WEBVTT - 8. Welcome to the Sh*tshow 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.080 Kami, Ready Chi. 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:14.120 This is Massimo Romagnoli, an Italian Politicianino Right now, Massimo 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:18.520 is barreling down a European motorway inside a luxury sedan 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.480 with a brown leather interior. He's driving through Switzerland wearing 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:32.279 a sport coat and sunglasses. Massimo thanks this Taylor as 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.640 he shows off his bespoke button down shirt. It's white 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:44.159 with red pinstripes. It's nice. Everyone tells me that I 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:48.520 look very fine, Massimo says, an Italian I was complimented 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:55.200 throughout Switzerland for this beautiful shirt. Massimo Romannoli lives the 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.440 good life. I know this because Massimo wants me to 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.320 know it, and he wants you to know it too. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.800 Massimo promotes himself in videos on social media. He projects 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:14.200 an image of success. In one video, Massimo is standing 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.160 on a train station platform in Paris wearing a top hat, 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.759 a black coat and a suit. He's on his way 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:25.280 to Brussels for business with the European Union. Massimo Romagnoli, 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:30.640 He's the perfect man to help Flavio complete his arms deal. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:39.640 I'm Trevor Aronson from Western Sound and iHeart Podcast. This 0:01:39.760 --> 0:02:10.680 is Alphabet Boys, Episode eight. Welcome to the shit show. 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.040 I don't want any expose Anty. Is now my business 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.920 to expose Anty is to present the evidence. And you 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.440 ask the government to protect lives or to do whatever 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.959 you have to do, just do it. I do not 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:23.640 even want to know. 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.720 I've asked Flavio George Escu about his meeting at the 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:32.240 Marriott in Romania with Christian Juan and One's College Diego, 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:37.120 the meeting you heard about in the last episode. Flavio 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.359 says he isn't the guy on those recordings. That was 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:45.440 an act, Flavio playing the part of an arms dealer 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.919 so that he could collect information for the CIA. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.560 I'm not a journalist like you. You expose myself. I'm 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:57.000 not a journalist. I was thinking of and have the 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:01.919 feeling I'm gonna do something for the country, something like amazing. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.040 You are a journalist. Okay, I take you right now 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.800 in Bronx. We live together. We go in Bronx and 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.640 I put you some drug dealers to make a deal 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.920 on some drugs and let them know you're gonna buy 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:18.040 three hundred kilo of cocaine. Play that role. I'm telling you, 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.440 if you have the courage, come with me tonight. We're 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.200 gonna find some people on the street and let them 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.680 know what you want to buy. With your face, with 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.200 your attitude, with your voice, with your words. I'm telling 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.480 you just say goodbye, because you're not gonna come back. 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:38.640 This is what's happened myself. I educate so much and 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.040 I prepare so much. Everybody saw those videos. They were 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.280 so proudub on me. They said, man, you are an 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:44.840 arm dealer. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.480 Flavio, according to his story, is trying to map out 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.360 an entire network, the people running the arms factory, the 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:58.200 people who give them fake documents, everybody. Once he has 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.880 all the information, he'll contact the CIA and hand over everything, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.840 just like he used to do when he assisted FBI 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:11.680 agents in Las Vegas. At the end of the meeting 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.600 in Romania, Flavio and Christian tell the Colombians that they 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.240 will secure a document needed to ship the weapons, the 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.560 end user certificate, and they have a guy for that. 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.479 I'll be voicing the part of Massimo Romagnoli. 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:32.039 That's Elio Pagano, a voice actor. I had communicated with 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.880 Massimo over email, and at one point we had made 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:40.240 tentative plans for an interview in Brussels, but Massimo backed out. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:45.039 Of those plans without much explanation. Here's what he wrote 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:45.280 to me. 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.320 I'm not interested to talk about my past anymore. I'm 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.039 focused only to my future. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.080 So Massimo, like Christian. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.320 Remember I'm an actor and I'm voicing Christian. 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.880 We'll be voiced by an actor. Massimo's words are his 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.039 and Christian's words are his. Everything you'll hear comes verbatim 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:11.240 from court testimony. Anyway, with that explained, let's get back 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:11.719 to the story. 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:18.040 I was friends with mister Massimo Romanioli and at his 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:21.960 level he was not involved in any arm deills, but 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:24.000 he was having a lot of knowledge and a lot 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.320 of co nations. 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.719 Flavio had met Massimo through a mutual friend because that 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.719 friend thought they might want to do business together. Massimo 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.000 began his career running a transport company and working as 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.040 a lobbyist and salesman for defense companies. He was eventually 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.640 elected to Italy's parliament, and Massimo became a high ranking 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.440 official in the Forza Italian political party after the party 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:55.960 leader became Italy's Prime Minister. That leader was Silvio Berlusconi 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:03.720 com Vitaro Bungo. In twenty eleven, Massimo's political career took 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:08.360 a big hit after Berlusconi resigned following a sweeping scandal 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.960 over the so called Bunga Bunga parties, which made international news. 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.360 The details of this case are tawdry to put a mildly. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.280 Ah, that's correct. They point to basically call girls being 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:26.800 hired to perform at these after dinner parties in the 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.600 so called Bunga Bunga room, where some of them, for instance, 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:34.160 dressed up as Obama and engaged in sort of semi 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.760 erotic fondling of one another for the pleasure of it. 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.799 To be clear, I've not found any information to suggest 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.560 Massimo was involved in these sex parties, but the controversy 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:49.520 upended his political ambitions. Massimo then pushed forward in a 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:51.640 career that kept one foot in the halls of government 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.039 and the other in the corporate boardroom. He worked in 0:06:55.040 --> 0:07:00.000 the defense industry, specifically an Italian company manufacturing military aircraft. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.800 That's how Massimo came to know Flavio over a potential 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:09.280 interest in selling ankle monitoring bracelets to European governments. They 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.160 sat down together in Romania in June twenty fourteen. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.600 I was with mister Flavio Georgesco at meeting about the 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.640 elettronic bracelet project in his office in Bucharest, and I 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.840 asked him whether he could introduce me to someone from 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.920 the Ministry of Defense, and mister Flavio Georgescu kindly introduced 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:29.600 me to mister Kristen Vintila. 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.000 On September twenty sixth, twenty fourteen, three days after the 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.800 Marriot meeting with the Colombians, Flavio meets Massimo in Bucharest 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.440 for dinner at a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Joseph Hadad. 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:44.960 As far as Massimo is concerned, this dinner was a 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:49.160 thank you Flavio. Ever, the connected guy had helped the 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.480 daughter of one of Massimo's friends get into a Romanian university, 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.400 but Flavio had something else on his agenda. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.320 Then I said, you know, I can't use him to 0:07:59.360 --> 0:07:59.800 give his. 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:02.240 Here's Massimo. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.320 After dinner we went in the car, and in the 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:07.960 car we discussed this deal. 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.520 Flavio tells Massimo about the armsteal that he and Christian 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:16.200 are negotiating with the Colombians. Massimo knows arms dealers in Europe, 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:21.120 so Flavio asks him, can you help us obtain an 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:25.840 end user certificate. Massimo agrees to look into it, and 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.440 then he pulls his phone from his pocket. He wants 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:29.560 to show Flavio something. 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.840 I showed him, the picture of a pistol that I 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.240 received a few days earlier. I received it from a 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:37.240 Greek arms dealer. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.599 If you're an American, this might not seem like a 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:45.360 big deal. Massimo has a handgun, so what. But keep 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:48.360 in mind it's exceedingly rare to have a gun in Europe. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:53.640 Most European Union nations prohibit the possession of handguns. So 0:08:53.679 --> 0:09:00.400 by showing Flavio this picture, Massimo is proving he has connections. Later, 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.240 Masimo gets back to Flavia with good news. Massimo says 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.840 that he has a contact in Germany who could arrange 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.200 for an end users certificate from Ethiopia. Here's what Massimo 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:12.000 says to Flavio. 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.600 But as German contact, he's telling me that the attached 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.640 end users certification is an end user certification which is 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.120 accepted all over the Balkans, and that the direction of 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.200 transport of the goods must be from the country of 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.880 a region to Ethiopia, and then from Ethiopia it can 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:32.120 go to other countries. 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.960 To other countries. Massimo means the weapons could then be 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:43.560 rerouted from Ethiopia to Colombia or wherever. Massimo also has 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:44.679 a price you can quote. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.559 The end user would cost between thirty and sixty thousand euros. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.760 The next day, Flavio calls one with an update. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.839 You have to come through Montenegos to discuss with your friends, 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:59.360 because I have everything right. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:09:59.920 Now in my head. 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.880 I have everything in my hand right now, meaning the 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:06.120 end user certificate. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:08.640 I have everything ready to go. 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:14.400 How about transformation everything? You have to come over there? 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:15.560 All right? 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.000 Well, I really appreciate that you called me that this 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.160 sounds it's good news. Let me tell you something. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.000 You know, if you if you come right now with 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.840 your friend, it's your friend. If you come right now, 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.040 we shut up the final details. 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.360 Two weeks later, everyone will meet to set up the 0:10:34.440 --> 0:11:00.800 final details in Montenegro. More after the break, outside the 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.439 door of Juan's condo in Colorado, the place where I 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.080 left a note for him was a Matt welcome to 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:12.400 the shit show. It read one the DEA's informant has 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.000 never responded to my efforts to contact him, so really, 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.720 the only quote from him that I have is this one. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:26.240 Welcome to the shit show. And it's really the perfect quote, 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:31.319 because that's what Flavio's arms deal is. A shit show. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.400 So One and his fellow DEA informant, Diego, fly to 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:44.520 Montenegro to finalize the deal with Flavio. But apparently they 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:49.320 didn't specify which city in Montenegro, so One assume they'd 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:50.079 meet in the capitol. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:52.920 Which city you are right now? 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:58.600 City? Yeah, because I am warned, n. 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.720 One no, and on the. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:07.720 On the capitol of this place. 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:09.000 What Monica? 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.040 What the name is? 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:11.320 Uh? 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:16.360 One is in Paga Riza, the capital of Montenegro. Flavio, Massimo, 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.360 and Christian are in Tivat, a coastal town near the 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:23.319 Adriatic Sea, a two hour drive from Pagarza. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:28.520 Okay, what the people the. 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:30.720 Region? 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:36.800 No, listen, listen the Ramada, I mean Ramada already I 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:41.400 told you your name, okay, Uh, I like, I already 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.959 have a set up to meet with you, have a 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.160 room and all that so we can meet. Don't make 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:48.160 me go nowhere. 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.360 Because this Flavio tells One that he needs him to 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:55.560 drive to Tivat, but One isn't having it in all. 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:59.360 Honestly, you know, I always I always kind of follow. 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.040 What did you say just this point. I don't wanna 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.400 move from here. First of all, it's three freaking uh 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.200 Columbias over here on a on a weird town. You 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.560 guys need to come over here. I flew all the 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.439 way here from South America. We haven't slept for two 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.160 and thirty hours, so you need so yes, we're going 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:17.880 to sleep. 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.560 And we meet here something the next day. One acquiesces 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.719 once again to Flavio shit show. One doesn't want to 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:27.600 jeopardize the thing. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.160 Don't scare my people, That's what I'm saying. Okay, we're 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.200 gonna talk. We're gonna talk the way when you're supposed 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:33.480 to talk. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:34.360 I go to the lowy. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:36.320 We talked, and we went to the navy, agreed, and 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.440 we went to the bottom of the business and we 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.040 get it done over with, so we can go to 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.640 the next step. That's very important. It's not enough time to. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:44.960 Be right. 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:47.480 Happy. 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:54.800 Don't worry, Flavia says, Okay, be happy. So a Dea 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.800 agent one and two colleagues drive out to a waterfront 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:03.560 hotel in Tea. There they can see a sweeping view 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:08.400 of love Chen Mountain, a national park in Montenegro. The 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.480 Dea agent starts the recording device as they pull up 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.800 to the hotel. He refers to one and two other 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:19.680 informants by the acronym CS for confidential source. 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:24.120 The time is twelve forty two pm local Montenegro time. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.440 Data's October eight, twenty fourteen is his meeting between CS one, 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:33.600 two and three in Flavio, Georgescu, christ John in two 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:38.960 unknown males. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:42.280 Happening leaving the agent behind. One and his two colleagues 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:46.760 walk into the hotel. Diego, the informant from the previous meeting, 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.640 is with one again. The third man is named Jorge. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.200 Flavio meets them in the lobby. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:00.440 He's going, yeah, Alice. 0:14:59.800 --> 0:14:59.880 His. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:07.200 Oops. Diego and Jorge refer to Wan as Alex. Remember 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.720 Wuan's real name is Alex Diaz, but Flavio, Christian and 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:13.920 Massimo don't notice a slip. 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:19.000 Up than you. YEA one morning, Alex is going to hear. 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.920 The men head to the conference room. There are six 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:27.080 of them, Flavio, Christian, Massimo, Juan, and Juan's colleagues Diego 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.800 and Jorge. They all sit down at a conference table. 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.400 There are bottles of sparkling water and crafts of coffee. 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:41.920 US okay, which find did the end user? The gentlemen 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.640 provided us the ford, the impmentation. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.800 This gentleman provided us with all the documentation. Flavio is 0:15:49.840 --> 0:16:00.160 referring to Massimo when we hit we have that's Massim know. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.720 Speaking in its rough English, he says the end user 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:10.880 certificate can be ready as early as tomorrow. Flabo explains 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.120 that the document must be issued along with a list 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.160 of the weapons being shipped, so it cannot be produced 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.880 until the final order is made to the arms factory. 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:26.640 As the list the goods which you needed, we produce 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:28.680 the document. The document cannot be. 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.160 Produced before I understand that how can you produce documents 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:33.560 which we didn't know your. 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.120 The conversation then transitions from the end user certificate to 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:43.120 the list the weapons and quantities the Colombians want to buy. 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.720 One is translating for Diego. 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.120 Most important is to know is when can we get started? 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:53.080 When can we get going? 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:54.040 No? 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.080 No, okay, can you see that? What do you need? 0:16:57.600 --> 0:16:59.760 The list? 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:00.240 Quit? 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.320 The Colombians say that they want to purchase Soviet designed 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.040 anti aircraft cannons that mount on a trailer, a system 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.880 known as a ZU twenty three. Diego wants as many 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:12.800 as fifty of. 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:17.840 Them, just veniente fifty is good fifty. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.000 And Diego also wants AK forty seven assault rifles, a 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.800 type of rifle produced all over the world and in 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:29.439 many variations. Diego says he doesn't care what variation, he 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:34.600 just wants AK forty Seven's the other informant, Porge translates 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.960 for him, he was saying for. 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.159 Him, it doesn't matter really what exactly the numeration is, 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:41.320 what the model really is. 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.320 What matters swamis really is the eight K models. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.959 Then one refers Flavio to the list of weapons he's 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:53.720 put together, which also includes rocket propelled grenade launchers, sniper rifles, pistols, 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.080 and ammunition on. 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:57.680 That list, can you produce the whole list? 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:57.800 There? 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.919 Yes, here's a thing mhm. 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:05.880 Flavio tells the Colombians that they can ship the weapons 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:07.600 within two weeks. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:08.240 So sad. 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.240 How much money we're talking about. The sooner the better, 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.720 So we kind of judge the money's here, all. 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:24.320 The weapons the Colombians want, it's millions of dollars worth. Flavio, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.800 Christian and Massimo explained that they'll have to return to 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.560 them with an exact price once they have the order. 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:33.760 Form from the factory. That's the next and final step. 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.960 But there's something they haven't told the Colombians. They don't 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:44.320 actually have a factory lined up. In other words, the 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:48.720 ship shows still in effect. That's after the break. 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:14.399 The factory was closed twenty five years ago. Was nothing. 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:18.000 There was just a damage. You ruin something looks like 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:20.000 twenty five years ago. Crossed. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.320 This is Flavio and here's the other Romanian present for 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:28.600 the deal, Christian Ventilla, who's being voiced by an actor. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:34.040 We crossed the factory which was almost abandoned, so basically 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:38.119 we couldn't see anything but old machines which were not 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:41.560 working anymore, and we didn't see any stock of anything. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.960 Flavio and Christian are describing a weapons factory in Albania. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.200 Massimo's contact from Germany, a guy named Gerardo Tanga, suggested 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:56.480 that they travel here to inspect the weapons. So Flavio, Christian, 0:19:56.600 --> 0:20:00.879 Massimo and Gerardo flu the Toronto, the Albanian capital, and 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:05.560 then drove three hours to this arms factory. Remember their 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.000 time is limited. They promised the Colombians they'd have a 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:13.879 contract in hand within two weeks. Gerardo told the men 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:18.080 that he represents the Albanian factory, and this factory should 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:22.320 be able to supply everything on the Colombians list. But 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:28.000 when they get there, it's not exactly as described. The 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:33.000 shelves are nearly empty. The only weapons the factory has 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:37.320 available are some rifles, which aren't even the kind the 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:44.680 Colombians want to buy. Flavio is stunned. He approaches Massimo 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.200 on the weapons factory floor. 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.600 He was a bit upset because we didn't see anything 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:55.880 of those weapons. Mister Giorgesco himself told me, what did 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.840 you make me come to Albani for just to see 0:20:58.840 --> 0:20:59.399 one rifle. 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:04.840 Masimo is enraged that Gerardo had misled them about the 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:09.080 weapons factory. He walks up to Gerardo and slaps them 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:09.840 across the face. 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:16.760 Everybody was nervous and anxious because we basically didn't see anything. 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:24.240 For decades following the fall of the Soviet Union, Eastern 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:28.040 Europe was the world's supermarket for black market arms, a 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.720 place where military, great hardware and high level corruption could 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:36.560 be found in abundance. But that changed in February twenty 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:41.479 fourteen when Russia invaded Crimea in Ukraine. 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:44.719 To what America is officially calling a Russian invasion of Ukraine. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:48.880 Russian troops spreading out throughout the strategic Crimean peninsula. 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.159 The arms market in Eastern Europe suddenly faced a demand shock. 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.200 Russian and Ukrainian weapons factories were only producing weapons for 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.320 their own forces as a result of the widening war, 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:03.480 and other nearby countries ordered their factories to stockpile weapons 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:09.720 for a possible Russian invasion. So Flavio, Christian and Massimo, 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:13.560 having promised the Colombians that they could deliver weapons, discover 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:18.919 that their options are limited. Gerardo, the slapped Albanian factory representative, 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:22.359 suggests that the three men travel to Serbia to go 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:27.440 to another factory. He claims to represent that factory will 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:31.480 have what they need. He claims again, Christian. 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:34.000 It was decided that we are not going to travel 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:39.080 to Serbia because Gerardo Tanga could not assure us that 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.800 is not going to happen again what happened in Albania. 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:47.520 The four dejected men drive back to Albania's capital. Flavio 0:22:47.600 --> 0:22:50.360 and Christian decide to follow up on a lead Massimo 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:54.520 receives he hears that a weapons factory in Bulgaria could 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:58.320 fill their order. So Flavio and Christian make the grueling 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:03.240 eight hour drive from Sophia, the Bulgarian capital, in a 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:14.600 rented Mercedes SUV. Flavio's feeling the pressure, Flavio had arranged 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:17.680 another meeting with Juan and the other Colombians in less 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:18.200 than a week. 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:22.280 He was feeling very bad because the meeting with the 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:26.159 Colombians was supposed to be it was set up for 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:29.840 five days later, and he wouldn't have anything in hand 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:30.320 at the time. 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:36.639 This factory in Bulgaria is their last chance. The company 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:40.800 is called Bulgarian Industrial Engineering and Management, more commonly known 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:45.600 by the acronym BEAM b EM. The factory is run 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:48.880 by a man named Peter Manchukov, a former Communist era 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:54.320 security official turned oligarch with business interests in media, finance, wine, 0:23:55.119 --> 0:24:00.160 and yeah weapons. Manchukov and his company BEAM were were 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:03.280 both mentioned in US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:08.159 twenty ten. American diplomats describe BEAM as being connected to quote, 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:12.800 organized crime and gray arms trafficking. In twenty fifteen and 0:24:12.840 --> 0:24:16.280 twenty sixteen, for example, Beam shipped more than two hundred 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:20.640 Serbian made machine guns to Saudi Arabia. Two investigative journalism 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:24.640 organizations in Europe later discovered that those weapons were diverted 0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:28.080 to Syria, where the Saudi supported rebels and a bloody 0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:33.320 civil war. So Flavio and Christian get a meeting with 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:37.960 Peter Manchukov, and Flavio's impressed by him. 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:40.520 He was really proficient and really nice person. 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:44.920 And Manchukov agrees to sell them twenty ZU twenty three 0:24:45.359 --> 0:24:48.920 anti aircraft cannons with three hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, 0:24:49.440 --> 0:24:53.800 grenade launchers, rifles, and pistols, a deal worth more than 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:59.680 fourteen million dollars. But Manchukov has a condition, they must 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:02.840 the deal within a couple of weeks because of the 0:25:02.920 --> 0:25:07.679 war in Ukraine. Man Chukov has leverage. Here's Christian. 0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:11.520 They have all the products in stock, but they were 0:25:11.640 --> 0:25:14.720 pressuring us from the point of view of timing. At 0:25:14.720 --> 0:25:18.160 that time on the weapons market, it was very big 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:22.800 demand on very little supply. So basically the Bulgarians were 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:26.240 making us a favor letting us buy those weapons. 0:25:28.080 --> 0:25:30.240 Flavio and Christian agreed to man Chukov's demand for a 0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:33.680 quick sale. After all, it doesn't seem like that should 0:25:33.680 --> 0:25:35.760 be a problem. They have a meeting with Juan in 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:39.240 Montenegro in just a few days to sign the contract 0:25:39.480 --> 0:25:43.480 and transfer the money. At this point, if you're inclined 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:46.840 to believe Flavio's story, He's close to mapping out the 0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:49.919 entire supply chain for how the Colombians could obtain their 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:54.360 weapons the information he promised to deliver to the CIA, 0:25:55.800 --> 0:25:58.159 and I think it's worth pointing out that up to 0:25:58.200 --> 0:26:03.359 this point, Flavio hasn't received any money from one. In fact, 0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:06.560 Flavio is paying out of pocket all of his and 0:26:06.640 --> 0:26:13.159 Christians travel expenses around Europe. But Flavio apparently does talk money. 0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:17.720 At some point, he and Masimo devise a plan, which 0:26:17.720 --> 0:26:21.200 Manchukov reportedly agrees to, in which they'll mark up the 0:26:21.240 --> 0:26:24.720 prices of the weapons and the contract. Manchukov's company would 0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:27.920 then pay the difference between his price and the marked 0:26:27.960 --> 0:26:32.399 up price to Flavio, Christian and Massimo as a consulting fee. 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:33.960 Here's Massimo. 0:26:35.000 --> 0:26:38.600 For example, if a weapons price was ten thousand dollars, 0:26:38.920 --> 0:26:41.639 we would ask him to indicate the price as being 0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:45.080 fifteen thousand, and then when the money would come in 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:48.840 for him at fifteen thousand, he was supposed to give 0:26:48.920 --> 0:26:52.320