WEBVTT - The Cocaine Kid Meets the Genius Smuggler - B4

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<v Speaker 1>Murder in Miami is a production of iHeartRadio. In this

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<v Speaker 1>week's special Bonus, I wanted to share a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a personal and cultural timeline and some interesting perspective

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<v Speaker 1>from a smuggler not linked to Miami or the Coconut

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<v Speaker 1>Grove guys. Bill Stamford's introduction to drug smuggling Miami style

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<v Speaker 1>would occur nearly a decade after Nixon announced his offensive

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<v Speaker 1>against drug addiction, and the nineteen eighties would see his

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<v Speaker 1>mission morph into an outright declaration of war, with Reagan's

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<v Speaker 1>White House and his crusading First Lady leading the charge.

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<v Speaker 1>Nancy Reagan and I answered say no, but not everyone

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<v Speaker 1>across the country was just saying no. My introduction to

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<v Speaker 1>cocaine came very early on and lived in infamy when

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty I learned through my parents' hissed and

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<v Speaker 1>hush tones, that our neighbor had been convicted, along with

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<v Speaker 1>his two brother in laws, of buying nineteen thousand dollars

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<v Speaker 1>worth of cocaine from a federal narcotics agent posing as

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<v Speaker 1>a drug dealer. One of those brother in laws millionaire

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<v Speaker 1>movie producer Robert Evans. Because Evan's film credits included movies

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<v Speaker 1>like The Godfather and Rosemary's Baby. His privileged punishment was

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<v Speaker 1>to be placed on special probation for a year and

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<v Speaker 1>tasked with using his skills as a producer to address

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's growing narcotics problem. The result one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most notorious and some might argue cringy anti drug TV

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<v Speaker 1>specials of the nineteen eighties and maybe ever Titled Get

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<v Speaker 1>High on Yourself, it starred a staggering number of celebrities

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<v Speaker 1>like Muhammad Ali, Paul Newman, Carol Burnett, Magic Johnson, John Travalta,

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<v Speaker 1>and Burt Reynolds, and is well worth a google and

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps a giggle. But drugs had already proved a profitable pastime,

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<v Speaker 1>and as with the nation's previous attempt to go dry

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<v Speaker 1>with prohibition, the war on drugs actually increased their value

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<v Speaker 1>and the potential for corruption.

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<v Speaker 2>It just brings out the evil and provision and just

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<v Speaker 2>creates so many problems in more than it ever prevents.

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<v Speaker 1>That's mister Jerry Lee Wilson. He's a former marijuana smuggler

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<v Speaker 1>who was based out West which is where he linked

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<v Speaker 1>with Phil Stamford, who profiled him for a magazine article.

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<v Speaker 1>A quick aside mister Wilson is also the mastermind and

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<v Speaker 1>inventor behind Soloflex, the groundbreaking machine that forever revolutionized home

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<v Speaker 1>fitness in the nineteen eighties and created the world's first

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<v Speaker 1>infomercial that sold it, along with the no Pain, No

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<v Speaker 1>Gain Body by Solaflex print campaign featuring that iconic shirtless

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<v Speaker 1>male model with impeccable pecks and abs. Wilson's a fascinating guy.

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<v Speaker 1>We're dealing with the story of nineteen eighties Miami as

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<v Speaker 1>it switched from pot to cocaine. But just the corruption,

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<v Speaker 1>it's fascinating that prohibition just breeds corruption and crime.

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<v Speaker 2>Well in the eye, it breeds opportunity. There's so much

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<v Speaker 2>opportunity for you know, on both sides of the fence.

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<v Speaker 2>But it did open up an economic opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>Before he'd make millions with sola Flex, Jerry was jailed

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<v Speaker 1>in Oklahoma facing bail to the tune of a half

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<v Speaker 1>a million dollars for flying in quote the largest load

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<v Speaker 1>of pot in history unquote. Here's how he got there.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me how you fell into smuggling.

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<v Speaker 2>I never really wanted to have to work for a living,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, because I'd tried work several times I never

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<v Speaker 2>paid much and it was hard. And then I got

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<v Speaker 2>to thinking, maybe I should just become a pilot. That

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<v Speaker 2>didn't seem like work at all, and so that's what

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<v Speaker 2>I did. I mean, I just loved anything it get

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<v Speaker 2>up off the ground. And so that's what I did

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<v Speaker 2>for twelve years, is I slip professionally. Five of the

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<v Speaker 2>years I flew the night airmail up to Tornado Alley

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<v Speaker 2>without a radar. That was pretty scary. And then I

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<v Speaker 2>got a job flying lar jets in Las Vegas, where

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<v Speaker 2>I got to meet all the mafia guys that I

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<v Speaker 2>read about. One of them was an attorney from El

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<v Speaker 2>Paso and a gambler and the Torres gambler and a

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<v Speaker 2>high roller, big steaks gambler and a big tipper. But

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<v Speaker 2>I started flying him, shuttling him back and forth between

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<v Speaker 2>El Paso and Las Vegas. And then I got a

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<v Speaker 2>charter from his younger brother, who I hadn't met yet,

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<v Speaker 2>to just fly back east, you know, with only one

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<v Speaker 2>passenger on board. And they wouldn't even tell me where

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<v Speaker 2>we were going, you know. And then actually I was

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<v Speaker 2>going out to collect cash, heart currency and buckets and

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<v Speaker 2>big steamship trunks full of just cash that I would

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<v Speaker 2>bring back and they would take the caesars and they'd

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<v Speaker 2>weigh it when they'd get credit on books. But these

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<v Speaker 2>guys were the younger brother was a smuggler, marijuana smuggler.

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<v Speaker 2>I got a call to go down and pick up

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<v Speaker 2>a Lee Shagger and al Paso, and so I was

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<v Speaker 2>waiting at the airport. He was usually laid but been

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<v Speaker 2>there about an hour. My co boughted me. Then here

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<v Speaker 2>comes Jimmy, and it was the first time I had

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<v Speaker 2>met his younger brother, the actual smuggler, And so he says,

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<v Speaker 2>Lee's looking for some pilots, and I thought, damn, that

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<v Speaker 2>sounded like a lot of fun for one thing, and

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<v Speaker 2>maybe the little credie and there's certainly nothing wrong with

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<v Speaker 2>it that I could see, And so I went to

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<v Speaker 2>work for him.

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<v Speaker 1>But Jerry Lee Wilson would eventually find himself on the

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<v Speaker 1>wrong side of the law and at odds with the

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<v Speaker 1>cops who arrested him, who were also on the wrong

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<v Speaker 1>side of the law.

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<v Speaker 2>No, I was finding myself in jail, you know, and

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<v Speaker 2>the cops having stolen all with dope.

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<v Speaker 1>That happens more than one would think, but just explained.

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<v Speaker 2>So well by the cops are not stupid. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>there's you know how valuable it is. They also know

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<v Speaker 2>every dealer in the area. You know, I mean, I

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<v Speaker 2>get to the natural connection to sell it. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>there was a dege in Albuquerque that got busted selling

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<v Speaker 2>the same uh load of pot hit hit hit busted

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<v Speaker 2>and then resell it and get and bust it and

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<v Speaker 2>resell it. You know, that breeds opportunities on both sides

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<v Speaker 2>of the de fence. You know, cops don't get paid

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<v Speaker 2>that much, and they all think they're overworked and you know, harassed.

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<v Speaker 2>I had a Treasury agent said once, you know, he

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<v Speaker 2>said my balls were a little bigger, you know, I'd

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<v Speaker 2>be doing what you're doing. Yeah, And it's like, well, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>what can I say? Get some balls man.

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry shares many of his smuggling adventures and innovations in

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<v Speaker 1>his autobiography The Solo Flex Story, an American parable, which

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<v Speaker 1>Wilson cleverly dedicates to the Statute of Limitations. It is

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<v Speaker 1>a great read. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories

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<v Speaker 1>that matter to you.