Former undercover FBI Agent Bob Hamer is BACK in the tent to take us on a deep dive into Operation Smoking Dragon, where he took down an intricate Chinese crime syndicate. What started as a mission to investigate the illegal flow of counterfeit cigarettes turned into uncovering a sophisticated network of characters and criminals that were also bringing in counterfeit money, drugs and war-grade weapons into the United States.

Follow along as the Forrest Gump of the FBI takes us through the start of his decorated 26-year career in the FBI and one of his biggest assignments on this episode. WELCOME TO CAMP! 

Check out Bob's first episode if you haven't already:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hh6PSHVunllmPsCxWKQLF?si=d2ec467ae79645cc

Edit and Produced: Christos Papastefanou

Shoutout to our sponsors - Whoop, MDhair, Morgan & Morgan, and Bluechew.
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TIME STAMPS:

0:00 Intro

1:13 Bobs Background + Joining FBI + Undercover Work

9:49 Being Accepted to FBI Academy

13:30 How are Agents Selected

17:34 Operation Smoking Dragon + Counterfeit Cigarettes

20:41 How Were Cigarettes Imported?

22:50 Meeting The Informant + Cafe Roma

26:14 Can You Trust Informants?

28:08 Meeting The Bad Guys + Osteogenesis Osteomyelitis

32:00 Re-routing Counterfeits to FBI Warehouse + KGB Mob

43:07 How Much Was a Shipment? + Destroying $250,000 Investment

49:52 Meeting Chen, Jenny, and Michael + Ecstasy + Crystal Meth

55:14 How Bob Stayed Safe + Payments

57:07 Empathy For Criminals?

1:02:35 Circulation of Money and Drugs + Fake Viagra

1:06:44 Finding Stolen Guns + Cambodian Bribe

1:15:50 Chinese Involvement + Chen Chiang Liu

1:19:43 Counterfeit Postage Stamps + Counterfeit Credit Cards

1:24:42 Was Chen Intimidating?

1:26:26 Supernote Investigation + New $100 Bill

1:40:30 North Korean Involvement + Wilson Liu

1:47:27 Casino Money Laundering + Identifying Counterfeit Bills in Court 

1:51:42 Obtaining The Supernotes + Ritz Carlton Story

2:01:42 How Were Supernotes Distributed? + Seizing The Money

2:07:36 Was Bob Scared? + Jenny’s Birthday Party + Chen’s arrest

2:14:55 What Classifies as Entrapment?

2:18:09 Building a Meth Lab in North Korea + Bob’s Aliases

2:23:47 Seeing Chen in Court

2:25:46 Bob’s Life After The Arrest + Fake Divorce

2:31:06 Bob’s Preparation For a Case

2:32:39 Outro