[dramatic music]
- The Outlaw motorcycle gang is one of the top
motorcycle gangs in the country.
We had an issue with a chapter down
in Taunton, Massachusetts, south of Boston.
We knew that they were involved
in drug trafficking and violent crime.
- Our marching orders in Boston was basically
take care of the problem.
♪
The biggest danger is the unknown.
- They take him downstairs, and they strip-search him.
- Oh, shit.
- The worst thing that can happen
is you lose your life, obviously.
[dramatic music]
- In the FBI, we make a lot of headlines.
♪
Drug busts,
mob stings,
terrorist takedowns.
- Get down! Get down!
- We understand why people want to tell stories about us.
- Mark it.
- Freeze! - FBI.
- FBI! - Action!
- But they don't know the half of it.
[indistinct radio chatter]
What really goes down,
we save that for each other
when we're talking agent to agent.
♪
This is "FBI True."
[tense music]
♪
- Cindy Coppola is a 23-year veteran of the FBI.
She worked on cases that included
organized crime and terrorism
and took part in multinational investigations
into drug trafficking and money laundering.
Coppola finished her career with the Los Angeles division
running two offices, supervising investigations,
and providing undercover security for special events.
- People don't know that the FBI even gets involved
with the Outlaw motorcycle gang.
Like, we had some stuff down here in New York
with the motorcycle gangs, that we did a big roundup.
The average person doesn't realize
what goes behind the scenes.
- The entire United States for many, many years have had
and continue to have a criminal problem with motorcycle gangs.
- Mike McGowan participated
in over 50 undercover operations.
He was the Undercover Coordinator
at the FBI's Boston office.
McGowan helped infiltrate the mafia,
drug cartels, and biker gangs.
- The Hell's Angels and another group called the Outlaws,
they're basically one and two in the pecking order.
They have chapters all over the country.
- They're violent in theory, right?
- Not in theory, in reality.
- Warring biker gangs in Waco, Texas, clash.
Nine people were killed
in a frightening broad daylight shoot-out.
- They're involved in every imaginable type
of criminal activity. You name it, they do it.
- US attorney Joe Hogsett compared the gang
to a business with an aggressive agenda.
- Their activities have ranged from money laundering
to use and threatened use of violence,
extortion, drug distribution, firearms violations.
- They enjoy challenging law enforcement.
We'll leave it at that.
[siren wailing]
- Up in Boston, we had an issue with a chapter
down in Taunton, Massachusetts,
which is about 30 miles south of the city.
It's a small, blue-collar town.
The Outlaw chapter in Massachusetts had become
an increasingly annoying group to the community.
We knew that they were involved
in drug trafficking and violent crime,
so our marching orders in Boston was basically,
take a look at this group and take care of the problem.
So early 2005, we started a undercover operation
to see if we could actually get an agent inside.
- So you're the Undercover Coordinator
at this time? - Correct.
Motorcycle gangs, they're difficult cases to work
because they're very insular.
Most of these chapters have
what's called a clubhouse or a church.
In addition, they tend to congregate in local bars.
They do things in a way
that deters people infiltrating them.
So they're a tough group to crack.
We wanted to insert an undercover agent
into the group, if possible.
The reality is we have to get them to trust us first.
- So what'd you guys do, like, a cold bump so we could start
getting an undercover in? - Correct.
We decided to basically roll somebody in
and see if they could connect with them.
It was a new undercover agent, very inexperienced,
who was from another part of the country,
but who had an interest in doing
motorcycle undercover operations.
He knows how to ride.
- Right. - He could talk the talk.
We set up a storyline that basically he came
into the Massachusetts area once, twice a month
because that's where his business took him.
And eventually he was able to get into the clubs
so that he's visual, he's there.
He's throwing some money around.
People are like, hmm, who's this guy?
- Cultivating people, get to know them.
- You know, he just established a presence.
He's going in there for months.
Again, we don't walk in there the first day and say,
"Sell me some cocaine."
We'd get there, but these things take time.
Once the UC had spent about six months around the group,
we could start investigating their criminal activities.
The first step was offering to buy stolen cars from them.
You got to do something with these guys to show them,
you know, you color outside the lines.
The reason we authorized
the young undercover to go forward is,
we knew that we would connect him to Gonzo.
- Anibal "Gonzo" Gonzalez is an Army veteran
turned undercover operative.
He helped bring down drug traffickers
and international cartels.
He was also a driver in the FBI's
undercover trucking unit.
- At that time, the FBI had a trucking operation.
We had a full-time fleet, three or four agents
working in an undercover capacity,
supporting cases throughout the country.
You'd be surprised how many cases
can use a tow truck, a flatbed.
- Yep. I remember.
- So I end up one day coming by
and meeting up with the primary undercover.
The story was that we would take
the stolen cars to Mexico,
where they would get sold.
We follow a couple of the Outlaws
to a location where they had two motorcycles.
- Motorcycles, yep. - And I had special ramps
to load them into the truck,
and I tied them down and took them away.
He thinks it's going to Mexico.
- But in reality, where are you taking them?
- The minute I load the bikes or the cars,
I get on the road, make sure we have no tail,
and all I do is go around Boston
and go to an undercover warehouse.
And that's where we would store the motorcycles,
the cars, as evidence.
So we would space these things out,
maybe every seven or eight weeks.
- The objective wasn't to get the Outlaws for car theft.
Instead it was about building rapport.
They get curious.
That generates conversation.
- Sure. - That's the whole point.
They start wondering, what's this guy into?
You know, he's around the Mexican border.
Surprise, surprise, you know, drugs come...
- Yeah, of course. - Across the Mexican border.
You just let them create their storyline.
- Let them think it up on their own.
- We understood that they were starting to trust us.
We wanted to get to the next level,
which with them was the violent activity
and the drug trafficking.
At that point, we offered to hire them as protection
for one of our drug deals.
- The storyline we used was,
we get the drugs across from Mexico,
but we can't get them up to Canada.
We need a location here that we can secure
to transfer the drugs from our trucks to their trucks.
- So the Outlaws are going to be the protection.
- Right. - They're gonna be the heavy.
- It's offered.
You know, is this something-- can you guys do this?
- Okay. - The reality is,
it's a risk-reward analysis on their part.
You know, do I jump in with these guys
I don't know that well?
- The night before the deal,
they have a meeting at their chapter house, the church.
And there's arguments going back and forth
as to who wants to do it, who's going to partake.
Some of them were saying, I'm doing it.
I want money.
And then there were some that were saying,
I don't want any part of it.
- They didn't want to get caught.
- There was some debate among them whether--
is this a setup?
They end up calling in the undercover,
and they take him downstairs into the basement.
- Oh, shit.
♪
- And they strip-search him.
- And he's wired.
- He's wired.
[tense music]
- The worst feeling you can have as an undercover--
there's two things.
If you hear the racking of a shotgun.
- Yeah. - That's bad.
And getting searched,
even a small pat down is not comfortable.
You have a recording device somewhere on your person
or your body, and--
- It could be found.
- It usually is found.
♪
- So the UC's down in the basement.
- They strip-search him.
They check the pockets, the shoes, the jackets.
- You know, in training we teach people,
you have to anticipate
that this is probably going to happen.
You know, we don't go into this with eyes shut.
You can be searched any time.
- They searched,
and they did not find a wire.
That's how good the electronics section is.
- Lucky for him, too.
He could've been whacked. - Yes.
- The worst thing that can happen
is you lose your life, obviously.
- Yeah. - Another bad thing
is you lose the case.
We don't want to work a year
and then have a case go up in flames.
- So what's going through your mind?
Are you like, shit, are we going to do this?
- We had been working towards
the protection detail for months.
We wanted to go forward with it, if it was safe.
Because the front office was on high alert
about the first undercover,
Gonzo immediately stepped up into the primary role.
We knew that he needed to have somebody else with him.
It was natural for me to step in at that point.
- So you get inserted.
What was your UC name?
- Mike Poncho.
- Why Poncho? - He gave me that name.
- So he comes out with this-- the Mexican hat.
And that's when I said, you are my Poncho.
You're my helper.
- The last thing the Outlaws are going to think,
are these two guys FBI agents?
- We designed the deal, the transaction,
like an actual drug transaction.
- The story we gave to the Outlaws
had to be rock-solid.
The goal here was to show these guys
that we were the real deal,
that if they wanted to buy drugs in the future,
they'd come to us.
- So we bring in the trucks with the drugs.
- To, like, a prearranged parking lot?
- A Holiday Inn in Brockton.
- The Outlaws end up doing the protection.
- They had six or seven in different positions around.
And then we had requested two of them help us.
One of them was the chapter president.
- Well, that's good. So then they see it.
- Right. Well, that was the idea.
- Yeah.
- The Colombian undercover agent jumps in.
I tell him, there's 40 kilos in those four boxes.
- Sure. - And he says,
"I want to count it."
And this is built into the scenario.
We lay it out, and then I say,
"Hey, there it is. Count it."
So these guys, their eyes are, like,
this big. - The Outlaws.
- Yeah. Guy just could not shut up.
- That's all real cocaine and real marijuana.
- He's never seen this size, 40 of them.
So we put back in the boxes, retape it,
load everything into the other truck,
and we take off.
- So this deal goes great.
You make the payments to the Outlaws.
They think it's, like, a clean break.
- The chapter president, we later found out,
went back to the clubhouse that night and commented on,
"These Mexico kilos are the real thing."
- They were trusting us.
We felt confident we were moving up the chain.
- And then, if I remember correctly,
didn't somebody come out of jail that was,
like, a head Outlaw guy at this point?
- Yes. That was Timothy Silvia.
He was the former president of that same chapter.
- He was a very, very violent guy.
His criminal record was over 100 pages long.
- Eventually, he hears that there are these guys.
You know, they do move marijuana.
They do move cocaine.
- We got a call one day from him
saying he wanted to move some stolen cars.
- We set up a pickup.
And that's when Mike and I basically
take over the investigation.
- You know, Silvia's a very egotistical man.
[laughter]
In conversations, he told us he had beat someone to death
in a bar fight, that he had beaten
two witnesses against him with a baseball bat,
and he had shot somebody else.
- He was not... - A nice guy.
- A pleasant gentleman,
and just a very, very violent--
I was surprised that he had been released
from jail actually, so.
- We secure the vehicles.
We are just about to leave.
Now remember, this is our first meeting
with this guy, the former president,
you know, just got out of prison.
We have no plans of anything.
And just as we were about to walk away,
he says, so what else do you guys do with those trucks?
We looked at each other like, ooh.
- He asked.
- We knew right then.
I mean, instant.
- You know, what do you want?
You want the green stuff, the white stuff?
We do everything.
- We had a 10-kilo deal. It was for 180 grand.
He just, like, opens the door, and we smashed it down.
- I mean, the guy just got out,
and he's ready to go back in the game.
- The US Attorney's office,
they wanted us to make a case against Silvia.
He was a big subject, the former president,
because of the violence.
So we set up this final deal.
- Because Silvia can't come up with the money,
he offers to give me $50,000,
a Hummer, and an almost brand-new Harley-Davidson.
- This guy's, like, you know,
do I jump in with these guys I don't know that well?
There was a need to get together with him
to kind of finalize the deal.
This is the first time that I was with him alone.
He jumps in my car.
- We set the stage for everything,
and I accuse him of being a cop.
- Why, though?
- Because he's gonna probably
accuse me of being a cop.
- We finally calm down, and I basically said to him,
I said, you know, "You sure you want to do this?
Because if we get caught, it's over, we're done."
- He said, "No, no. I want to do this.
"I'm not getting caught.
I'm not going back inside."
- He literally says on the tape,
"I'm going out in a blaze of glory.
I'm going to shoot it out with them."
- So if he got caught, he's going to be,
die by cop, you know, like--
- This is something that I make sure
I'm going to tell the SWAT team.
I mean, we're not playing with kids here.
- How many people are at the takedown?
- There was at least 50, maybe a little bit more.
This was a big arrest.
We brought the whole office, basically.
- Tell me what the scene looks like.
- It's the same place where we did
the original drug transfer.
- The Holiday Inn. - Exactly.
- The plan was to receive payment from Silvia,
then bring in the truck with the drugs.
Silvia had a bad leg,
so we would get him into the truck
and take down the lift.
Then we would send the arrest signal to SWAT.
Boston FBI SWAT team, they're incredible.
They've protected me for 20 years.
But anything could happen on any day.
Something's going to go wrong. - Sure.
- So we set it up in a way we think is the safest.
- We set up the deal. Almost at the last minute,
we tell them where we're going to do it.
So we open the hood like we have a car problem.
And then Silvia pulls in with the Hummer,
towing a trailer with the motorcycle.
So he comes in, you know, makes small talk.
I remember him saying,
"Next time, let me know.
I have a better place where we can do this."
Not only is he comfortable,
but now he's thinking we're going to--
- We want to do it again.
- And he hands $30,000 in a bundle to Mike.
- But I thought he said he was giving you guys 50.
- That's when he says that his friend is coming.
- This is what you can't plan for.
- Donofrio, he showed up with a gun.
- Oh, my God.
- It's dangerous in the sense
that the biggest danger is the unknown.
- At that point, now that we have the money,
I call our undercover agent with a box truck
where the cocaine is located.
- I have another Harley-Davidson
in the back of the truck.
Just the small, subtle things that takes their minds off
of what we're doing right now.
- So we talk about the bike.
And then I climb in the back of the truck,
and I take the cocaine out of the hiding place
where I had it.
At that point, he says,
"I need to cut it so I can check it out."
I tell Mike, "Poncho, get me the knife from the cab."
That's the code word for Mike to lower the liftgate
because this guy's got a bad foot.
- He's not jumping out. - He's not going to jump out,
and we don't want him using the gate.
- Yeah. Get me the tape.
- My job is to execute the sign to bring SWAT in.
- Mm-hmm. - And then basically
get the hell out of there, get out of the way.
- As Mike is walking away,
I'm crawling back into my little crawl space
that I have prepared.
- It takes seconds.
When you're there, though... - It feels like eternity.
- It's, like, three years.
- And all I heard was,
"Shit."
As it turns out, he saw SWAT.
- His buddy, Donofrio, had removed himself
a little bit away from the scene.
He's got a gun in the car. - Mm.
- You know, if he starts shooting at that point,
we're in trouble.
The Boston FBI SWAT team, they're incredible.
They find Donofrio, but Silvia,
he's the one that's going to go out in a blaze of glory.
But nobody got hurt.
It was a dangerous arrest,
and they handled it completely professional.
- So the two guys taken into custody.
Anybody else at the time? Just those two on this deal?
- We got arrested too. - We got arrested.
- Yeah--well, yeah. You guys, obviously.
Yeah, of course. Got to make it look good.
- Let's just say, every time I went to Boston
to do any kind of work, I ended up
in the back of a trooper car or handcuffed.
- Oh, my God.
- Everybody was either convicted or pled guilty.
They all went to jail. - Outstanding.
There's one thing though that I'm missing,
and you guys didn't tell me,
was the mustache.
You know, clearly, I didn't get the memo.
- We got them at the same store.
[laughter] - Yeah.