Book Description

It seems as if drug abuse has always been with us. Today, marijuana is readily available and seems to be a part of our culture. Until the late 1970´s, marijuana seizures of a car's trunk capacity seemed to be common place for law enforcement. Overnight, drug enforcement was turned upside down, ton quantities of South American marijuana entered the U. S. by sea vessels disrupting financial institutions with the huge amount of proceeds involved. Unprepared and under funded law enforcement, was unable to meet the challenge of big time smuggling and distribution. Finally, realizing the problem, law enforcement assaulted the violators with weapons such as the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) and Conspiracy laws. This coupled with the stepped up efforts of the U. S. Coast Guard and Customs patrolling Florida's coast line pushed large marijuana cartels west. The Conspiracy Revealed follows the efforts of a small U. S. Attorney's Office in Beaumont, Texas and the efforts of law enforcement in Texas to help meet part of the challenge presented by the enforcement effort in Florida. That is, meeting the challenge of a multi-million dollar drug cartel that would later be labeled the "Cowboy Mafia" by the media. Years later, as a retired DEA Agent, I wrote my account of the investigation which I named Good Old Boys and Grass. It was during the copyright of my manuscript, as if by Divine intervention, that a book was published. The author stated that he had been a friend and employee of one of the people investigated and convicted in the conspiracy. His allegation was that the Government was only out to get his millionaire friend. Along with the book, the author placed a copyright and commercialized the name "Cowboy Mafia." A following book tried to represent the Government's investigation but lacked the insight necessary. My view of writing about the incident changed from simply entertainment to reporting a conspiracy. This is in respect to a three-year long investigation that included over thirty-five defendants, 100 tons of marijuana charged, official corruption prosecuted, deaths during the investigation and over eighteen million dollars in fines and forfeitures. It seems only appropriate that this presentation should be made. The result is the Conspiracy Revealed.