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Welcome everyone to the conclusion of my special two-episode conversation with Author and Retired DEA Special Agent Jaime Forza! Here are just some of Jaime’s career highlights.

After serving eight years in the U.S. Navy, Jaime joined the U.S. Department of Defense, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) as a Special Agent serving for two years. In 1989, he became a Special Agent with the DEA, first in Charleston, South Carolina, then transferred to the Miami Field Division. He took part in numerous undercover and covert operations and was deployed on assignment to Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1990.

In 1996, the DEA transferred Jaime to Merida, Mexico, Resident Office, where he later promoted to Resident Agent in Charge. In this role, he played a crucial part in the dismantling of the Juarez Cartel drug enterprise.

In 2009, he was promoted and reassigned to the Office of Global Enforcement, Special Projects Branch. In this role, he served as the Senior Military Advisor for Narco-Terrorism at the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters.

In 2013, DEA selected Jaime as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Miami Field Division. In this role, he managed domestic enforcement and oversaw the daily operations of the division's foreign-based component in the Bahamas and its forward air operating bases. Jaime was subsequently appointed to Senior Executive.

On December 5, 2024, Jaime released his book, THE RULES OF KONGO : A Psychological Crime Thriller Inspired by Actual Events. This book can be described as a dark, psychological crime thriller with supernatural elements.

In today’s episode we discuss:

· Cocaine coming from Colombia to Mexico and then the United States. How did they smuggle it, and how much?

· Drug submarines that were assembled in the jungle?

· The Juarez cartel.

· Operation Panama Express.

· Working UC in America and overseas. Scariest moments and most fulfilling.

· Santeria priests and priestesses or other “black magic/voodoo”. Putting spells on witnesses attempting to tie their tongue in knots in court, making drug dealers invisible to LE.

· Palo Mayabme dark magic / Voodoo dolls.

· What is your advice for someone who wants to become a DEA agent? How should they prepare?

· Jaimie’s book, THE RULES OF KONGO : A Psychological Crime Thriller Inspired by Actual Events.

· Jaimie’s answer to the illegal drug problem in America.

All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.

To learn more about Jaime's book, The Rules of Kongo, head over to this website!

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

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Welcome to part one of my special two-episode conversation with Author and retired DEA Special Agent Jaime Forza! Here are just some of Jaime’s career highlights.

After serving eight years in the U.S. Navy, Jaime joined the U.S. Department of Defense, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) as a Special Agent serving for two years. In 1989, he became a Special Agent with the DEA, first in Charleston, South Carolina, then transferred to the Miami Field Division. He took part in numerous undercover and covert operations and was deployed on assignment to Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1990.

In 1996, the DEA transferred Jaime to Merida, Mexico, Resident Office, where he later promoted to Resident Agent in Charge. In this role, he played a crucial part in the dismantling of the Juarez Cartel drug enterprise.

In 2009, he was promoted and reassigned to the Office of Global Enforcement, Special Projects Branch. In this role, he served as the Senior Military Advisor for Narco-Terrorism at the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters.

In 2013, DEA selected Jaime as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Miami Field Division. In this role, he managed domestic enforcement and oversaw the daily operations of the division's foreign-based component in the Bahamas and its forward air operating bases. Jaime was subsequently appointed to Senior Executive.

On December 5, 2024, Jaime released his book, THE RULES OF KONGO : A Psychological Crime Thriller Inspired by Actual Events. This book can be described as a dark, psychological crime thriller with supernatural elements.

I really enjoyed my time with Jaime and we have a lot in common.

In today’s episode we discuss:

· Growing up in Brooklyn, New York.

· What are mafia fires?

· The neighborhood Bruha.

· Moving to Puerto Rico when he was in high school.

· His biggest influences as a young child and teen?

· Why he joined the Navy at 16 years of age and later became a N.C.I.S. agent?

· His path to joining the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

· Being a DEA Agent in the 1980s/90s in Miami.

· Travelling to Panama and taking part in Operation Just Cause, arresting General Manuel Antonio Noriega.

· The pros and cons of working as a DEA agent in Mexico.

All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.

To learn more about Jaime's book, The Rules of Kongo, head over to this website!Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Hey everyone, thanks for joining us as we’re going the back to west coast today for the conclusion of our interview with Author and Retired Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Jeff Wenninger!

Jeff is a retired LAPD lieutenant with more than 33 years in law enforcement. He started with L.A. County Sheriff in 1991 and worked the Rodney King riots on the street and jail, where he and his coworkers were not allowed to go home for two weeks straight.

He later lateralled to LAPD in 1993 and went on to work with some of the most highly-trained units, including the Metropolitan Division which encompasses SWAT, K9, high risk warrants, and more. As a sergeant, he was handpicked as the officer in charge of the Rampart Gang Enforcement detail following the Rampart Scandal in the late 90s. As a sergeant and later as a lieutenant, Jeff was the officer in charge of the Use of Force Investigation Division and oversaw investigations of lethal force and other significant applications of force. Jeff's work earned him prestigious awards including the LAPD Medal of Valor, Police Star, and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Jeff is the founder and CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants, LLC. He is releasing a book called “On Thin Ice” that will be published on May 6.

Please enjoy this candid interview witch we talk about what’s good and bad with law enforcement today, and how we can fix it.

In today’s episode we discuss:

· The trends in law enforcement today regarding uniforms.

· How the O.J. Simpson trial changed the LAPD.

· Jeff’s career trajectory with the LAPD?

· The special units Jeff served on and supervised.

· At the apex of a promising career, why Jeff decided to retire from law enforcement.

· How difficult was it to transition to civilian life?

· Being the founder and CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants. What is this and why do it?.

· Your upcoming book, On Thin Ice: An LAPD Veteran’s Journey to Reimagine Policing, is due out soon. Why write it, and what, if any, message do you want to give the reader?

· What Jeff misses the most about the job.

Go check out Jeff's website to learn more about him and his newest book, On Thin Ice.

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Hey everyone, thanks for joining us, as we’re going west coast today! Welcome to part one of my two-part conversation with Author and Retired Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Jeff Wenninger!

Jeff is a retired LAPD lieutenant with more than 33 years in law enforcement. He started with the L.A. County Sheriff in 1991 and worked the Rodney King riots on the street and jail, where he and his coworkers were not allowed to go home for two weeks straight.

He later lateralled to LAPD in 1993 and went on to work with some of the most highly-trained units, including the Metropolitan Division which encompasses SWAT, K9, high risk warrants, and more. As a sergeant, he was handpicked as the officer in charge of the Rampart Gang Enforcement detail following the Rampart Scandal in the late 90s. As sergeant and later as a lieutenant, Jeff was the officer in charge of the Use of Force Investigation Division and oversaw investigations of lethal force and other significant applications of force. Jeff's work earned him prestigious awards including the LAPD Medal of Valor, Police Star, and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Jeff is the founder and CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants, LLC. He is releasing a book called “On Thin Ice” that will be published on May 6.

Please enjoy my candid interview, which we talk about what needs to be fixed and what is working with law enforcement today.

In today’s episode we discuss:

· Being adopted as a child, how did this affect your later life, especially in your career as a police officer? Or did it?

· His father being a professor at Kent State University and being there when national guardsmen opened fire on students.

· Jeff being the recipient of a hockey scholarship to go to college. How his career in hockey molded him and prepared him later in life?

· As a young man, there was an incident where he had a negative interaction with the police where he was unlawfully arrested. How did this affect him later as a police officer?

· Why leave the L.A. Sheriff’s to join the LAPD?

· O.J., guilty or not guilty?

· How the O.J. Simpson trial changed the LAPD and the city.

· Working the streets and jail during the Rodney King riots. Over sixty people dead and thousands injured.

All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.

Go check out Jeff's website to learn more about him and his newest book, On Thin Ice.

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Welcome back everyone to the conclusion of my conversation with the amazing Nick Chiarkas! I was so excited about this interview I didn’t want you guys to wait for next Sunday! I really enjoyed talking to Nick and I think you guys are going to feel the same about this episode.

Nick grew up in the Al Smith housing projects on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When he was in the fourth grade, his mother was told by the principal of PS-1 that "Nick was unlikely ever to complete high school, so you must steer him toward a simple and secure vocation." Instead, Nick became a writer, with a few stops along the way: a U.S. Army Paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division serving in the Viet Nam war, a New York City Police Officer, Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Deputy Chief Counsel for the President's Commission on Organized Crime; Chief Counsel for the USATBCB; and the Director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency. On the way, he picked up a Doctorate from Columbia University, a Law Degree from Temple University, and was a Pickett Fellow at Harvard. Not bad for a guy whose principal told his parents that he wouldn’t amount to much.

I found this interview to be so captivating and entertaining. I didn’t want it to end. I hope you guys feel the same. Please enjoy my conversation with Nick.

In today’s episode we discuss:.

· Why Nick left the NYPD after only seven years on the job.

· His experience of being sent to the Woodstock music festival as security and meeting some of the musicians, including Jimi Hendrix.

· His part in the movie, The Anderson Tapes (Starring Sean Connery, Diane Cannon, and Christopher Walken).

· How Nick wound up being the Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the Deputy Chief Counsel for the President's Commission on Organized Crime.

· His awkward first meeting with President Reagan.

· His becoming the director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency and how he was not welcomed with open arms because him being a former police officer.

· The changes he instituted in the public defender’s office.

· His books, Weepers and Nunzio’s Way.

All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.

Check out Nick's Amazon Author page!

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Welcome to part one of my two-part conversation with the amazing Nick Chiarkas! I really enjoyed talking to Nick and I think you guys are going to feel the same about this episode.

Nick grew up in the Al Smith housing projects on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When he was in the fourth grade, his mother was told by the principal of PS-1 that "Nick was unlikely ever to complete high school, so you must steer him toward a simple and secure vocation." Instead, Nick became a writer, with a few stops along the way: a U.S. Army Paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division serving in the Viet Nam war, a New York City Police Officer, Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Deputy Chief Counsel for the President's Commission on Organized Crime; Chief Counsel for the USATBCB; and the Director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency. On the way, he picked up a Doctorate from Columbia University, a Law Degree from Temple University, and was a Pickett Fellow at Harvard. Not bad for a guy whose principal told his parents that he wouldn’t amount to much.

I found this interview to be so captivating and entertaining. I didn’t want it to end. I hope you guys feel the same. Please enjoy my conversation with Nick.

In today’s episode we discuss:.

· The principal who told Nick’s folks that he would never graduate from high school.

· Growing up in a housing project in New York in the 1950s to60s.

· The street gangs of that era and his affiliations.

· Volunteering to join the army and being in the elite 101st Airborne Division, serving in Vietnam.

· Why he became a New York Police Officer.

· The influence of his father and other relatives being police officers with the NYPD.

· Coming across an armed robbery in progress as a rookie cop, by himself!

Check out Nick's Amazon Author page!

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Welcome back for the conclusion of my interview with Author and Retired DEA Special Agent Chris Feistl.

Chris Feistl served with distinction for 26 years with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), retiring in 2014 as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division.

After serving an initial six-year assignment in Miami, Florida, Chris was sent to Colombia in July 1994 and assigned to a special Task Force created to take down the notorious Cali cartel, “the most powerful criminal organization in the world." In Colombia, Chris partnered with Dave Mitchell, and together they spent almost three years investigating the cartel; their joint efforts resulting in the arrest of the four ruthless Cali “Godfathers” and the dismantlement of the biggest drug cartel in history.

Chris has long been considered an expert on the Cali cartel, consistently making him a highly sought-after guest on television documentaries and podcasts with a particular focus on his pursuit of the Cali cartel leaders. Chris was portrayed in an 80-episode Spanish-language Netflix series entitled En la Boca del Lobo, as well as in Season 3 of Netflix’s widely acclaimed hit Narcos Colombia: Rise of a New Empire, The Cali Cartel.

Chris is also an author with his highly anticipated novel, After Escobar: Taking Down the Notorious Cali Godfathers and the Biggest Drug Cartel in History scheduled for release June 24.

Please enjoy this enlightening and captivating conversation with DEA Special Agent Chris Feistl.

In today’s episode we discuss:.

· How he dealt with the rampant corruption within the Colombian police? Also, how he dealt with the changing political winds in the U.S. and Colombia.

· The Cali KGB, what this was, and how they combated this.

· Drawn and quartered with motorcycles on the Netflix show. How real was that?

· How did the Cali Cartel dispose of bodies?

· What was the relationship with the CIA and FBI like during his work there?

· Using a chicken truck to arrest one of the Godfathers.

· When he feared the most for his life as a DEA Agent.

· His upcoming book, After Escobar: Taking Down the Notorious Cali Godfathers and the Biggest Drug Cartel in History. How did this happen, and why write the book?

Learn more about Chris and his upcoming book!

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show

Send us a text

Welcome to a bonus episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, with me being interviewed on the Things Police See Podcast hosted by Steve Gould!

We talk about everything from rectal hot sauce to a last-second murder confession.

Check out the most awesome Steve Gould's Things Pollice See Podcast!

Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel!
Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!!
Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series.
Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?

https://a.co/d/2UsJPba

Support the show