WEBVTT - 2. The Calls 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.200 So let's say you want to call the CIA, the 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:08.160 Central Intelligence Agency. How would you do it? Back in 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.039 twenty twelve, it was easy. 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.240 It was a whole number on the website. 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:17.320 You just typed CIA dot gov. Back then, the agency 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.400 had a number listed. That's no longer the case today. 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.320 You have to fill out an online form. But in 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:29.240 April twenty twelve, Flavio Georgescu finds the number and he 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:36.960 calls it. Ah, this is a recording of that actual call. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:39.800 Good afternoon, how can I help you? 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:46.239 Hi? Flavio? And I was born in Romania, but right 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.760 now I'm I'm a USPP. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.600 Then, just a few minutes earlier, Flavio's friend Andy called him, 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.680 asking him if he could arrange a weapons deal for 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.320 some Colombians. There'd be a lot of money in it 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:00.440 for both of them. 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.319 Andy tells Flavio, and right now, I'm in Romania and 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.080 I have an information for you, and I want to 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.959 be in touch with one of your agency over here 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:10.759 in Romania order. 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:14.160 I know you have an office in Austria. Okay, right 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:15.480 over there. 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:17.280 What's your social Security number? 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.120 Flavio, a naturalized US citizen, says the matter at hand 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.360 is urgent, he needs to speak in person with a 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:30.160 CIA official in Europe. The agent on the phone sounds skeptical. 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.240 I need to talk with someone personally over. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.080 Here or in Okay, then you need to go to 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.119 Then you need to go to the embassy then, because 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:39.320 if you don't want to tell me over the phone, 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.039 I'm not going to send somebody out to meet you, Okay. 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:43.640 If you only need if you need to talk in 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.520 person only, then you need to go to the embassy. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.720 No, I'm not going there because you know I was 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.800 born here and I know I'm not trusting people over 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.080 killing in Romania. That's what I try to keep personally. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.240 It is something about what Flavia is saying here is 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.000 that he doesn't want to just walk into the US 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:04.200 embassy in Romania to make a report. You have to 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.600 remember the secret police that dominated Romania during Flavia's childhood. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.680 They still have him a little paranoid. He doesn't want 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:13.800 to risk being seen. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.280 Okay, So one. 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.600 Quality you can tell me over the phone. You can 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.120 write an email on the public website. If you go 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.280 to CIA dot DOV and go to contact us, you 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.320 can write it all out, or you can go to 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:28.639 the embassy. Those are your three options, because I'm not 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:30.000 sending anybody out to meet you. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.000 Now, think of this interaction from the agent's point of view. 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:39.240 Some random guy in Romania calling in to say, Hey, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.919 I got a hot tip. Can you send out an agent? 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:44.160 Okay, let me talk with you. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.720 So Flavio starts to talk. He explains that one of 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.040 his contacts has a client from Colombia who's asking if 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.399 Flavio can help him find weapons. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.560 Okay, and how do you know this person? Why would 0:02:58.560 --> 0:02:59.080 they go? Now? 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.320 They are not really big. They they're looking. They want 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.240 to poin me for it because I'm really really connected. 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.079 All right, How are you really really connected? 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:12.639 Because everyone knows me. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.960 You know, I go because everyone knows you to get 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.960 them weapons. You just told me they contacted you to 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.880 get grenades and stuff. So what kind of connections do 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.520 you have? Because of its criminal connections? Then the CIA 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.000 doesn't want to have anything to do with it. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.880 He's not any criminal connections. 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:37.560 This CIA agent is very skeptical. But and this is important, 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:43.360 here's Flavio in this very first call, telling the CIA 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:49.320 everything about the very crime the Justice Department will later 0:03:49.480 --> 0:04:00.200 accuse him of committee. I'm Trevor Aronson from West and 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:23.840 Sound and iHeart Podcasts. This is Alphabet Boys, Episode two 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:32.200 the Calls. In the early two thousands, after establishing a 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:36.400 reputation as an all around fixer for wealthy Eastern Europeans 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:41.440 visiting Las Vegas, Flavio branched out. He started dividing his 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.159 time between the United States and Romania, and he started 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:51.280 some businesses. Among Flavio's early ventures was one in Bucharest 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:55.920 that provided it infrastructure for Romanians operating channels on I Friends, 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.200 one of the Internet's earliest video chat services. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:05.520 Up company I Friends was having a lot of a 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:10.160 lot of employees in Europe. There will set up some locations, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.279 for example in Romania, there was ning up place and 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.880 the people was coming to work over there, and I 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:23.040 was doing the fiber optic, the computers, the webcam and everything. 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.560 I Friends has now shut down, but you can still 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.640 view the website on the Internet Archive. It warn't users 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:33.640 that it's community contained what I Friends termed red light zones. 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:42.960 There was having sections by different categories like adults, socializing 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:48.040 of friends, all kinds of things. 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:53.560 I Friends wasn't exclusively adult oriented, but it provided one 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.560 of the earliest platforms for so called camgirls, think only 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:04.960 fans or chatterbait, both small, grainy, stuttering videos. I Friends 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.440 helped pioneer the adult oriented internet we know today. In 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.080 nineteen ninety nine, a couple living in Florida became the 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.640 first to be prosecuted for obscenity for sexual acts performed 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:18.719 at home. They were charged with promoting obscene material for 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:23.039 live streaming themselves having sex on I Friends. At the time, 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.599 I Friends had one and a half million customers and 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.560 ten thousand cam operators. The Florida couple earned three dollars 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.719 per minute for their cam work. Three dollars a minute 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.040 was a lot of money, then one hundred and eighty 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.000 dollars an hour, and in Eastern Europe that was a 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.280 ton of money, attracting people in Bucharest to start cam 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:50.039 channels on I Friends. Flavio assisted with the infrastructure, but 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:52.120 he wasn't responsible for the content. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.040 It's true I was providing the fiber optic I was 0:06:56.080 --> 0:07:02.960 providing hardware like computers with comes a die key part. 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:09.080 But Flavio says he discouraged adult oriented operators as much 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.720 as he could. He didn't like the idea that a 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:16.760 major global export of his native Romania was naked ladies. 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:24.280 There's a reason I mentioned Flavio's pearl clutching at pornography. 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.480 Flavio's actions often seem to be rooted in a strong 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.560 sense of morality, and if you're inclined to believe Flavio's story, 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.880 his moral compass is ultimately what gets him on a 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.640 lot of trouble. By twenty twelve, Flavio had become a 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.880 world traveling businessman, leveraging his relationships in both the United 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:49.000 States and Europe. For example, one of Flavio's companies purchased 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.080 US made ankle monitoring devices, the kind criminals wear during probation, 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:57.680 and resold them to law enforcement agencies in Romania. Another 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.200 of Flavio's ventures partnered with a company in Utah that 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.560 sold emergency food packages, the kind you keep for years 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.200 on a shelf and mixed with water when you know 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.960 the end of the world happens. Flavia was out there hustling, 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.040 constantly doing stuff. Some months he'd be in Las Vegas, 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:21.440 other months London or Bucharest. So this is Flavia's life. 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:25.280 When his old friend from Los Angeles, any Georgescu, calls 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.840 him and says he knows a Colombian who's looking to 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:29.880 buy some serious weapons. 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:33.920 He calls me and he said, I'm I have a 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:38.760 Columbian partner or I need some guns to fight with 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:45.640 the American government in Colombia. I said, you know, I 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.439 mean I don't do any guns. I don't have no connections. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.960 I'm to keep insisting, saying in the conversation, I mat 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.720 me give you all his bone. He said, at least pretend, 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.880 just pretend you're gonna sell him the guns, because I 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:00.880 have some deals with him. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.880 Flavio tells Andy that he'll look into it, and he 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:09.000 tells Andy maybe he could make something happen. He says 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:11.720 he could probably find the right people. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:16.280 I hang up the phone. Five ten minutes later, I 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:17.400 call CIA. 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.439 I let them know, Ah, good afternoon. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:23.199 How can I help you. 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:25.400 More? 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:45.320 After the break, Flavio's called the CIA asking to meet 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:45.839 with an agent. 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:50.200 The first lady she didn't want to talk with me. 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.240 She was keep sending me to the US embassy. 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.119 And the CIA agent is very skeptical. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:58.120 If you don't want to tell me over the phone, 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.840 I'm not going to send somebody out to meet you, Okay, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:02.440 if you only need if you need to talk in 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:04.320 person only. Then you need to go to the embassy. 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.040 People knows me in the embassy, I have I used 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:09.760 to have friends over there working over there. I'm don 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:14.160 Alue Delusion talking about some nonsense things, and I said, no, 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:18.000 send me to Vienna. You have a center to collect 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.520 intelligence in Vienna. Send you over there in Austria, and 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:22.240 I'm going to talk over there with somebody and we 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:24.360 see what's going on from there, and we're going to 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:25.559 do a strategy. 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.360 The CIA agent Flavio is talking to you. She doesn't 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.680 appear to think Flavio is for real. 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:38.000 Okay, So you do personal security all over the world. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.719 You're connected to all these different people, and you had 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:44.160 somebody call you and say, can you get grenades and 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.560 guns for this guy in Columbia. 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:51.520 Not specified grades. A lot of ammunitions, ammunition AK forty seven, 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:52.120 A lot of them. 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.520 Okay. So what I'm telling you, as a US set 0:10:55.559 --> 0:11:00.880 ofcent go to the US, the American Embassy, and tell 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:02.320 them you need to speak with someone. 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:12.240 Okay, yeah, this is the easy way for you, but 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:14.360 you know a lot of Okay, well, no, it's not 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.040 the easy way for me. You're being very difficult. You 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.360 run a business, but you don't have a name for 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:24.080 your business. It's just you're telling me that you're very, 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:30.160 very connected, but people are calling you to get ammunition 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.040 and AK forty sevens. So it really doesn't sound like 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:35.600 anything that we can discuss. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.280 Over the phone. So I'm telling you, for your safety, 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.719 you need to go to the US embassy. Okay, well 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:49.200 we can't help you. Thank you, goodbye, And she ain't 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:49.880 got the phone. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:56.000 And after that I got a call back saying that person, 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.400 the second one, oh, my name is such an inside 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.200 of one, and we start to talk. 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.839 In other words, Despite all the skepticism and well attitude 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:12.959 of that CIA agent, Flavio's tip got escalated to another 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:14.439 CIA agent. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:18.160 Okay, well, as I understand it, I don't. I don't 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.000 think there was anything that the agency could do to 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.280 assister facilitate what you're trying to accomplish. 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:24.800 This is that second agent. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:30.720 We didn't have anyone that can commute with you. And 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.720 I was just like, see determination. 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:37.200 Yeah, I was always just try to be useful to 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.440 the US government because I love that country and you know, 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.800 I'm so proud to be a Yes Cities and that orders. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.839 You know, if it is not anything interesting for you. 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:49.360 I don't care because I'm not doing any deal. I'm 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.800 not going to to help these people. But I was 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.960 thinking you have any interesting in this situation because it's 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:00.559 easy to follow up these people, you know, which maybe 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.440 through case for you or you know, you have to 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:04.880 know everything which has happened. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:10.760 Flavio is again saying directly to the CIA, Hey, American 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:15.720 Intelligence Agency, these guys seem like illegal arms traffickers. You 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:21.440 want to maybe do something about it. If so, great, 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.640 but if not, no worries. If you don't want this 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.080 CIA all good, I'll drop it. 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:27.840 Well. 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.800 I mean, if you were forcefright with all the details, 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.640 then we could verify your story. That's something we might 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:35.520 look into and pass to the right authorities. 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.800 This is the moment when this whole story could have stopped. 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:46.160 But suddenly, with Flavio acting all cooi, the agent now 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:51.720 seems a little more interested and he starts asking Flavio questions. 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.880 You said you have a company, a personal security No. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.000 No, I work for some prime with people like I'm 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.800 of security advisor. 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.280 I throw up the theme for you on Flavio is 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.480 basically saying he's a fixer, a guy who has relationships 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.640 and can make things happen, expensive things harder, ring services. 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.440 He's vague, but then again, fixers are supposed to be discreet. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.280 A guy from Los Angeles, he said, you know, I 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.520 have some clients. They want to do it. The first 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.520 deal for ten million dollars, which is not that big, 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:33.840 but they want to see everything goes smoothly and everything 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.640 is perfect. And I says, okay, what they needed. And 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:42.200 they send it two different lists with the merchandises they need. 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.440 And they said, I asked for the first time, I 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.920 ask for the end user certificate. You know what the 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:49.520 end user certificate? It is. 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:51.560 No, I'm not famliy wather. 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:57.880 Oh and here's a certificate. It is a paper which 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.720 has to prove to the factor which is the end 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.920 user for this kind of ammunition, for this kind of guns, 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.120 for everything. You know. 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:12.400 Flavio mentioned something there called an end user certificate. This 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.280 is something that people who have experienced doing weapons deals 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:20.200 know all about. Legitimate international weapons deals require an official 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.320 piece of paper certifying the final destination for the weapons. 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.760 In other words, the end user certificate certifies that a 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.680 the buyer is a legitimate weapons purchaser. B the buyer 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.000 is going to be the one actually using the weapons, 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.000 and c the buyer doesn't intend to transfer these weapons 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:43.800 to someone else. A weapons deal without an end user certificate, 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:49.920 that's a red flag, a tell tale sign of arms trafficking. 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.920 And when I must for that, when I ask for 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.160 this paper, they says, no, we don't have one, and 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.640 maybe if we increase the price, can use a middle 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.920 man in the STANSA. Can I say, you know, our 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.640 conversation has to end right now because I'm not getting 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.760 involved in anything like that. And they says, you know, 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.360 maybe you think about blah blah blah, good money. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.880 You know, Flavio is saying that Andy told him that 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.960 the Colombian buyer doesn't have an end user certificate. But 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.400 if Flavio can arrange for an end user certificate, there'd 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:32.640 be some big money in that. 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.640 Believe me or not, you don't know me. But when 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:40.640 I have the chance to help US government and help 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:45.720 that country, I consider my country too. I help them. 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:51.080 Every time on FBA needs me for Russians Romanians, which 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.040 they do a lot of it things in the United States, 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.640 I help them. And with my help, a lot of 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.600 government confiscate a lot of cash, a lot of houses, 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.720 a lot of cash, you know, I bring someoney to 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:02.120 their Uncle Sam. All the time. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:09.520 Flavio speaks fast with a thick Romanian accent, and it's 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.560 unclear how closely the CIA agent on the phone is 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.840 paying attention. For all I know, he could be doodling 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.720 in a notepad while Flavio is spilling his guts. It 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:21.760 might have been easy for him to miss what Flavio 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.800 just said. Maybe you even missed it. Flavio said, every 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.240 time when the FBI needs me for Russians Romanians, I 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.680 help them, and with my help, the government has confiscated 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.600 a lot of cash, a lot of houses, a lot 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.399 of cars. I bring money to Uncle Sam. All the time, 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.200 Flavio is telling the CIA that he's not just some 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.200 random crank calling in claiming to have information about arms traffickers. 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.359 Flavio is telling him that he's worked with the government before, 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:58.159 specifically with the FBI. He's saying, you can trust me. 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.560 I've done this sort of thing, and I'm really good 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:02.880 at it. 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.520 Because I'm not sure. With all my respect for you, 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.359 uh and for your time with you, stay with me 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.800 on the phone. I'm not that kind of person to 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.000 come to the United States and take the cash to 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.199 bring it outside. I'm the kind I'm the kind of 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.280 guy to bring the cash to the United States, you know, 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.480 I you know, I considered da country in mine. You know, 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.960 I live over there, and I'm so happy. 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.639 But the CIA guy, he's not exactly sold. 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.080 And we you have to understand from our respects that 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:32.600 we have to be able to that and confirm the 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:34.600 things that you're you're telling us because a lot of 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.439 people call I know what with all this information and context, 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.640 So when we ask these questions, that's we're simply I know. 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.159 I know that. I know that because it was the 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:50.160 same dreer with the FBI. Okay, you know that means 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.840 I know the procedures, I know the The only thing 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:59.200 which I was involved all the times, my my begging 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:03.520 it is my quis series who don't be HII. 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:14.640 So this whole thing is getting more complicated. 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:16.040 Again. 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.040 Flavio is claiming to the CIA agent that he's worked 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.800 as a trusted source for the FBI. He says he's 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:30.040 willing to provide information everything he knows, but he's also 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:35.440 saying right here in this introductory conversation that he doesn't 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.840 want to be called as a witness in court and 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:44.280 the CIA guy he sounds tired. He appears to be 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:46.080 just going through the motions. 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:49.800 Or I can take this further. Let me get your 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.280 your spelling of your first name, because I was told 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:53.640 is it Slavio. 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.360 Flavio spells his first name, which has an unusual spelling. 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.840 A Z I. 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:09.960 You are you as in uniform? 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:10.920 He is in uniform? 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:16.280 Sorry it is Finally the CIA guy appears ready to engage. 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.359 Let's talk about this armstel that's after the break. 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.560 Okay, do you have specific contact information on these people 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.280 that are you know, attempting to buy the ammunitions. 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.200 The CIA agent on the phone with Flavio has finally 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.119 come around. He wants to know specifics about this supposed 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:53.760 weapons steal. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:56.760 Okay, the thing it is like that the guy, the 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:01.720 guy in Los Angeles is Romanian. He owns the big 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.320 shipping company. You know, these kind of people they don't 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.440 accept in this kind of deals middlemen. When they heard 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:11.159 about middle men, they get in crazy. They're around so 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.879 so fat, you know they are not They don't like 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:18.159 it the middleman, because you know, middle man can be 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.480 your agency. Middle nan can be anyone. The only thing 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:26.280 which my the guy in La approached them, was like, 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.520 do the logistics, you know, do the transaction, do the 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.520 shipping stuff like that. This is the only way to 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:36.239 approach this kind of guys. And they said for the 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:40.159 first time, for the first time, they want to do 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:42.639 a deal for ten million dollars. It's not that much, 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:46.680 but they want to see if it's the bill goes 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.800 so smoothly, and if it goes so smoothly, it's doing 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:55.680 more and more and more. When the s from like exchange, yeah, 0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:00.280 they said, you know they yeah, let me see I. 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:03.160 Adad him on my phone for a second. 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:06.240 Please, I let you. 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:07.360 Know why you war. 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.240 Earlier that day, Andy had emailed Flavio a list of 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:16.920 weapons that won the Colombian wants to purchase. Flavio reads 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:18.280 it to the CIA agent. 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:24.760 Okay, the first one it is a K forty seven 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:30.320 seven point six two millimeasures and five point forty five 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:33.000 million measures lp G seven. 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:34.120 Uh. 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:42.000 Second one it's M for carabine. Okay. The man that 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:46.800 one okay's on the email. On the paper, there's anti 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:47.800 personal mind. 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.960 Whatever you have in stuck. Uh. The world to start 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.600 will be one thousand, one thousand. 0:22:55.359 --> 0:23:01.480 Pieces of each item. Please advise the price and availability. 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:03.520 One thousand pieces of AARs. So you're looking for a 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:07.520 thousand A k's a thousand and four A thousand anti 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:09.920 personnel minds, is what you understood. 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:12.480 Yeah? And also this is the first SLEEP and I 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:14.920 have another one with similar products. 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:20.520 Okay, so what is your role specifically telling me? 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:24.560 They were telling me something like that, which I know 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:28.119 from the guy from Los Angeles, which is the you know, 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:33.040 the logistic company. They offered the money in cash or 0:23:33.280 --> 0:23:38.480 you know, in powders, in drugs, whatever is more convenient whatever. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:43.720 Flavia's accent makes it easy to miss, but he says 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:48.840 powder as in cocaine. Flavia was telling the CIA that 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:51.960 the Colombians have offered to buy weapons with either cash 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:54.639 or cocaine or both. 0:23:55.240 --> 0:24:01.199 Yeah, this guy from Miami, they are call Indian citizens 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:04.280 and they have they have the guerilla and stuff like 0:24:04.320 --> 0:24:05.000 that over there. 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:12.160 Okay, so they're trying to purchase weapons. I mean, where 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:15.600 is the end location for the weapons. 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:19.880 Backs? And what is the end uh the end user? 0:24:19.960 --> 0:24:24.439 And they said it's it's Columbia. But they asked me 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:28.520 if I can provide the middle country in this transaction, 0:24:28.640 --> 0:24:31.640 you know, like let's let's we do the shipping in Africa, 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:34.840 in you know, in Jeya and from there to Columbia. 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:38.800 You know, Flavio again tells the agent that he asked 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:42.280 about the end user certificate and the response was basically, 0:24:43.160 --> 0:24:45.480 we don't have one, so we can pay you more. 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:49.760 Wink wink. This is illegal, And I. 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:52.560 Said, you know, let me think about. It's not a 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:54.960 deal which I dream every day. You know, I tried 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:57.640 to buy the time, you know, I. 0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:01.879 Tried to buy time, Flavia says, appearing to suggest that 0:25:01.960 --> 0:25:04.600 he's stalling so he can have this conversation with the 0:25:04.640 --> 0:25:07.440 CIA before proceeding with anything else. 0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:11.600 If you want to find more, you have to allow 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:15.960 me to continue the deal and the thing it is 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:19.119 which I would try to provide this information to you. 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:21.000 You know, you have a lot of headache in Columbia 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:24.760