. Like I am best friends 52 00:03:12,285 --> 00:03:16,285 Speaker 1: with everybody, like nothing wrong is ever happening. You're probably 53 00:03:16,405 --> 00:03:19,005 Speaker 1: very like you know, they could just be like, hey kid, 54 00:03:19,445 --> 00:03:22,205 Speaker 1: you know, go play in this furgniture, and that was 55 00:03:22,245 --> 00:03:24,685 Speaker 1: like perfect for them. Yeah, And I'm trying to remember 56 00:03:24,685 --> 00:03:28,325 Speaker 1: if I smelled the pot, you know, because there were bales, 57 00:03:28,365 --> 00:03:30,125 Speaker 1: like I'm you know, maybe a thousand pounds would be 58 00:03:30,125 --> 00:03:32,285 Speaker 1: there or something. And you know what, it's interesting because 59 00:03:32,285 --> 00:03:35,205 Speaker 1: it is in this grove of eucalyptus trees, and eucalyptus 60 00:03:35,205 --> 00:03:39,765 Speaker 1: smell really strong. Well, that's that's smart, that's best. Something 61 00:03:39,845 --> 00:03:42,245 Speaker 1: you should ask him. It's like, Hey, did you take 62 00:03:42,285 --> 00:03:44,885 Speaker 1: that to your account? Yeah, no, it's totally true because 63 00:03:44,925 --> 00:03:48,605 Speaker 1: eucalyptus are an incredibly strong smell, and if you're unloading 64 00:03:49,445 --> 00:03:52,845 Speaker 1: a thousand pounds pot bales, it's a great idea to 65 00:03:52,885 --> 00:03:55,925 Speaker 1: do it in a eucalyptus grove. I would came here 66 00:03:55,925 --> 00:03:58,805 Speaker 1: to the storage container area the storage units to sort 67 00:03:58,805 --> 00:04:00,765 Speaker 1: of see what's going on, and that I feel is 68 00:04:00,765 --> 00:04:05,325 Speaker 1: the takeaway is like, Wow, this isn't a aromatic grove. 69 00:04:07,525 --> 00:04:12,925 Speaker 1: The storage unit represents sophistication and professionalism in my dad's industry. 70 00:04:13,445 --> 00:04:17,405 Speaker 1: He has a permanent and reliable place to store the product. 71 00:04:18,325 --> 00:04:21,165 Speaker 1: But before he acquired the storage unit, like what happens 72 00:04:21,205 --> 00:04:23,765 Speaker 1: so much in the life of a smuggler, my dad 73 00:04:23,805 --> 00:04:28,445 Speaker 1: loses all of his money and has to rebuild. This 74 00:04:28,565 --> 00:04:40,885 Speaker 1: is disorganized crime smuggler's daughter. I'm Rainbow Valentine do Young, 75 00:04:41,005 --> 00:04:52,365 Speaker 1: free and groovy, making it up. We rolled along country. 76 00:04:54,925 --> 00:05:02,725 Speaker 1: He didn't in the Golden Gag State making it up 77 00:05:02,925 --> 00:05:12,965 Speaker 1: as well. So it's nineteen seventy four and my dad 78 00:05:12,965 --> 00:05:15,845 Speaker 1: has been with Taffy and her toddler in northern California 79 00:05:15,885 --> 00:05:19,525 Speaker 1: for four years. Organically, he's built a thriving cross country 80 00:05:19,525 --> 00:05:22,165 Speaker 1: pot smuggling business with a couple trusted friends in New 81 00:05:22,245 --> 00:05:26,165 Speaker 1: York and his New West Coast contacts, the heavyweight smugglers 82 00:05:26,165 --> 00:05:30,085 Speaker 1: of San Francisco's psychedelic Revolution. My dad has been getting 83 00:05:30,125 --> 00:05:33,405 Speaker 1: big deal after big deal. There's the Lime Green Pot 84 00:05:33,805 --> 00:05:37,445 Speaker 1: dabbling in cocaine dealing, the first Panama Red Trip, a 85 00:05:37,605 --> 00:05:40,525 Speaker 1: minor hiccup, getting arrested for bringing a nutcracker filled with 86 00:05:40,565 --> 00:05:43,165 Speaker 1: a couple of grams of pot to the airport, and 87 00:05:43,205 --> 00:05:46,405 Speaker 1: then in nineteen seventy four it's the second Panama Red 88 00:05:46,445 --> 00:05:50,325 Speaker 1: Trip when the young stoned Brooklyn Boys get busted in Indiana. 89 00:05:50,485 --> 00:05:58,565 Speaker 1: Remember that's my birthday, my literal birthday. Ah. Yes, the 90 00:05:58,765 --> 00:06:00,925 Speaker 1: state of the art home video of my home birth. 91 00:06:01,805 --> 00:06:04,925 Speaker 1: That dark and stormy night, my dad and mom are 92 00:06:04,965 --> 00:06:07,605 Speaker 1: living in Est Marin in the hippity hobbity house with 93 00:06:07,685 --> 00:06:11,165 Speaker 1: five year old Vertica, and in a series of mistakes, 94 00:06:11,565 --> 00:06:15,525 Speaker 1: my dad ends up losing all of our famili's money. Broke, 95 00:06:15,605 --> 00:06:19,005 Speaker 1: Scared and disillusioned, my parents move and try to start 96 00:06:19,045 --> 00:06:22,045 Speaker 1: over in the straight world. When I say straight world, 97 00:06:22,245 --> 00:06:26,205 Speaker 1: I mean the normal people world, not the psychedelic drug industry. 98 00:06:26,805 --> 00:06:29,925 Speaker 1: My parents are scared of retaliation, and they're scared they 99 00:06:29,965 --> 00:06:33,605 Speaker 1: might lose their kids. They dive into business as fashion 100 00:06:33,685 --> 00:06:38,485 Speaker 1: designers and merchandisers. After the day you were born and 101 00:06:38,525 --> 00:06:41,685 Speaker 1: we lost all our money, I continue to be disillusioned. 102 00:06:41,725 --> 00:06:44,045 Speaker 1: So I was very disillusioned, and I wasn't I was 103 00:06:44,085 --> 00:06:49,125 Speaker 1: too fearful to go back into the biz. And through 104 00:06:49,245 --> 00:06:54,965 Speaker 1: other of our psychedelic friends, we were introduced to this 105 00:06:55,445 --> 00:07:00,085 Speaker 1: very unusual asthetic. Having grown up in the forties and fifties, 106 00:07:00,125 --> 00:07:03,085 Speaker 1: my mom always made her own clothes and the nineteen 107 00:07:03,165 --> 00:07:06,085 Speaker 1: sixties dance parties were all about dressing up in Victorian 108 00:07:06,205 --> 00:07:09,685 Speaker 1: costumes found in San Francisco thrift stores. My mom was 109 00:07:09,725 --> 00:07:14,045 Speaker 1: obsessed with fashion and costumes. So my parents are friends 110 00:07:14,045 --> 00:07:18,285 Speaker 1: with this smuggler called the Millionaire. He's filthy rich from 111 00:07:18,365 --> 00:07:23,565 Speaker 1: smuggling et ergotamine tar treat the base that you use 112 00:07:23,805 --> 00:07:27,605 Speaker 1: to make LSD and with his boodles of money, he 113 00:07:27,725 --> 00:07:31,125 Speaker 1: wanted to start a clothing business. We were introduced by 114 00:07:31,165 --> 00:07:35,645 Speaker 1: my dentist. He wanted to make clothing. So Taffy and 115 00:07:35,685 --> 00:07:40,845 Speaker 1: I and this other lady he offered to give us 116 00:07:40,845 --> 00:07:43,685 Speaker 1: the money to start a clothing company. And ah, you said, hey, 117 00:07:43,845 --> 00:07:45,445 Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm doing and blah blah and 118 00:07:45,525 --> 00:07:48,645 Speaker 1: this and that. Whatever he said, he didn't care, and 119 00:07:48,965 --> 00:07:52,205 Speaker 1: we needed something to do because I had pulled out 120 00:07:52,245 --> 00:07:57,005 Speaker 1: again as usual. So we started the clothing company and 121 00:07:57,125 --> 00:08:02,325 Speaker 1: we named it after you, Rainbow Valentine, and we made 122 00:08:02,645 --> 00:08:06,765 Speaker 1: very high fashion, modest clothes, and it was the most 123 00:08:07,485 --> 00:08:10,565 Speaker 1: It was a really horrible time for me because I 124 00:08:10,645 --> 00:08:13,405 Speaker 1: hated the clothing business. You had to be born into it, 125 00:08:13,525 --> 00:08:16,285 Speaker 1: just like any other and I knew nothing about it 126 00:08:16,365 --> 00:08:20,645 Speaker 1: nor anybody in it really. So there I was doing 127 00:08:20,725 --> 00:08:25,485 Speaker 1: all this stuff and I didn't realize my job was 128 00:08:25,525 --> 00:08:28,205 Speaker 1: to be a salesman. My parents started their clothing line, 129 00:08:28,245 --> 00:08:31,685 Speaker 1: designing vulure track suits, which twenty years later, in nineteen 130 00:08:31,765 --> 00:08:34,925 Speaker 1: ninety six, put juicy couture on the map, but in 131 00:08:34,925 --> 00:08:38,525 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, no one was buying that. Yeah, no, 132 00:08:38,605 --> 00:08:40,925 Speaker 1: I'm not a great salesman. People say that to me. 133 00:08:40,965 --> 00:08:46,885 Speaker 1: I am great at at speaking about what I completely love. 134 00:08:47,325 --> 00:08:50,205 Speaker 1: That's what I'm great about, and I'm not. You know, 135 00:08:50,285 --> 00:08:54,525 Speaker 1: I was totally tentative in this. Idn't I didn't know 136 00:08:54,645 --> 00:08:58,725 Speaker 1: what styles. The gig was just crazy, and it made 137 00:08:58,765 --> 00:09:01,925 Speaker 1: me horrible that it just I couldn't do it. I 138 00:09:02,085 --> 00:09:05,925 Speaker 1: was traveling to clothing shows, you know, and less in 139 00:09:06,085 --> 00:09:09,525 Speaker 1: New York, in LA and Chicago, and it was horrible. 140 00:09:09,565 --> 00:09:11,525 Speaker 1: I mean that people had to deal with were horrible 141 00:09:11,565 --> 00:09:16,965 Speaker 1: people for me, and the ladies were having a ton 142 00:09:17,005 --> 00:09:20,365 Speaker 1: of fun. They just went off merrily designing whatever the 143 00:09:20,405 --> 00:09:25,925 Speaker 1: fuck they wanted to make, you know, And I'm I'm 144 00:09:25,965 --> 00:09:29,645 Speaker 1: forced to have to try and fucking sell it. I 145 00:09:29,725 --> 00:09:34,125 Speaker 1: lost my complete completely lost my self esteem from that 146 00:09:34,165 --> 00:09:40,645 Speaker 1: one Taffy and I split up. I just I thought 147 00:09:40,645 --> 00:09:43,645 Speaker 1: I was so worthless and I failed, and I failed 148 00:09:43,685 --> 00:09:47,525 Speaker 1: my family, and I've lost all this money for you know, 149 00:09:48,365 --> 00:09:56,125 Speaker 1: and well I'm a sensitive guy after pouring everything into it. 150 00:09:56,285 --> 00:09:59,445 Speaker 1: My parents clothing business failed. They were out of luck, 151 00:09:59,685 --> 00:10:02,925 Speaker 1: out of money, and the stress led my parents to separate. 152 00:10:03,805 --> 00:10:07,365 Speaker 1: I barely remember this. I was probably two or three. 153 00:10:07,925 --> 00:10:11,085 Speaker 1: My dad is devastated, Mom, me and my sister move 154 00:10:11,125 --> 00:10:13,365 Speaker 1: in with a couple of my mom's girlfriends, and my 155 00:10:13,405 --> 00:10:15,685 Speaker 1: dad moves into a group house filled with the hippiest 156 00:10:15,685 --> 00:10:19,605 Speaker 1: of hippies. So even today, after affirming he once traded 157 00:10:19,645 --> 00:10:22,165 Speaker 1: acid for a VW bus of redwood, burl slabs and 158 00:10:22,205 --> 00:10:26,085 Speaker 1: big Sir My dad insists he's not a hippie, and 159 00:10:26,245 --> 00:10:28,605 Speaker 1: his overwhelming memories of the time he and my mom 160 00:10:28,725 --> 00:10:32,445 Speaker 1: separated are of being sad and lonely while living amongst 161 00:10:32,725 --> 00:10:36,605 Speaker 1: irritatingly hippie hippies. But even in his cloud of depression, 162 00:10:36,685 --> 00:10:39,605 Speaker 1: my dad finds his glass half full attitude. I was 163 00:10:39,685 --> 00:10:46,325 Speaker 1: really down and sort of disappeared for a minute into 164 00:10:46,365 --> 00:10:50,725 Speaker 1: the hippie world, which was not me. But I put 165 00:10:50,765 --> 00:10:57,285 Speaker 1: myself back together again. Humpty dumpty that I was so. 166 00:10:57,365 --> 00:11:01,285 Speaker 1: My dad, a genuine humpty dumpty, endeavors to put himself 167 00:11:01,285 --> 00:11:05,965 Speaker 1: back together again when three big things happened. First, he 168 00:11:06,005 --> 00:11:09,485 Speaker 1: gets back into smuggling. In nineteen seventy eight, some of 169 00:11:09,525 --> 00:11:11,325 Speaker 1: his New York pals hook him up with a trip 170 00:11:11,405 --> 00:11:15,325 Speaker 1: involving a modest load of Colombian pot coming into Florida. 171 00:11:15,685 --> 00:11:18,205 Speaker 1: My dad knows he's good at the smuggling business and 172 00:11:18,285 --> 00:11:20,525 Speaker 1: he needs to make a living, so he agrees to 173 00:11:20,605 --> 00:11:24,765 Speaker 1: arrange a pickup for the product and distribution. He convinces 174 00:11:24,805 --> 00:11:27,165 Speaker 1: this psychiatrist friend of my mom's to front him some 175 00:11:27,205 --> 00:11:30,285 Speaker 1: money to hire a driver to score the pot in Florida. 176 00:11:30,405 --> 00:11:32,885 Speaker 1: The driver knows people to sell it to in Chicago, 177 00:11:34,445 --> 00:11:37,485 Speaker 1: this other strange fellow I met, who I really didn't 178 00:11:37,485 --> 00:11:40,045 Speaker 1: know very well and then never really hung out with. 179 00:11:40,165 --> 00:11:42,765 Speaker 1: After said, oh I got people in Chicago, I can 180 00:11:42,805 --> 00:11:48,445 Speaker 1: sell it to Chicago. I don't know, fucking Chicago whatever. 181 00:11:49,285 --> 00:11:51,485 Speaker 1: So the driver and my dad had to Chicago to 182 00:11:51,525 --> 00:11:55,085 Speaker 1: distribute and collect the profit. And I don't remember the 183 00:11:55,205 --> 00:12:01,285 Speaker 1: trip real well that it wasn't particularly successful. I guess 184 00:12:01,285 --> 00:12:05,285 Speaker 1: it was mediocre pot and whatever. We finally sold it 185 00:12:05,965 --> 00:12:11,885 Speaker 1: but and got the money. But that was my reinitiation 186 00:12:12,085 --> 00:12:16,365 Speaker 1: back in in nineteen seventy eight. Well, the trip did 187 00:12:16,445 --> 00:12:19,005 Speaker 1: end up being worth it, and now digging themselves out 188 00:12:19,045 --> 00:12:21,645 Speaker 1: of poverty, my parents are able to reunite and we 189 00:12:21,725 --> 00:12:24,045 Speaker 1: all moved back in together into a rental house in 190 00:12:24,045 --> 00:12:27,525 Speaker 1: the Mill Valley, Redwoods. So the next thing that happened 191 00:12:27,565 --> 00:12:30,045 Speaker 1: to put my humpty dumpty dad back together was an 192 00:12:30,045 --> 00:12:33,365 Speaker 1: old friend came knocking with a thank you gift of 193 00:12:33,525 --> 00:12:37,685 Speaker 1: thirty thousand dollars. For a few years in the early seventies, 194 00:12:37,805 --> 00:12:40,125 Speaker 1: my parents had helped out their friend the broker, who 195 00:12:40,165 --> 00:12:43,085 Speaker 1: was also a fellow smuggler. He was also a junkie, 196 00:12:43,405 --> 00:12:45,205 Speaker 1: and my parents would let him stay at their house 197 00:12:45,205 --> 00:12:46,885 Speaker 1: and take care of him when he was really doped 198 00:12:46,965 --> 00:12:50,485 Speaker 1: up on heroin. And I had been really good to 199 00:12:50,605 --> 00:12:56,325 Speaker 1: him in the early seventies when he was constantly fucked 200 00:12:56,445 --> 00:12:59,725 Speaker 1: up and trying to kick junk, and we took care 201 00:12:59,765 --> 00:13:02,685 Speaker 1: of him and he stayed at our crashed at our 202 00:13:02,765 --> 00:13:05,085 Speaker 1: house at different points in blah blah, and we had 203 00:13:05,125 --> 00:13:08,205 Speaker 1: no idea that he was actually at the same time 204 00:13:08,325 --> 00:13:12,885 Speaker 1: stealing our prescription drugs, which which reading and it hardly 205 00:13:13,005 --> 00:13:16,245 Speaker 1: used anyway. Well, later the broker makes a lot of 206 00:13:16,245 --> 00:13:19,285 Speaker 1: money smuggling. He also spends some time in a tie prison, 207 00:13:19,445 --> 00:13:22,165 Speaker 1: but that's later. Anyway, he wants to make amends for 208 00:13:22,245 --> 00:13:25,285 Speaker 1: taking advantage of my parents hospitality and give them a 209 00:13:25,325 --> 00:13:29,085 Speaker 1: thank you gift. He I mean, they were rolling in it. 210 00:13:29,205 --> 00:13:31,125 Speaker 1: So he said, well, here, you know, for all that 211 00:13:32,005 --> 00:13:35,685 Speaker 1: time you really took care of us. Here, here's a 212 00:13:35,685 --> 00:13:38,485 Speaker 1: bunch of money. Go buy a house in no Valley. 213 00:13:39,245 --> 00:13:41,805 Speaker 1: This money is the down payment on my childhood home. 214 00:13:42,565 --> 00:13:46,205 Speaker 1: Finally my family can stop moving and settle down. Now. 215 00:13:46,245 --> 00:13:48,885 Speaker 1: The third and final thing that got my family back 216 00:13:48,925 --> 00:13:52,325 Speaker 1: on its feet was in nineteen seventy nine, when opportunity 217 00:13:52,405 --> 00:13:57,485 Speaker 1: knocked in the form of sixty thousand pounds of Lebanese hash. 218 00:13:57,605 --> 00:14:01,525 Speaker 1: You're listening to Disorganized Crime. I'm Rainbow Valentine. We'll be 219 00:14:01,645 --> 00:14:06,405 Speaker 1: right back. My family truly gets back on its feet 220 00:14:06,405 --> 00:14:10,005 Speaker 1: with this huge hash deal. My dad's New York friend 221 00:14:10,005 --> 00:14:13,885 Speaker 1: and colleague, Blondie, was a big smuggler, part of the 222 00:14:13,965 --> 00:14:18,605 Speaker 1: international operations, and he came into sixty thousand pounds of 223 00:14:18,685 --> 00:14:21,925 Speaker 1: Lebanese hash and he needed everyone he knew to help 224 00:14:22,005 --> 00:14:24,485 Speaker 1: him get rid of it. Blondie sends a couple of 225 00:14:24,525 --> 00:14:27,125 Speaker 1: his guys to California to talk it over with my dad. 226 00:14:27,645 --> 00:14:30,365 Speaker 1: Blondie knows my dad's been doing some smaller smuggles, like 227 00:14:30,405 --> 00:14:32,805 Speaker 1: the Chicago one that was a couple hundred pounds of pot, 228 00:14:33,365 --> 00:14:36,845 Speaker 1: but this was in the thousands. The way I found 229 00:14:36,845 --> 00:14:38,645 Speaker 1: out about it is all of a sudden, the whole 230 00:14:39,805 --> 00:14:43,445 Speaker 1: two or three of the boys came and visited me, 231 00:14:43,485 --> 00:14:47,765 Speaker 1: and they were just bubbling. We did it, We did it, 232 00:14:48,245 --> 00:14:52,645 Speaker 1: we did it. We've we've brought in our first big, 233 00:14:53,045 --> 00:14:59,845 Speaker 1: big trip. They were unquestionably the Disorganized Crime crew. Okay, 234 00:15:01,565 --> 00:15:04,645 Speaker 1: my dad agrees to the job. Finally he's back in 235 00:15:04,645 --> 00:15:07,245 Speaker 1: the big time business since he attempted to quit five 236 00:15:07,325 --> 00:15:11,605 Speaker 1: years prior, he's ready to distribute four thousand pounds of 237 00:15:11,685 --> 00:15:16,045 Speaker 1: Blondie's sixty thousand pounds of Lebanese hash. So we're going 238 00:15:16,125 --> 00:15:23,485 Speaker 1: to send out a truckload of four thousand pounds for you. Okay, geez, 239 00:15:23,485 --> 00:15:28,525 Speaker 1: that's a lot. That's like how many elephants through? Four elephants? Well, no, 240 00:15:28,845 --> 00:15:33,045 Speaker 1: four thousand pounds, yeah, one elephant. So our family loves elephants. 241 00:15:33,085 --> 00:15:36,205 Speaker 1: In fact, the elephant is our family crest. So I 242 00:15:36,245 --> 00:15:39,565 Speaker 1: decided to measure the pot in elephants. It's an African 243 00:15:39,645 --> 00:15:44,325 Speaker 1: male adult elephant averages thirteen thousand pounds, so Blondie sends 244 00:15:44,365 --> 00:15:47,685 Speaker 1: out about a quarter of an elephant in Lebanese hash. Now, 245 00:15:47,685 --> 00:15:50,565 Speaker 1: four thousand pounds is also the average weight of a rhinoceros, 246 00:15:50,645 --> 00:15:54,165 Speaker 1: by the way, or a fat giraffe according to the Internet. 247 00:15:54,885 --> 00:15:58,685 Speaker 1: For those listeners out there unfamiliar with hash, it's a sticky, firm, 248 00:15:58,765 --> 00:16:01,445 Speaker 1: resinous material and you only need a pinch to get high. 249 00:16:02,045 --> 00:16:04,965 Speaker 1: According to my everyday pot smoking friends, it would take 250 00:16:05,165 --> 00:16:08,685 Speaker 1: one into three years to finish smoking one pound of 251 00:16:08,725 --> 00:16:12,325 Speaker 1: hash since you only need a nib. So four thousand 252 00:16:12,365 --> 00:16:16,805 Speaker 1: pounds is a lot of product. Smuggling requires a lot 253 00:16:16,845 --> 00:16:19,245 Speaker 1: of moving parts, with different people in charge of different 254 00:16:19,245 --> 00:16:22,445 Speaker 1: parts of the process. Now there isn't a traditional chain 255 00:16:22,485 --> 00:16:25,485 Speaker 1: of command per se. It's more of a freelance kind 256 00:16:25,485 --> 00:16:27,845 Speaker 1: of gig, but there is a chain of command in 257 00:16:27,885 --> 00:16:32,365 Speaker 1: a freelance fashion. My dad would buy the product outright 258 00:16:32,405 --> 00:16:34,805 Speaker 1: with a handshake deal and say yeah, I'll take care 259 00:16:34,845 --> 00:16:38,005 Speaker 1: of this four thousand pounds of Lebanese hash, and him 260 00:16:38,005 --> 00:16:41,285 Speaker 1: and Blondie handshake on it. And everyone's a freelancer. No 261 00:16:41,285 --> 00:16:43,165 Speaker 1: one can bail you out. There's no four o one ks. 262 00:16:43,565 --> 00:16:47,965 Speaker 1: You're on your own. Everyone's an independent contractor. One of 263 00:16:48,005 --> 00:16:51,565 Speaker 1: the most important jobs in smuggling is the driver, also 264 00:16:51,605 --> 00:16:54,645 Speaker 1: known as the bagman. For this Lebanese hash deal, the 265 00:16:54,725 --> 00:17:00,165 Speaker 1: driver was doubling his professional truck driving career with smuggling. Well, okay, 266 00:17:00,245 --> 00:17:03,165 Speaker 1: so the main truck trucker was this guy who was 267 00:17:03,845 --> 00:17:06,725 Speaker 1: I mean, who drove big loads around. He was a 268 00:17:06,725 --> 00:17:11,365 Speaker 1: professional truck driver. He had a Class A license, and 269 00:17:12,325 --> 00:17:18,605 Speaker 1: this load came out in a huge horse trailer or 270 00:17:18,645 --> 00:17:24,285 Speaker 1: a cattle trailer or some forty foot huge thing. Were 271 00:17:24,325 --> 00:17:28,205 Speaker 1: there livestocking at and the nash No, there wasn't. There was. 272 00:17:28,565 --> 00:17:33,205 Speaker 1: I can't remember really it's forty years ago. Over my 273 00:17:33,245 --> 00:17:36,365 Speaker 1: dad's twenty two plus year career, he worked with very 274 00:17:36,405 --> 00:17:41,565 Speaker 1: few drivers. His main driver, who fastidiously hauled moving trucks 275 00:17:41,565 --> 00:17:44,845 Speaker 1: of pot cross country, is one of our oldest family friends. 276 00:17:45,085 --> 00:17:47,485 Speaker 1: And we're going to call him Sandwich because he once 277 00:17:47,485 --> 00:17:49,645 Speaker 1: owned a tasty eatery that I loved as a child. 278 00:17:50,485 --> 00:17:53,005 Speaker 1: When I called mister Sandwich to ask if he'd share 279 00:17:53,045 --> 00:17:56,605 Speaker 1: his stories with me, he unleashed a torrent of riveting 280 00:17:56,645 --> 00:18:00,925 Speaker 1: tales that he had never spoken aloud ever to anyone. 281 00:18:01,885 --> 00:18:04,765 Speaker 1: His children still don't even know about his former smuggling career. 282 00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:10,285 Speaker 1: Sandwich is another scrupulous, brilliant, nice Jewish kid from the 283 00:18:10,325 --> 00:18:13,445 Speaker 1: East Coast, and my dad relied on him to rent 284 00:18:13,525 --> 00:18:17,085 Speaker 1: moving trucks, buy out the marine thrift stores of furniture, 285 00:18:17,645 --> 00:18:20,965 Speaker 1: because again my dad would often hide the product behind 286 00:18:21,085 --> 00:18:25,405 Speaker 1: furniture and then drive and deliver the product to New York. 287 00:18:26,485 --> 00:18:28,685 Speaker 1: He'd rent the truck and then from there he'd go 288 00:18:31,165 --> 00:18:34,565 Speaker 1: buy out to Saint Vincent de Paul, buy out a 289 00:18:34,565 --> 00:18:38,085 Speaker 1: truck load of furniture of used furniture and bring it 290 00:18:38,125 --> 00:18:41,005 Speaker 1: back to the warehouse. We'd pack it up on the 291 00:18:41,085 --> 00:18:44,325 Speaker 1: Saint Vincent de Paul thrift store. It is absurd to 292 00:18:44,405 --> 00:18:47,685 Speaker 1: learn that even marine thrift stores are significant, because being 293 00:18:47,685 --> 00:18:50,485 Speaker 1: a thrift store loving family, I often run into my 294 00:18:50,525 --> 00:18:54,085 Speaker 1: family members at marine thrift stores. I have no idea 295 00:18:54,165 --> 00:18:57,525 Speaker 1: what he did with the furniture loads, the truckloads. I 296 00:18:57,685 --> 00:19:02,165 Speaker 1: really have no idea. I never asked him. Okay, these 297 00:19:02,165 --> 00:19:04,165 Speaker 1: sounds are my dad putting on his raincoat in the 298 00:19:04,245 --> 00:19:07,925 Speaker 1: middle of our interview. I you know, I was what 299 00:19:08,125 --> 00:19:13,005 Speaker 1: I was into, solutions and success. I didn't care how 300 00:19:13,045 --> 00:19:18,085 Speaker 1: it got happened. That was not my part of the trip. 301 00:19:18,165 --> 00:19:21,645 Speaker 1: That was Sandwich is part of the drip that those details. 302 00:19:21,685 --> 00:19:25,125 Speaker 1: Each of us did different parts. That way, we couldn't 303 00:19:26,645 --> 00:19:30,525 Speaker 1: ran down each other. Almost together. My dad and Sandwich 304 00:19:30,525 --> 00:19:33,205 Speaker 1: would load thousands of pounds of pot into the back 305 00:19:33,245 --> 00:19:36,125 Speaker 1: of a moving truck and the front with furniture, and 306 00:19:36,245 --> 00:19:38,765 Speaker 1: Sandwich would take a few days to drive the load 307 00:19:38,805 --> 00:19:42,925 Speaker 1: to my dad's guy in New York City. Annoyingly, the 308 00:19:43,045 --> 00:19:45,645 Speaker 1: drives were almost always in the dead of winter, because 309 00:19:45,685 --> 00:19:49,005 Speaker 1: that's when pot harvested in the fall is ready for delivery. 310 00:19:50,405 --> 00:19:53,525 Speaker 1: What happened on Sandwich's cross country drives was his business. 311 00:19:54,085 --> 00:19:58,085 Speaker 1: My dad relied on him to successfully achieve his task totally, 312 00:19:58,525 --> 00:20:01,205 Speaker 1: and my dad didn't concern himself with how it happened 313 00:20:01,565 --> 00:20:04,885 Speaker 1: or what may have happened along the way. So mister 314 00:20:04,925 --> 00:20:07,525 Speaker 1: Sandwich change his mind about speaking to me on tape, 315 00:20:07,605 --> 00:20:10,245 Speaker 1: but he gave me the thumbs up to share his stories. 316 00:20:11,885 --> 00:20:14,325 Speaker 1: So Sandwich is driving a rented moving truck with a 317 00:20:14,365 --> 00:20:16,925 Speaker 1: load of four thousand pounds of pot from Mill Valley 318 00:20:16,925 --> 00:20:21,685 Speaker 1: to New York. It's a snowstorm in January in Nebraska 319 00:20:21,765 --> 00:20:25,125 Speaker 1: when the truck breaks down, luckily at a truck stop, 320 00:20:25,245 --> 00:20:29,005 Speaker 1: not the middle of the inner State. So Sandwich calls 321 00:20:29,005 --> 00:20:31,525 Speaker 1: the truck company from a payphone, of course they're in 322 00:20:31,765 --> 00:20:35,125 Speaker 1: cell phones in the nineteen eighties, and the truck company 323 00:20:35,165 --> 00:20:38,765 Speaker 1: sends out a new truck and thoughtfully a couple guys 324 00:20:38,805 --> 00:20:44,645 Speaker 1: to help Sandwich unload and reload the truck's cargo. Now, 325 00:20:44,685 --> 00:20:47,605 Speaker 1: my dad always hired a pilot and someone to ride shotgun, 326 00:20:48,045 --> 00:20:52,485 Speaker 1: precisely in case this kind of situation arose. Well, Sandwich 327 00:20:52,565 --> 00:20:56,725 Speaker 1: remembers convincing the truck rental guys there braun was unnecessary 328 00:20:57,085 --> 00:21:01,805 Speaker 1: and remarkably manage along with his copilot to unpack the 329 00:21:01,885 --> 00:21:05,445 Speaker 1: broken truck and repack the new truck in a Nebraska 330 00:21:05,605 --> 00:21:10,805 Speaker 1: truck stop in a snowstorm undetected. The snowstorm may have 331 00:21:10,845 --> 00:21:13,805 Speaker 1: saved their skin, as frigid Midwest blizzards are less than 332 00:21:13,845 --> 00:21:17,685 Speaker 1: ideal conditions for nosynellies or helpful cops looking to assist 333 00:21:17,685 --> 00:21:21,165 Speaker 1: out of towners moving heavy furniture and or bales of pot. 334 00:21:22,925 --> 00:21:28,165 Speaker 1: Sandwich's other driving close call happened in Wyoming. He, his copilot, 335 00:21:28,165 --> 00:21:30,925 Speaker 1: and their moving truck of several thousands of pounds of 336 00:21:30,965 --> 00:21:34,605 Speaker 1: pot plus furniture stop at a gas station fuel up, 337 00:21:35,045 --> 00:21:38,205 Speaker 1: and each, thinking the other has paid the bill, continue 338 00:21:38,285 --> 00:21:41,365 Speaker 1: on their way. Remember this is the eighties, before you 339 00:21:41,445 --> 00:21:45,685 Speaker 1: prepaid for gas, So they tootle on down the Wyoming interstate. 340 00:21:45,685 --> 00:21:49,405 Speaker 1: When Sandwich here's police sirens and out his side mirror 341 00:21:49,445 --> 00:21:53,365 Speaker 1: he sees a cop car indicating to pull over, keep 342 00:21:53,405 --> 00:21:57,645 Speaker 1: cool and don't arouse suspicion is smuggling one O one. 343 00:21:58,245 --> 00:22:03,485 Speaker 1: Sandwich pulls over and the cop approaches the driver's side window. 344 00:22:03,525 --> 00:22:07,245 Speaker 1: Did you guys just buy some gas? Sandwich and his 345 00:22:07,325 --> 00:22:11,205 Speaker 1: copilot nod ah, Did you pay for it? The cop asks, 346 00:22:12,365 --> 00:22:16,485 Speaker 1: sure he did. Sandwich points to his copilot, who points 347 00:22:16,525 --> 00:22:20,485 Speaker 1: to him simultaneously and says, I thought you paid. Both 348 00:22:20,485 --> 00:22:22,245 Speaker 1: thought the other had paid for the gas, and in 349 00:22:22,285 --> 00:22:26,645 Speaker 1: fact no one had paid. Incredibly, they didn't suspect Sandwich 350 00:22:26,685 --> 00:22:29,765 Speaker 1: of being anything other than forgetful, and then instead of 351 00:22:29,765 --> 00:22:32,965 Speaker 1: searching the truck and finding the pot, they escorted them 352 00:22:32,965 --> 00:22:36,845 Speaker 1: back to the gas station. Sandwich has been integral to 353 00:22:36,885 --> 00:22:41,365 Speaker 1: my dad's smuggling career, and along with finding great drivers, 354 00:22:41,605 --> 00:22:43,965 Speaker 1: part of my dad's job was also to find places 355 00:22:44,005 --> 00:22:47,205 Speaker 1: to put the pot. During the Lebanese hash trip in 356 00:22:47,245 --> 00:22:49,965 Speaker 1: the late seventies, my dad had not yet gotten his 357 00:22:50,005 --> 00:22:52,045 Speaker 1: storage unit that I loved going to as a kid, 358 00:22:52,445 --> 00:22:55,605 Speaker 1: so each new smuggle required finding new places to put 359 00:22:55,605 --> 00:22:58,605 Speaker 1: the product. To set this up, I had to find 360 00:22:59,125 --> 00:23:04,045 Speaker 1: a cool, quiet landing spot that was in the countryside, 361 00:23:04,885 --> 00:23:08,245 Speaker 1: and so I reached out to one of my pals 362 00:23:08,245 --> 00:23:12,925 Speaker 1: who lived in Sonoma. He turned me on to a 363 00:23:12,965 --> 00:23:16,005 Speaker 1: friend who was actually a musician at the same time 364 00:23:16,045 --> 00:23:18,445 Speaker 1: and had a sort of a ranch that he lived 365 00:23:19,365 --> 00:23:22,125 Speaker 1: out somewhere and I don't know if it was Healsburg 366 00:23:23,125 --> 00:23:26,605 Speaker 1: somewhere out there, and he had a ranch. So we 367 00:23:26,765 --> 00:23:29,605 Speaker 1: brought the truck into this ranch in the middle of 368 00:23:29,885 --> 00:23:33,205 Speaker 1: nowhere basically, which was great, and we unloaded the whole 369 00:23:33,245 --> 00:23:36,325 Speaker 1: thing in his barn. A good location to store pot 370 00:23:36,405 --> 00:23:38,965 Speaker 1: according to common sense, and my dad is off the 371 00:23:38,965 --> 00:23:42,645 Speaker 1: beaten path. My childhood house was incredibly private and off 372 00:23:42,645 --> 00:23:46,765 Speaker 1: the beaten path, but my dad rarely stored large quantities 373 00:23:46,805 --> 00:23:49,565 Speaker 1: of pot at my childhood house. That practice mostly went 374 00:23:49,565 --> 00:23:51,725 Speaker 1: away along with his life savings on the night of 375 00:23:51,725 --> 00:23:54,805 Speaker 1: my birth. Our Mill Valley home was important though for business. 376 00:23:55,125 --> 00:23:57,845 Speaker 1: My dad liked privacy and of course needed a place 377 00:23:57,885 --> 00:24:01,485 Speaker 1: for all the business vehicles. Plus our house usually contained 378 00:24:01,605 --> 00:24:05,205 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Now we're in 379 00:24:05,565 --> 00:24:09,725 Speaker 1: Sonoma Counties are full of rambling country back roads dotted 380 00:24:09,725 --> 00:24:14,565 Speaker 1: with old farmhouses orchards with storage containers and barns. These 381 00:24:14,565 --> 00:24:18,085 Speaker 1: are good locations for storing pot for local delivery. Now 382 00:24:18,085 --> 00:24:20,925 Speaker 1: it's also a bonus if the storage location is fragrant 383 00:24:21,085 --> 00:24:25,165 Speaker 1: to mask the aromatic merchandise. The Sanoma County farmtown of 384 00:24:25,205 --> 00:24:28,965 Speaker 1: Pedaluma was a favorite pot storage location for local delivery. 385 00:24:29,365 --> 00:24:32,485 Speaker 1: Now anyone who's from Pedaluma can tell you it regularly 386 00:24:32,525 --> 00:24:36,325 Speaker 1: smells like cowshit at various times of the day. Storing 387 00:24:36,365 --> 00:24:39,645 Speaker 1: pot for cross country travel, however, is a different story. 388 00:24:40,205 --> 00:24:43,165 Speaker 1: The storage location should be near the freeway for easy access. 389 00:24:43,685 --> 00:24:46,165 Speaker 1: Move the truck in, move it out, and onto the freeway. 390 00:24:46,925 --> 00:24:49,245 Speaker 1: My dad's storage unit in Mill Valley was right off 391 00:24:49,285 --> 00:24:52,685 Speaker 1: the freeway and located in a massive grove of fragrant 392 00:24:52,765 --> 00:24:56,605 Speaker 1: eucalyptus trees. I took my dad six months to get 393 00:24:56,685 --> 00:24:59,685 Speaker 1: rid of the Lebanese hash because apparently it wasn't high quality. 394 00:25:00,405 --> 00:25:02,365 Speaker 1: And in the course of the six months he had 395 00:25:02,405 --> 00:25:05,285 Speaker 1: to move the stash to several different locations, all in 396 00:25:05,325 --> 00:25:09,605 Speaker 1: the world class honeymoon destination of a wine country, and 397 00:25:09,765 --> 00:25:12,485 Speaker 1: moving thousands of pounds of product is a pain in 398 00:25:12,525 --> 00:25:16,885 Speaker 1: the ass because each new location requires new precautions. In 399 00:25:17,005 --> 00:25:19,525 Speaker 1: one spot, he had to build a fake wall. What 400 00:25:19,645 --> 00:25:23,205 Speaker 1: idated specifically was I built the thing was so far 401 00:25:23,685 --> 00:25:26,045 Speaker 1: twenty feet deep whatever it was deep, and so I 402 00:25:26,165 --> 00:25:32,125 Speaker 1: built a false wall about fifteen feet so with sheet 403 00:25:32,205 --> 00:25:35,565 Speaker 1: rock and put the whole thing up, and we had 404 00:25:35,605 --> 00:25:38,765 Speaker 1: a picture frame hanging on a nail. And that actually 405 00:25:38,845 --> 00:25:46,005 Speaker 1: picture frame was in fact a cutout piece of the 406 00:25:46,045 --> 00:25:49,045 Speaker 1: picture frame was hanging right sideways like this on the 407 00:25:49,085 --> 00:25:51,405 Speaker 1: wall on a piece of sheet rock. But when you 408 00:25:51,525 --> 00:25:54,565 Speaker 1: took it off, the sheet rock and everything came off 409 00:25:54,605 --> 00:25:57,605 Speaker 1: with the frame you see right, so that you could 410 00:25:57,605 --> 00:26:02,005 Speaker 1: get in behind it. It was a secret stash, which 411 00:26:02,085 --> 00:26:07,285 Speaker 1: was pretty cool, and it was relative. It was relatively 412 00:26:07,405 --> 00:26:10,205 Speaker 1: easy access, but it was Sandra fell. It was a 413 00:26:10,285 --> 00:26:12,285 Speaker 1: pan in the ass, and then we seld it to 414 00:26:12,365 --> 00:26:16,085 Speaker 1: somebody else had become it was passed down. I sold 415 00:26:16,125 --> 00:26:19,525 Speaker 1: it for ten grand you own. No, I didn't known it. 416 00:26:19,685 --> 00:26:21,925 Speaker 1: I just had the lace, and nobody ever cared as 417 00:26:21,925 --> 00:26:24,565 Speaker 1: long as a ramp jack was sent to the correct box. 418 00:26:25,245 --> 00:26:28,685 Speaker 1: So I then sold it to these other guys. So 419 00:26:28,805 --> 00:26:31,405 Speaker 1: moving trucks packed with furniture and pot was my dad's 420 00:26:31,405 --> 00:26:35,645 Speaker 1: method for smuggling pot cross country. Locally, he packed giant 421 00:26:35,685 --> 00:26:39,525 Speaker 1: American cars like Buicks and Chevies with trunk loads of 422 00:26:39,565 --> 00:26:43,285 Speaker 1: merchandise and drove slowly, something ever early seen as my dad, 423 00:26:43,285 --> 00:26:46,325 Speaker 1: a former New York City cab driver, usually still drives 424 00:26:46,325 --> 00:26:49,165 Speaker 1: like one. We also had a big work truck with 425 00:26:49,285 --> 00:26:51,885 Speaker 1: two gas tanks and a camper shell with curtains on 426 00:26:51,965 --> 00:26:54,645 Speaker 1: the windows. I used that truck to move into my 427 00:26:54,645 --> 00:26:57,325 Speaker 1: first San Francisco apartment in the late nineties, and remember 428 00:26:57,325 --> 00:26:59,565 Speaker 1: it breaking down right in front of the Robin Williams 429 00:26:59,565 --> 00:27:02,765 Speaker 1: Memorial Rainbow Tunnel on the way over the Golden gate Bridge. 430 00:27:03,325 --> 00:27:05,845 Speaker 1: Our family work truck with double gas tanks now lives 431 00:27:05,845 --> 00:27:10,845 Speaker 1: on a cheese farm in Padaluma. Each smuggler has his 432 00:27:10,965 --> 00:27:14,685 Speaker 1: tricks and tips for smuggling in vehicles. The fancy white 433 00:27:14,765 --> 00:27:17,165 Speaker 1: Chevy truck my dad bought for the Brooklyn Boys slash 434 00:27:17,205 --> 00:27:20,525 Speaker 1: busted birthnight trip was tricked out with a custom camping 435 00:27:20,565 --> 00:27:23,365 Speaker 1: loft in the bed of the truck with secret compartments, 436 00:27:23,605 --> 00:27:27,405 Speaker 1: which apparently were not so tricky to find. Other smuggler 437 00:27:27,445 --> 00:27:31,285 Speaker 1: friends tricked out urvs with secret compartments and fried bacon 438 00:27:31,405 --> 00:27:35,845 Speaker 1: on their smuggling drives to mask the pot Aroma free. Freddy, 439 00:27:36,125 --> 00:27:39,805 Speaker 1: a smuggler from SoCal, perfected a method for stuffing tires 440 00:27:39,805 --> 00:27:43,485 Speaker 1: with pot for his many Mexico California trips. He also 441 00:27:43,525 --> 00:27:47,445 Speaker 1: mentioned customizing the gas tank to hold drugs. Loads came 442 00:27:47,445 --> 00:27:50,205 Speaker 1: into the San Francisco Bay on giant boats from South 443 00:27:50,205 --> 00:27:54,125 Speaker 1: America or Asia, and then smugglers transported the loads to 444 00:27:54,245 --> 00:27:57,565 Speaker 1: smaller fishing boats which came into the Saclito Docks or 445 00:27:57,605 --> 00:28:00,725 Speaker 1: local beaches. They were then moved to safe houses and 446 00:28:00,765 --> 00:28:03,165 Speaker 1: then to people like my dad in work trucks or 447 00:28:03,245 --> 00:28:09,085 Speaker 1: cars sometimes came in on helicopters. Free Freddie told me 448 00:28:09,125 --> 00:28:11,405 Speaker 1: a story about bales of pot dropped in a California 449 00:28:11,485 --> 00:28:16,205 Speaker 1: field from South American helicopters. Upon landing, the pot packaging broke, 450 00:28:16,525 --> 00:28:20,885 Speaker 1: scattering buds everywhere. The smugglers gathered as much as they 451 00:28:20,885 --> 00:28:23,925 Speaker 1: could find, but the farmer who owned the field called 452 00:28:23,925 --> 00:28:26,725 Speaker 1: in a panic a few weeks later about the pot 453 00:28:27,005 --> 00:28:30,605 Speaker 1: sprouting up all over his property. My mom has a 454 00:28:30,645 --> 00:28:34,485 Speaker 1: story about a smuggler named Goldfinger, and oddly enough, his 455 00:28:34,605 --> 00:28:38,565 Speaker 1: nickname foreshadowed his fate. On one smuggling trip that involved 456 00:28:38,605 --> 00:28:43,565 Speaker 1: a small plane. This guy Goldfinger, who looked like Goldfinger 457 00:28:43,605 --> 00:28:46,845 Speaker 1: in the James Bond movie. And he was red haired, 458 00:28:46,845 --> 00:28:50,325 Speaker 1: and he was called colt Finger because he was pretty 459 00:28:50,405 --> 00:28:56,045 Speaker 1: ruthless and he was dishuge smuggler and he was going 460 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:59,885 Speaker 1: to meet this little smuggling plane on a runway somewhere 461 00:29:00,045 --> 00:29:04,285 Speaker 1: in California. And he drove up with this Porsche and 462 00:29:04,405 --> 00:29:08,605 Speaker 1: he jumped out before the plane stopped, and he ran 463 00:29:08,725 --> 00:29:11,325 Speaker 1: towards it and he got his hand caught in the 464 00:29:11,365 --> 00:29:15,205 Speaker 1: propeller and it cut it off at the wrist, and 465 00:29:15,325 --> 00:29:20,325 Speaker 1: all his henchman, you know, his assistance just went, Oh, 466 00:29:20,365 --> 00:29:23,405 Speaker 1: my God. So he grabbed his hand and he made 467 00:29:23,965 --> 00:29:26,605 Speaker 1: drive him to the hospital so they would sew it 468 00:29:26,765 --> 00:29:30,725 Speaker 1: up back on. But they couldn't. I guess the hospital 469 00:29:30,845 --> 00:29:33,605 Speaker 1: was too far away. And so that's the story of 470 00:29:33,725 --> 00:29:39,565 Speaker 1: good Finger that be careful what you name yourself. I heard, 471 00:29:39,645 --> 00:29:41,845 Speaker 1: I haven't didn't see it, but I heard he had 472 00:29:41,885 --> 00:29:45,725 Speaker 1: a gold hand made that that was a coke up 473 00:29:45,805 --> 00:29:49,125 Speaker 1: spoon on the end of one of the fingers. Are 474 00:29:49,165 --> 00:29:53,965 Speaker 1: you kidding? No? Cannabis and cash were moved in suitcases, 475 00:29:54,085 --> 00:29:58,645 Speaker 1: steamer trucks, and briefcases. I remember my dad's briefcase vividly 476 00:29:59,045 --> 00:30:02,245 Speaker 1: because it was always locked, making it rivetingly secret and 477 00:30:02,365 --> 00:30:06,005 Speaker 1: grown up ish. Like I've mentioned before, one of the 478 00:30:06,005 --> 00:30:09,645 Speaker 1: most enlightening things about producing this podcast is learning that 479 00:30:09,885 --> 00:30:14,125 Speaker 1: almost everyone I grew up around had some involvement in 480 00:30:14,125 --> 00:30:17,445 Speaker 1: the smuggling industry. Now, this is the mom of one 481 00:30:17,485 --> 00:30:20,285 Speaker 1: of my BFFs, who I've known for forty years, and 482 00:30:20,365 --> 00:30:22,565 Speaker 1: this moment you're about to hear is the first time 483 00:30:22,605 --> 00:30:26,125 Speaker 1: I discovered that she too was a smuggler. She's also 484 00:30:26,165 --> 00:30:30,085 Speaker 1: a photographer and has a PhD from two different IVY leagues. 485 00:30:30,445 --> 00:30:32,805 Speaker 1: I'm Anita is telling us her story of as we 486 00:30:32,885 --> 00:30:38,685 Speaker 1: shell peas sharing and shelling. Ah. So the major way 487 00:30:38,845 --> 00:30:44,205 Speaker 1: I have done personal smuggling of money, personal drugs supplies 488 00:30:44,565 --> 00:30:48,165 Speaker 1: is wrapping the things up in yarn balls, yarn balls, 489 00:30:48,285 --> 00:30:53,085 Speaker 1: yarn balls, and knitting and crocheting as going through custom 490 00:30:54,445 --> 00:30:59,325 Speaker 1: So knitting and crocheting as you go through the ball 491 00:30:59,485 --> 00:31:02,245 Speaker 1: right right right, right right, or when they started, when 492 00:31:02,245 --> 00:31:06,045 Speaker 1: they would start examining my things, you know, I would 493 00:31:06,045 --> 00:31:10,285 Speaker 1: probably pull out the yarn ball and start working on it. Yeah, 494 00:31:10,365 --> 00:31:15,925 Speaker 1: and what did you admit? M scarves basic. One of 495 00:31:15,965 --> 00:31:18,725 Speaker 1: my suitcases broke open as it came out of the 496 00:31:18,845 --> 00:31:23,125 Speaker 1: lunge thing and this yarnball with five thousand dollars was 497 00:31:23,365 --> 00:31:30,005 Speaker 1: rolling down. Yeah, it was funny. Did the money become 498 00:31:30,085 --> 00:31:32,725 Speaker 1: free of the yarn ball? No? I think god, oh no, no, no, 499 00:31:32,845 --> 00:31:37,045 Speaker 1: they were They were well constructed yarn balls. So money 500 00:31:37,405 --> 00:31:40,325 Speaker 1: stuffed in yarn balls brilliant. And if that doesn't work, 501 00:31:40,445 --> 00:31:42,285 Speaker 1: or you don't have yarn, but you have a cat, 502 00:31:42,445 --> 00:31:46,365 Speaker 1: smuggle with your pets and toe. I was living in Ecuador. 503 00:31:47,125 --> 00:31:50,885 Speaker 1: The good pot came at the time, came from Colombia. 504 00:31:51,165 --> 00:31:54,845 Speaker 1: I smuggled a couple of paths of pot on a 505 00:31:54,965 --> 00:32:00,285 Speaker 1: bus from Ecuador to Colombia and a pillow in a 506 00:32:00,405 --> 00:32:06,725 Speaker 1: box with a cat on top of it. Cat. Yes, 507 00:32:06,925 --> 00:32:10,525 Speaker 1: my cat named Muda. She was a gray cat named 508 00:32:10,645 --> 00:32:19,005 Speaker 1: Muda in a pillow. Pot wrapped up in a pillow, 509 00:32:19,525 --> 00:32:22,365 Speaker 1: and then that the cat was hitting on top of it. 510 00:32:24,805 --> 00:32:26,725 Speaker 1: That's great. You're the first person I've talked to who 511 00:32:26,845 --> 00:32:33,525 Speaker 1: uses a cat. Yeah, you have a theme as well 512 00:32:33,565 --> 00:32:38,845 Speaker 1: as a very cat yarn themed. That's right, that's right. Yeah, yeah, Well, 513 00:32:38,885 --> 00:32:41,765 Speaker 1: I didn't realize I was following in my dad's footsteps. 514 00:32:42,125 --> 00:32:46,085 Speaker 1: I did smuggle pot a few times myself. I was 515 00:32:46,125 --> 00:32:49,645 Speaker 1: a sophomore in college studying abroad in the pot legal Netherlands. 516 00:32:50,445 --> 00:32:54,085 Speaker 1: Mindful my stoner friends back home were deficient and spectacular 517 00:32:54,165 --> 00:32:57,885 Speaker 1: Dutch drugs, I crafted a care package of pot hidden 518 00:32:57,885 --> 00:33:02,725 Speaker 1: in European candy bars. Lion bars have four wafers with 519 00:33:02,845 --> 00:33:07,565 Speaker 1: light nugat between and a chocolate coating. I carefully removed 520 00:33:07,605 --> 00:33:11,885 Speaker 1: the two middle wafers, leaving a structural floor and roof wafer, 521 00:33:12,285 --> 00:33:15,405 Speaker 1: and I filled the middle with well wrapped Amsterdam pot. 522 00:33:15,965 --> 00:33:19,365 Speaker 1: I then resealed the candy bars with natella, reglued the 523 00:33:19,405 --> 00:33:22,005 Speaker 1: wrapper and mailed them to the States. It was a 524 00:33:22,085 --> 00:33:26,005 Speaker 1: gift within a gift, two imported treats. Everyone was thrilled 525 00:33:26,045 --> 00:33:29,325 Speaker 1: when the Lion Bars arrived in Boston, smuggling pot and 526 00:33:29,405 --> 00:33:32,165 Speaker 1: candy bars. It was a labor of love. Definitely not 527 00:33:32,205 --> 00:33:35,525 Speaker 1: a sustainable business model if I'd been interested in anything 528 00:33:35,525 --> 00:33:38,605 Speaker 1: other than gift giving and sharing the wealth. This is 529 00:33:38,645 --> 00:33:41,885 Speaker 1: disorganized crime. I'm Rainbow Valentine and we'll be right back. 530 00:33:47,685 --> 00:33:50,205 Speaker 1: My dad likes to quote his lawyer, the late great 531 00:33:50,325 --> 00:33:54,365 Speaker 1: Bernie Siegel, who in the early nineties lamented the quality 532 00:33:54,405 --> 00:33:58,085 Speaker 1: of the criminal has gone down. I never understood the 533 00:33:58,165 --> 00:34:02,085 Speaker 1: quote until I started unfolding this story. My dad and 534 00:34:02,125 --> 00:34:06,405 Speaker 1: his colleagues did business based on integrity, trust and ethics. 535 00:34:07,365 --> 00:34:10,005 Speaker 1: They were criminals and that what they were doing was illegal, 536 00:34:10,525 --> 00:34:14,845 Speaker 1: but they were trustworthy, honest, and reliable, unlike the criminals 537 00:34:14,925 --> 00:34:18,405 Speaker 1: emerging in the late eighties early nineties that Bernie bemoaned. 538 00:34:19,365 --> 00:34:22,005 Speaker 1: My dad and his friends did business based on a handshake. 539 00:34:23,325 --> 00:34:26,605 Speaker 1: So have four thousand pounds of this hash? Are you 540 00:34:26,765 --> 00:34:29,845 Speaker 1: selling it like ten pounds a pop? Well, I'm not 541 00:34:29,925 --> 00:34:35,085 Speaker 1: selling one at a time. And basically, you give it 542 00:34:35,125 --> 00:34:37,885 Speaker 1: out to people who you trust. You give them fifty 543 00:34:37,885 --> 00:34:42,285 Speaker 1: pounds here, you know, come back with the money when 544 00:34:42,325 --> 00:34:46,525 Speaker 1: you you know, whenever you get it done. Just I mean, 545 00:34:46,805 --> 00:34:49,205 Speaker 1: it's same as what they were doing to me was 546 00:34:49,245 --> 00:34:51,405 Speaker 1: giving it out to all their friends. I was giving 547 00:34:51,405 --> 00:34:53,965 Speaker 1: it out to all my friends. So no money has 548 00:34:54,005 --> 00:34:57,325 Speaker 1: passed hands. It's just this trust circle. I mean, it 549 00:34:57,405 --> 00:35:00,805 Speaker 1: wasn't I wasn't selling it for cash, yeah, because most 550 00:35:00,885 --> 00:35:06,565 Speaker 1: nobody would put up cash for there were anyway. But 551 00:35:06,685 --> 00:35:09,565 Speaker 1: that was the whole way it worked forever, is that 552 00:35:10,125 --> 00:35:16,445 Speaker 1: huge amounts would be moved to one's close friends associates 553 00:35:17,205 --> 00:35:20,205 Speaker 1: if they were doing big amounts. And that's how much 554 00:35:20,245 --> 00:35:24,565 Speaker 1: of how I worked and happened is I had my 555 00:35:24,645 --> 00:35:28,645 Speaker 1: reputation which was really, I guess obviously stellar enough to 556 00:35:29,205 --> 00:35:34,285 Speaker 1: give me hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars 557 00:35:34,285 --> 00:35:37,885 Speaker 1: worth of stuff at different points I don't even remember, 558 00:35:38,125 --> 00:35:39,965 Speaker 1: you know, because but that was the way we worked, 559 00:35:40,085 --> 00:35:43,925 Speaker 1: and it was passed down. But amongst this integrity and 560 00:35:44,005 --> 00:35:48,885 Speaker 1: noble deeds was plenty of disorganization. The Lebanese Hashtel ended 561 00:35:48,925 --> 00:35:50,845 Speaker 1: up being the one where my dad lost the money 562 00:35:50,885 --> 00:35:53,125 Speaker 1: in the backyard that we talked about in episode one, 563 00:35:53,285 --> 00:35:59,765 Speaker 1: the BlackBerry story. It was pretty stressful. I couldn't fucking 564 00:35:59,965 --> 00:36:03,325 Speaker 1: find at least half a million in cash, Oh my god, 565 00:36:03,765 --> 00:36:06,645 Speaker 1: for my pals, but had only lost the money in 566 00:36:06,685 --> 00:36:09,365 Speaker 1: the yard because his smuggling colleagues trusted that he would 567 00:36:09,365 --> 00:36:13,085 Speaker 1: hold on to the money for him. This Lebanese hash 568 00:36:13,125 --> 00:36:15,845 Speaker 1: deal is so important. It got my dad back into 569 00:36:15,845 --> 00:36:19,085 Speaker 1: big time smuggling and provided much needed income for our 570 00:36:19,085 --> 00:36:22,125 Speaker 1: family after several years of poverty. And with this trip, 571 00:36:22,165 --> 00:36:24,605 Speaker 1: my dad is really becoming a professional. He's back on 572 00:36:24,645 --> 00:36:28,725 Speaker 1: his feet and to solidify his professionalism after the Lebanese 573 00:36:28,725 --> 00:36:31,525 Speaker 1: hash deal, that's what my dad treats himself to the 574 00:36:31,645 --> 00:36:34,165 Speaker 1: right off the highway storage unit just a few miles 575 00:36:34,205 --> 00:36:36,365 Speaker 1: from our Mill Valley home. So I had this that 576 00:36:36,445 --> 00:36:38,925 Speaker 1: was funny, the revelation about the the eucalyptus, and then 577 00:36:39,845 --> 00:36:42,245 Speaker 1: remembering how much I'd love to go to that storage unit. 578 00:36:42,245 --> 00:36:43,525 Speaker 1: But I don't think I was at I don't think 579 00:36:43,565 --> 00:36:46,485 Speaker 1: you are you kidding? You were? Do you think when 580 00:36:46,485 --> 00:36:49,205 Speaker 1: you think I wanted some noisy kid around there? What 581 00:36:49,325 --> 00:36:52,645 Speaker 1: are you fucking getting me? A teess? Christ you were 582 00:36:52,685 --> 00:36:56,005 Speaker 1: the worst. You would say, hey, come on over here, people. 583 00:36:56,965 --> 00:36:59,285 Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, you wouldn't. I mean you didn't, But 584 00:37:00,245 --> 00:37:05,325 Speaker 1: you're you're you're an attractor. So by the end of 585 00:37:05,325 --> 00:37:08,605 Speaker 1: the seventies, my dad, who came into an instat family 586 00:37:08,605 --> 00:37:10,885 Speaker 1: at the dawn of the decade, has made and lost 587 00:37:10,925 --> 00:37:13,805 Speaker 1: the equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars smuggling pot. 588 00:37:14,445 --> 00:37:17,205 Speaker 1: He's quit the pot industry, started and failed a non 589 00:37:17,285 --> 00:37:21,325 Speaker 1: drug related business theoretically traded over one hundred thousand dollars 590 00:37:21,365 --> 00:37:25,365 Speaker 1: for a baby. Me lost his family and restarted his 591 00:37:25,405 --> 00:37:29,165 Speaker 1: smuggling business in a much more professional, serious, and covert way, 592 00:37:29,765 --> 00:37:33,165 Speaker 1: making back hundreds of thousands of dollars and regaining his family. 593 00:37:34,805 --> 00:37:40,205 Speaker 1: God loves pot dealers. Why didn't you tell her that? 594 00:37:40,285 --> 00:37:43,565 Speaker 1: Now we have to? Now we have, we've revealed our 595 00:37:43,605 --> 00:37:49,885 Speaker 1: secret that God is watching over us pot dealers. Well yeah, 596 00:37:49,925 --> 00:37:55,085 Speaker 1: I mean you know, I'm Rainbow Valentine and this is 597 00:37:55,125 --> 00:38:01,525 Speaker 1: Disorganized Crime Smuggler's Daughter. Disorganized Crime Smuggler's Daughter is written 598 00:38:01,565 --> 00:38:05,725 Speaker 1: and recorded by Me, Rainbow Valentine. Our producers are Abby 599 00:38:05,765 --> 00:38:10,045 Speaker 1: Watts and Taylor Church. Executive producers are Brandon Barr, Brian 600 00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:13,285 Speaker 1: Live and Elsie Crowley and Me at School of Humans 601 00:38:13,405 --> 00:38:16,605 Speaker 1: and Connell Burn and Charles Bryant at iHeartRadio. Our music 602 00:38:16,685 --> 00:38:19,285 Speaker 1: is by Gabby Lala and Claire Campbell, with original theme 603 00:38:19,365 --> 00:38:22,645 Speaker 1: by Mark Karen and Me. You can follow us online 604 00:38:22,645 --> 00:38:36,045 Speaker 1: at Disorganized Crime podcast dot com. Right Story, do it 605 00:38:36,285 --> 00:38:45,125 Speaker 1: as with Me, tamble By, Sleeping Princess of the Red says, 606 00:38:45,245 --> 00:38:52,845 Speaker 1: keep it real, handshake seals the deal, Wrap stat seal, meal, 607 00:38:53,485 --> 00:39:00,165 Speaker 1: Going up. These all golden to Doobi, Young, rich and 608 00:39:00,325 --> 00:39:11,605 Speaker 1: groovy Making it up. We roll o, rolling low, Far Country, Roll, 609 00:39:13,725 --> 00:39:23,725 Speaker 1: Rolling low, Far Country, Roll, Rolling along Far Country, Low