D.E.A. (2008) s01e01 Episode Script
DEA vs. Heroin Kingpin
yeah, flint to guaradi.
You passing that building with all the lights on? yeah, 14 is go.
We're just repositioned, trying to keep on the left-hand side.
He's leading the pack in the number one lane.
he's jumpin'.
He's jumpin' at connors.
An(m ) get on the ground now! (man) inside side door, side door, side door.
[all shouting.]
(man) put your hands behind your back.
[helicopter rotor whirring.]
(henriksen) it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
From the poppy fields of the middle east And the jungles of colombia (man) face down, face down.
(henriksen) to our city streets (man) police! (henriksen) agents of the dea battle cold-blooded criminals Who will do anything to protect their global drug empire.
(man shouting) police! (henriksen) and nowhere is the danger more real than detroit, michigan.
1/2 million guns loose on the street (man shouting) police! (henriksen) the highest murder rate in the country.
It is a deadly city that the dea's group 14 calls home.
6:25 a.
M.
(ripken) hey, justin.
I got my shotgun.
Who else got a long gun? I got three.
(henriksen) dea group 14 gears up to raid a local crack house.
It is the team's fourth raid in a week.
In the past year, group 14 has worked over 100 cases, Seized more than $9 million in cash and dope And has busted more than 200 drug dealers.
It is a dangerous job that takes a special breed, Men like 29-year-old justin moore.
We will assume that there are weapons inside.
Obviously, weapons make us pay attention a little more.
I'm one of the junior guys of the group.
This group is very experienced.
And everyone is very good at what they do.
One of the guys in that group is john.
Not only is he great at surveillance, But he's very good at undercover work.
He's a pretty smooth talker.
And then woody, of course.
Being the task force officer, he's excellent at police work.
And he can extract information from people, And I don't know if they even know that he's doing it.
And brad, he was a street officer before.
I hate talking gun talk, 'cause I'm not a gun guy.
But it's a 12-gauge shotgun.
(moore) he's very good on surveillance.
And watching his undercover has benefited me tremendously.
Ron, I mean, you can just look at him.
He's just cool.
(hoyt) in honor of all my troops, I will wear my beret.
(moore) you know, he knows about the streets.
He knows about how these guys deal with each other.
You like that, don't you? I do.
(moore) we could not function very well without him.
I'd trust my life with each and every person in this group.
And I hope that they trust me with theirs.
(henriksen) the agents believe there are three suspects Inside the target house.
Two are felony fugitives on the run from the law.
(man) I secured a warrant for both individuals, A felony warrant for both.
And we're going there to affect their arrest.
Expect dogs to be there.
Expect kids to be there.
Expect the worst-case scenario.
So, that's it.
Load up.
(moore) a fugitive is someone that makes me very nervous In that a person like that Has a lot to lose.
And a person who has a lot to lose Is going to fight for his survival.
He's gonna feel very cornered, and he may come out fighting.
I'm ready, I'm ready.
We about to make this left.
It's gonna get poppin'.
(gatewood) and if we're gonna do a search warrant And we hit the house, We want to hit it quickly so we can surprise 'em So they can't barricade themselves or destroy evidence Or obtain a gun.
You have to pretty much guarantee That they're gonna be armed.
Right here, right here, right here.
Get this guy right here.
(man) search warrant.
[all shouting.]
Let's go, get your mother [bleep.]
ass out here.
[overlapping voices.]
(man) police, search warrant.
Get on the ground, get on the ground! Boy going out back.
Get on the ground! Don't move.
They're running.
Don't move, do not move, do not move.
(man) both of y'all put your mother [bleep.]
hands up.
(ripken) to us, these drug dealers, they're enemies.
I mean, they're someone that we're looking to lock up.
(man) before I get to searching y'all, who got dope on him? Who got money on him? (ripken) these people that we target, They're two- and three-time offenders.
You know, they've been through the prison system.
(man) you've been a criminal for a long time, man.
(ripken) then they come back out, and they go right back to it.
Man, they're just killing them rocks down here.
Just killing 'em, man, look at that.
(gatewood) $5, $10 rocks.
(ripken) the bottom line is, it's all about money.
Everybody's trying to make that buck.
That's it for crackheads.
You know, it's all in a day.
In a city as tough as detroit is, You end up getting locked up, or you're gonna end up dead.
(man) justin, we're briefing.
(henriksen) 10:15 a.
M.
Group 14 is targeting a heroin dealer In detroit's notorious west side slums.
Target's rosemary [bleep.]
.
She's a black female, about 43.
She drives a red convertible [bleep.]
.
She sells cocaine, Heroin, prescription pills, one-stop shop.
She said that she was looking to get rid of 100 Or 150 grams of heroin.
(henriksen) the task force will use a high-risk undercover technique Known as a "buy walk" To purchase heroin from the suspect.
It's nearly impossible to prosecute a drug dealer Until a dea operative goes undercover To make a buy from the suspect.
[greer over radio.]
all right, looks like he's out.
And he's going up to the front door now.
(hoyt) a buy walk is an operation we use Where, as agents, we pay for narcotics.
We take that evidence, And that's used for prosecution.
It's very dangerous.
Any time that dope and money comes together, There's always a possibility of violence.
(greer) when you're undercover making a buy, I'm always scared about getting robbed.
Sometimes people can't come up with the drugs.
And it's more important that they get the money, 'cause they don't know you're the police, So they won't hesitate, if they have to, to rob you.
[greer over radio.]
all right, looks like he's out of the house now.
And he'll be rolling out of there in a second.
(gatewood) and so what we're gonna do is, just get the 1/2 ounce today.
I'll type for the door today, I'll have the search warrant in hand.
Then tomorrow, we'll go on that.
Any questions? Comments, concerns? Nice job, woody.
Thanks, appreciate that.
(henriksen) this buy walk operation is led By task force officer rick "woody" gatewood, A narcotics cop assigned to group 14, And special agent brad ripken, a seasoned veteran of the dea.
Today is just prepping it to-- For something a little bit bigger.
(henriksen) brad and woody have been building a case Against a heroin dealer for two months.
Their main source of information has been a busted drug dealer Turned confidential informant.
Hey, what's up? (henriksen) the dea's best sources of intelligence On the criminal underworld are criminals themselves, Busted drug dealers who get reduced sentences For becoming confidential informants or "cis" (gatewood) you got 9 ounces.
You're gonna go to prison.
If you want to make it right, now's the time.
If not, take the not, go to jail.
(greer) to be a good ci, you're involved.
You've been arrested before.
You're in the circles of drug distribution.
So you can't ever really trust 'em.
What's up, man, what you got? (man) I got a guy coming from canada.
(moore) there is a risk in dealing with 'em Because they may tell you something They think you want to hear.
They may tell you things are safer Maybe than they really are.
It is a strange relationship.
But without them, we'd be lost.
(henriksen) 11:45 a.
M.
Brad and woody meet with the confidential informant Four miles from the buy location.
(gatewood) 'sup, big fella? (henriksen) the ci is a drug and weapons trafficker Under a federal indictment, So the agents know he could be unreliable or worse, dangerous.
(gatewood) he's not a nice guy.
But unfortunately, we have to work with c.
I.
S You know, they're bad guys.
They're bad individuals or involved in, You know, seedy [bleep.]
.
We have to use 'em.
We have to utilize 'em.
And there's no way around.
It'll take us 14, right? 20, 40, 60, 80, 100.
(henriksen) the plan, buy 1/2 ounce of heroin for $1,400.
(gatewood) and I'll just mute my end of it Just so I can hear you shoot the [bleep.]
with her.
Then I'll meet you right back here.
(henriksen) 12:30 p.
M.
The plan is set into motion.
Brad and woody know that one mistake Could have deadly consequences.
When dea returns (hoyt) if there is a shooting, Leave the shell casings where they are.
It's gonna be a homicide scene, okay? (henriksen) group 14 is locked, loaded, And hunting a dealer who's terrorized this neighborhood For 30 years.
(man) police, search warrant.
(man) go! Police! 1:00 p.
M.
Woody and brad's confidential informant Is inside the target's house Attempting to purchase 1/2 ounce of heroin.
He places a call to woody so the agent can eavesdrop On the meet with the female dealer.
[cell phone rings.]
Yeah.
(gatewood) thing about the buy walks, You can't control what the ci's gonna do And then your target.
You just don't know what they're gonna do.
You know, he could get beat up, get assaulted.
He could get himself in danger.
I'm ultimately responsible for him.
If he gets kidnapped, we're-- we'll have our gear with us, And we have to extract him.
(henriksen) the deal is done.
(gatewood) cookin' with grease.
What we'll do is, I'll type a search warrant for the house, Get it ready for tomorrow.
You know, she answered the door armed.
[laughs.]
Like wyatt earp.
(henriksen) while group 14 waits for their warrant, They receive word that another dealer they've targeted Has been spotted by surveillance teams.
They immediately assemble for a raid on his home.
(gatewood) the target is slow [bleep.]
.
Yeah, he's 60 years old, Has an extensive criminal history.
Been arrested since '74 for guns, dope, And actually did fed time.
He's nadis'd as a kilo dealer, heroin, Who's been selling drugs for 30, 40 years.
I mean, that's just what he does.
He's, you know, selling drugs to kids Near a school area, also to other addicts.
He's older, might get scared, May have a weapon for his protection.
I think he realizes that he has nothing to lose.
If shots are fired upon reaching the door, What we're gonna do is hold position and cover.
We get inside the house and shots are fired, what we'll do, We'll assess the threat in there, Try to suppress the threat.
If there is a shooting, remember, Leave the shell casings where they are, It's gonna be a homicide scene, okay? (greer) the target is old and sick, But he's selling drugs.
And when you're selling drugs, You usually have weapons with you.
You can't treat it any differently.
He can pull the trigger on a gun just like anybody else.
This guy could be dangerous Because he could have the attitude that, "there's no way I'm going back to jail.
This is it," you know, "I'm doing whatever I can to stay out of jail.
" And that's usually The most dangerous person you can deal with.
(gatewood) the ci, he said-- he was like, "you really gonna do this? He's a bad man, good luck.
" (hoyt) what goes through my mind Before I execute an arrest warrant is staying composed.
If you're at a frenzy, Yore no good to yourself or nobody.
(moore) there is a very real chance that someone could see us approaching And make entry with a search warrant.
If they see a big van coming down the street, In these neighborhoods, they know who that is.
They know we're coming.
And that poses a lot of danger for us.
[all shouting.]
(henriksen) group 14 secures the house and finds the suspect inside, High on his own dope.
(gatewood) come on, slow, you're better than that.
I know you are.
(henriksen) during the search for evidence, Agents confront another lethal situation.
Someone living in the house is infected with aids.
Oh, [bleep.]
.
(henriksen) and there are dirty needles lying everywhere.
One minor mistake could prove deadly.
(hoyt) pretty nasty house.
You know, dealing with heroin is a really, really nasty drug, Lot of intravenous needles being used, sharing needles.
You got to decontaminate your clothes, shoes.
You know, you never take none of this stuff home.
Why don't we see what we got? (gatewood) anybody have any gloves? (greer) they got a couple ounces of heroin on the table, Looks like when we made entry, they--he was cutting it up.
There was some razor blades around.
There's a little scale, a ton of cash around.
Looks like he pretty much cuts it up And serves people out of the house.
(henriksen) the suspect was caught holding more than 2 ounces Of high-grade heroin, A felony that could get him 20 years in prison.
(hoyt) what you think about all this? That ain't too good.
(hoyt) no, it ain't.
(henriksen) but the agents will often reduce the charges If the dealer would give up his main supplier.
It's a technique known as flipping a suspect.
Dea agents almost always work as a team.
Bad day in the neighborhood, come on.
(henriksen) but when it's time to flip a suspect And turn them into a confidential informant, It's a one-on-one battle between criminal and cop.
If you want to get out of these charges right now, You cooperate with me.
I won't charge you.
(gatewood) if a cop thinks they-- just because they're a cop, They're gonna beat somebody on the streets, They're sadly mistaken.
You know, the guy on the street education Will run circles around you.
(woman) look, officer, That's my first time ever meeting that man.
I swear, I never met him before.
You're lying.
(gatewood) we have to make 'em believe That I know more than they do, So they might as well just tell me Because I already know.
The questions I'm asking you, I already have the answers to.
You help us out with this address tomorrow, I forget about your participation in this.
(gatewood) hopefully it works.
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
Listen, I'm telling you-- Hey, slow, I'll make you a deal.
I'll make you a deal right here.
(henriksen) 5:45 p.
M.
Woody pushes hard to get the suspect to flip on his supplier.
I mean, all you have to do is Just point me in the right direction.
Everybody has an opportunity.
I'm giving you one.
Do you want to go back to prison? I'm ving you the opportunity to stay out of prison, You don't care.
Put me up with one thing right now, And you'll walk away from this like it never happened.
You got a good chance of never getting out of prison.
You're cool with that.
(gatewood) sometimes, you know, you get somebody that's been involved In, you know, the drug game for a long time.
There's nothing you can do to 'em.
A lot of times, they'll just take it on the chin.
(henriksen) the suspect refuses to cooperate.
It's a decision that could send him to prison For the rest of his life.
Even though slow didn't flip, We, you know,disrupted.
We closed down shop.
He's not selling drugs out of his house anymore.
Is everybody out, any police left? Everybody has decisions, you know.
And if you're gonna make a decision to sell drugs, You have to accept what's coming down the pipe.
(henriksen) next on dea, Can I help you? (henriksen) an undercover meet is suddenly compromised.
I'm wondering what these guys are doing on my property.
And agents' lives are on the line.
(moore) she's had a weapon every time Our informant's dealt with her.
(ripken) hey, woody, you want to brief? (gatewood) yes, absolutely.
Anybody need an ops plan? I do.
Hold on.
(henriksen) 2:15 p.
M.
Using the heroin recovered in yesterday's buy walk, Group 14 has obtained a warrant To raid the home of their female target.
So what we're gonna do today is, We're gonna send the ci in.
We're gonna make an order for 50 grams of heroin.
If she has the 50 grams on her, We're gonna pull the ci out, In which time we'll probably execute the search warrant.
She's armed.
She said, she always drives the car fast And always has a heater.
And once the ci came out, He said, "yeah, she had a pistol in her waistband.
" The thing that makes rosemary [bleep.]
so dangerous is, She carries a weapon, Talked about having a heater, Liked to carry it.
In my opinion, you carry it to use it.
We don't want to try to get into Another shooting scenario on the street.
We got to make sure we announce our presence And be clearly marked with police So she knows she's not a stickup.
We'll just secure the address And then hit the house.
(moore) cuffs are ready, gloves, gun.
You know, she's had a weapon every time That our informant's dealt with her.
So we just have to approach her with caution.
(henriksen) 2:55 p.
M.
The raid van heads out for the target's neighborhood To take a position within striking distance.
(moore) when we pull up, I will be the one actually putting hands on her, Meaning putting handcuffs on her, Not actual hands, more handcuffs is what I meant.
(henriksen) this operation calls For brad and woody's confidential informant To make another drug buy before the raid.
But when the agents arrive for their scheduled meeting, The ci is no where to be seen.
We're just waiting on a c.
S.
He'll be here in a second.
Oh, let me have one of those crackers.
Brad and I went to college together.
We just both ended up coming in the same group.
Let me have a sip of your water.
[laughs.]
Mm-mm.
You know I'd make sure there's something floating in it.
Mm-mm.
I went into law enforcement for the camaraderie.
We get along well in the group, And I think that's why our group succeeds At the arrests that we have and the cases that we make.
(henriksen) 3:20 p.
M.
The ci is 20 minutes late.
So brad and woody use the time to strategize.
Pull the raid van up--I'd pull the raid van up real tight, And if she comes walking out the door, Just take her at that point.
We're gonna live and die and see what we get.
Whatever.
Can I help you? I'm wondering what y'all over here for.
We're looking at the buildings--the buildings-- Some nice buildings.
It's not private property.
It's a public alley.
We'll be out of here in a second.
Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll just call the police.
Okay.
All right.
No problem.
(gatewood) yeah, I am white.
And sometimes it is difficult In a neighborhood that's predominantly black.
Generally if a white individual goes into a neighborhood, They're there for a reason.
Yeah, I'm wondering what these guys are doing Over here on my property.
What property? Right here.
You own the alley? I own the alley.
You own the alley? How'd you work that out? I got people.
A lot of times I've had people walk up on the car.
And you either have to decide that you're gonna Talk to the person and try to come up with a story And bull[bleep.]
your way out of it Or just get in the car and leave.
Smile.
All right.
What are y'all doing back here, man? We work with channel 7.
We're doing a thing on dilapidated buildings And cleaning up the alleys.
You didn't see the channel 7 truck out here earlier? We just try to do the best we can with it.
You have a good day.
All righty, you guys have a good day too.
All right, man.
You got a card? No, can't do that.
Peace.
All right, you have a good one.
(henriksen) 4:05 p.
M.
The confidential informant finally arrives.
He's more than an hour late.
(gatewood) jesus, you look like a roll of life savers.
[laughter.]
What's up, my man? You all right? Good, you got any dope or anything on you? What we're gonna do is, when you get in there, Same thing as we did last time, Leave your phone on so I can hear what's going on.
The number one rule in this is, you do not front the money.
Okay.
I honestly do believe that they may be a ci.
We do have to give 'em some type of respect If you want 'em to be comfortable enough Where they're gonna do something for me.
That's it.
But they're ass[bleep.]
.
All cis, they're all the same.
You can't trust 'em, 'cause you can get yourself In a lot of trouble.
All right, listen, now go in there, Just say, "now I'm ready for that-- The 50.
The 50.
And that's it.
And then come right back here.
All right, I just made contact, good conversation, So we'll see what happens.
You know, in detroit, there's a constant threat Of a ci being robbed.
We're gonna send him in there.
And he has warning signals.
And if he gives a warning signal, We're gonna have to suit up And enter the house to recover the ci Hopefully it won't come to that.
(henriksen) 4:15 p.
M.
The ci arrives in the target's neighborhood, Where surveillance teams are already in place.
Green minivan, the multicolored life saver jacket You could probably see from the sky.
There are ten agents positioned Within four blocks of the target's home, But only one, the eye, Is close enough to see the ci enter the house.
(ripken) looks like your ci is going up to the front door now.
And he's inside.
Just general conversation.
He's only gonna be in there about a minute.
Guess it won't be too long now, huh? (henriksen) next on dea You see the pistol? (man) here we go.
Search warrant! (henriksen) the raid team risk their lives To take down an armed dope dealer.
Police! (greer) this waiting's killing me.
(henriksen) 4:20 p.
M.
A dea raid team is positioned three blocks From the drug dealer's home Waiting for a confidential informant To buy 50 grams of heroin.
The dealer is armed.
One mistake could get the ci or even an agent killed.
(greer) he said any second now, so we're just gonna wait, then.
And wait and wait.
But it's not like we're not used to sitting around and waiting.
As many times as it happened, You'd think we'd be used to it by now, though.
Every time.
[laughter.]
Why is this taking so long? We're all about having a good time, and we kid around a lot.
A lot of it's to take the edge off a little bit.
This feels like 100 pounds or something.
This probably, yeah, about 200 or 100 pound, I don't know.
[laughter.]
But when we start getting close, You can see a difference in our face, I mean, definitely in the tone of our voice.
We don't kid around when it's close, 'cause we know it's time to take care of our business.
(henriksen) every agent on a raid has a specific role In the line or stack.
[overlapping voices.]
Agent number one uses a fireman's halligan To pry open heavy gated doors (man) police! (henriksen) clearing the way for agent number two And his battering ram.
Agents three and four are the first to enter the house, Armed with shotguns and assault rifles.
Their primary objective: Neutralize immediate threats While the rest of the team effects arrests.
(man) go down, go down or right.
Police! (henriksen) the raid team strikes fast and hard.
And in most cases, its targets don't know what hit them Until it's over.
so one or two things are gonna happen.
We're either gonna take the house, Or we take her down in the driveway Like we talked about before and then hit the house.
(moore) if she gets in the house, that's fine As long as she doesn't shoot at us while she's doing so.
Everybody good on that? (all) yes.
(henriksen) finally, 90 minutes into the operation Go ahead.
(henriksen) woody gets a call from the ci.
The buy is complete.
Does she have anything else in the house, you think, or no? Okay, you see the pistol? Okay, all right.
[cell phone rings.]
Hello? I'm on my way.
It was a good deal.
All right, bye.
Everybody ready? (greer) the worst thing that can happen that I can think of Would be going through the door and either the ram, We don't hit right the first time Or it takes us a little while to get in the door.
It gives her time to get the gun And kind of get in a position to start cranking off rounds Right through the door as we're trying to gain entry.
And that's why it's important for us to get in As quickly as possible.
(moore) if someone tells you they're not scared, he's lying to you.
[engine revving.]
If you're not scared, that's dangerous.
When I started this, I didn't have children, And it really wasn't as big a deal to me.
Now I have a kid, And I want to go home to him.
And that's why we're all there, To take care of each other.
(greer) I'm gonna block the driveway.
Doors are unlocked right now.
We'll do it to determine of the order up there.
Justin's got ram.
[all shouting.]
(man) search warrant! Dea, search warrant! Search warrant! [overlapping voices.]
Police! (greer) I was the first one through the door.
I encountered rosemary in the bedroom.
When I saw her, she had a gun in her hand.
(man) put your hand behind your back.
(man #2) get on your stomach.
(greer) it was a tense situation.
(woman) oh, my god.
(greer) but she decided to drop the gun, and nobody was hurt.
(man) upstairs clear.
(man) lower's clear.
(man) clear, coming out.
(henriksen) in a matter of seconds, The raid team has secured the house And subdued the suspect.
(gatewood) she happened to have the handgun loaded With the magazine in a pocket.
(henriksen) possessing a semiautomatic handgun is a felony.
That alone could get her six years in prison.
Within a few minutes, agents find the dealer's stash.
(gatewood) we were able to recover the heroin.
Looks like about an--60, 70 grams of heroin And some money, and also another assault weapon.
Right now, we're trying to figure out If she wants to cooperate.
She might want to try to flip on her source, Which we're trying to do.
(henriksen) the suspect is advised of her rights.
She waives them and agrees to talk to the officers.
(gatewood) you're in a lot of trouble.
Ooh--what we're gonna do-- This is what I'm gonna propose to you, okay? You do something for me tonight, You get somebody that delivers us an ounce, Ounce and a half of crack right off the street, You're gonna walk away from this Like it was just a bad day.
When I'm trying to flip a suspect, What works for me is, just try to get comfortable with 'em.
Hell yeah, and the ship is sinking.
You have to know the parameters.
They're not my friend.
They're not anything like that.
I'm just trying to use them to further the investigation.
I need--I either want crack or heroin.
I'm just gonna be honest with you Like you're being honest with me.
10, 14 grams isn't gonna do anything for you.
I'm just being honest with you, okay? What's the most you think you can get from somebody? So you can call somebody and say, "listen I need a 40-- I need 40 ounce--40 grams.
" It's ultimately their decision, and I'll tell 'em that.
I'll tell 'em out of the gate what they're being faced with.
Either it's a handgun, it's minimum two years.
You had two guns in the house.
And another thing on you-- another thing too is, You had crack.
In the fed system with a handgun? [whistles.]
You're hit.
They have a decision to make, And if they want to do it, I'll help 'em out.
If they choose not to, I respect that, And they can go to jail.
If you want, All of this can be a bad dream If you cooperate with me.
If you don't want to, Then that's fine.
I respect that.
But I'm gonna tell you this: If we leave here, all deals are off the table.
I'm just letting you know that.
(henriksen) next on dea, group 14 sets a trap Call him, tell him you're like five minutes out, Where you want me to go? (henriksen) that will put them in the line of fire.
It could end in violence.
I know what you're going through right now.
You don't want to do your guy.
I understand that.
(henriksen) 5:00 p.
M.
But when it comes down to it, It's gonna be you or him.
(henriksen) woody is pressing a busted drug dealer to give up her suppliers.
But time to make a deal is running out.
(gatewood) you have to get 'em to flip in a timely manner, 'cause a lot of time, once somebody gets locked up, The word spreads.
Once you raid a house, Everybody's gonna know throughout that whole city.
But you have that window of opportunity.
If you can get 'em to flip immediately, That's a chance that less people are gonna know That they've had some involvement with the police.
Here, come on, we'll think about it.
I'm gonna take you to jail for right now.
Amen, sister, now we're on the same track.
Right now, it's taken a little while to talk to her 'cause there's a trust thing.
We're the police; she's, you know, a drug dealer.
So we're still trying to develop some type of relationship Where she can trust us.
But she--she wants to cooperate.
She wants to do the right thing.
She's caught red-handed.
So she wants to join the team.
Yeah, get some hard.
I'll give you $1,600.
Can you get two? Perfect, we're cooking with grease.
Come out here, put your shoes on.
Get this [bleep.]
rolling.
(henriksen) facing 16 years in prison, the suspect finally agrees To set up her crack cocaine supplier.
But it's a dangerous operation, And time is now a major factor.
(gatewood) we got the keys.
So we'll just go back, secure it.
(henriksen) if the supplier is tipped off, The ci and the men of group 14 could be walking into a trap.
I swear to god.
(henriksen) 5:40 p.
M.
Task force officer christopher dawson transports the suspect To a prebust meeting.
Incredibly, the mood in the car is not at all tense.
Ooh.
As superstitious as you are, You should've acted on that.
(gatewood) I don't think that all drug dealers Are necessarily bad people.
They have families.
They have the obligations at home.
They're just faced in a bad situation.
For whatever reason, they're choosing that lifestyle.
I obviously don't agree with it, But sometimes good people make bad decisions.
Well, let's all be thankful that nobody got hurt.
How's that? Absolutely, everybody's got somebody to go home to, right? It's something, right? Yeah.
Let's not all just focus on the car, 'cause that neighborhood's hot.
Everybody look around And make sure we don't get enemy fire.
(henriksen) 6:30 p.
M.
Agents plan a high-risk op known as a "buy bust.
" This is gonna be a 10-, 15-minute operation.
We're not gonna be down here all day long for this.
(henriksen) the flipped dealer will buy crack cocaine from her supplier.
Once the deal goes down, agents will bust them both.
(gatewood) once the target gets into the car, We'll just swoop up and just do a buy bust.
Call him, tell him you're like five minutes out, "where you want me to go?" (henriksen) the dealer's call to her supplier is crucial.
If the supplier suspects anything is wrong, The operation and the agent's lives could be at risk.
(greer) any time you're using an informant that you just arrested And now they're setting someone else up Within an hour or two of the arrest, You don't know a whole lot about that informant.
You haven't corroborated a ton of what they said.
It's dangerous, the fact that we don't have any other information Than what the person just told us.
Here's $1,000.
All that money back.
After this deal, when we pick him off, You stay in your car.
You don't leave.
We're gonna act like we're gonna lock you up On some warrants and [bleep.]
, okay? Yeah, to make it look real, right? (greer) we arrest the target and the ci simultaneously To not make it very obvious right off the bat That the ci is the one that set the target up.
The ci has to put on an act somehow that they didn't believe That they were gonna get arrested And put it back on the target.
"no, you set me up.
" It could end in violence for the ci if somebody were To find out that they were working with law enforcement.
Let's go before it's dark.
(henriksen) 7:00 p.
M.
As the flipped dealer leads the team to the buy, There's no way to know if they're walking into a trap.
Next, will the flipped drug dealer Hold up her end of the bargain He's inside right now.
(henriksen) or will group 14 get caught In a deadly crossfire? Bring your hand back.
(man) I'll kill you.
(henriksen) 7:00 p.
M.
Dea group 14 is headed to their second raid of the day.
Their plan: Use a flipped drug dealer as bait To catch her cocaine supplier.
Darren, you got a light on your shotgun? (darren) yeah.
(henriksen) this operation will take agents deep Into enemy territory.
(moore) if you're in the middle of a drug neighborhood And identified as a dea agent, it's not a great scenario.
In detroit, you can definitely get shot just for being a cop.
This is one of the most violent cities in the country, And there are people that just shoot at cops.
[man on radio.]
stay on the [bleep.]
.
(henriksen) the ci is parked at the buy location.
Surveillance teams wait nearby.
And two blocks away, the raid team is poised to strike.
Is he known to carry a weapon? Yeah.
[bleep.]
Trying to do a buy bust with a car, taking a car down, There's so many uncontrollable factors.
He could ram the vehicles.
He could try to run you over.
If he strikes a child or another car, We're ultimately responsible.
This guy was really checking us out.
Was that our guy or not? (greer) the adrenaline and the fear that goes along with it is, I would say, why 90% of the guys in this group do what they do.
Not taking action isn't an option.
If that was part of my personality, Then I never would have took this job.
You go into it knowing that there could be a situation Where you have to pull the trigger.
(greer) ready, everything's unlocked.
He's there now.
[engine revving.]
He's inside right now.
Me and you, dude.
Stop, right here, right here.
(man) go, go, go, go.
Get out.
(man) get your [bleep.]
hands up.
I'll kill you.
[all shouting.]
(man) get 'em up mother [bleep.]
.
(man) I got him.
I got him.
[overlapping voices.]
I'm doing nothing.
Bring this hand back.
(man) bring your hand back.
(man) you got the cuffs? I ain't doing anything.
(man) shut the [bleep.]
up.
(gatewood) you got any pistols on you, big fella, huh? If you do, it's cool, just tell me.
(rosemary) oh, my god.
Get me off the street, please.
(gatewood) hey, listen, you do anything crazy, You're gonna be eating pavement, big fella.
My safety's number one.
Listen, you keep putting your [bleep.]
up against that thing, You're gonna start running into problems.
You understand, capisce? I ain't afraid of that [bleep.]
I got one.
(henriksen) according to the plan, The flip dealer is arrested to conceal her role in the bust.
Watch her.
(moore) a lot of times, they feel bad after they flip on somebody.
She's definitely still shaken by it.
She obviously didn't expect this today.
But she'll be fine.
She'll get over it.
(henriksen) $1,400 worth of crack is recovered at the scene.
It's perfect leverage for woody to use to flip the supplier.
(gatewood) step over here.
Now, I understand you're kind of well-known down here.
You got a couple different spots.
You're in serious trouble.
It can't get any worse for you.
2 ounces of crack, you're [bleep.]
.
Out of the goodness of my heart-- And you can think I'm bull[bleep.]
.
People do think I'm bull[bleep.]
when I say this, You have one opportunity I'm gonna give you To help yourself out.
But you're gonna have to do something.
(moore) the goals of making arrests on people is for them to flip.
So if we can make an arrest, that person flips, The next person we arrest flips, I mean, we move up pretty high.
Tonight we had one person that flipped.
And the second one, I think, Is actually deciding whether they're going to or not.
(gatewood) so if you want to do something, we'll talk to you When you get back, weigh our options and go at it.
But like I said, if you don't want to do anything, I respect that too 'cause you're a man.
But once you get the penalties for crack in the fed system, You're gonna be like, "damn.
" [laughs.]
My man.
It doesn't sound like he's gonna cooperate.
So we'll lock him up, And we got him with over 50 grams.
So we'll type paperwork on him And get him arraigned in the morning.
(henriksen) although the supplier refuses to flip, The operation is a success.
In just two days, agents have recovered More than $10,000 worth of crack and heroin, Taken two unlicensed guns off the street, And put three dangerous drug dealers out of commission.
(gatewood) all right, man, let's go.
(greer) at the end of the day, if you make an arrest, If you have a good result in your investigation, It's a great feeling.
Take a deep breath and say, "I accomplished something.
" We took a violent guy off the street.
That's always a good day.
You passing that building with all the lights on? yeah, 14 is go.
We're just repositioned, trying to keep on the left-hand side.
He's leading the pack in the number one lane.
he's jumpin'.
He's jumpin' at connors.
An(m ) get on the ground now! (man) inside side door, side door, side door.
[all shouting.]
(man) put your hands behind your back.
[helicopter rotor whirring.]
(henriksen) it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
From the poppy fields of the middle east And the jungles of colombia (man) face down, face down.
(henriksen) to our city streets (man) police! (henriksen) agents of the dea battle cold-blooded criminals Who will do anything to protect their global drug empire.
(man shouting) police! (henriksen) and nowhere is the danger more real than detroit, michigan.
1/2 million guns loose on the street (man shouting) police! (henriksen) the highest murder rate in the country.
It is a deadly city that the dea's group 14 calls home.
6:25 a.
M.
(ripken) hey, justin.
I got my shotgun.
Who else got a long gun? I got three.
(henriksen) dea group 14 gears up to raid a local crack house.
It is the team's fourth raid in a week.
In the past year, group 14 has worked over 100 cases, Seized more than $9 million in cash and dope And has busted more than 200 drug dealers.
It is a dangerous job that takes a special breed, Men like 29-year-old justin moore.
We will assume that there are weapons inside.
Obviously, weapons make us pay attention a little more.
I'm one of the junior guys of the group.
This group is very experienced.
And everyone is very good at what they do.
One of the guys in that group is john.
Not only is he great at surveillance, But he's very good at undercover work.
He's a pretty smooth talker.
And then woody, of course.
Being the task force officer, he's excellent at police work.
And he can extract information from people, And I don't know if they even know that he's doing it.
And brad, he was a street officer before.
I hate talking gun talk, 'cause I'm not a gun guy.
But it's a 12-gauge shotgun.
(moore) he's very good on surveillance.
And watching his undercover has benefited me tremendously.
Ron, I mean, you can just look at him.
He's just cool.
(hoyt) in honor of all my troops, I will wear my beret.
(moore) you know, he knows about the streets.
He knows about how these guys deal with each other.
You like that, don't you? I do.
(moore) we could not function very well without him.
I'd trust my life with each and every person in this group.
And I hope that they trust me with theirs.
(henriksen) the agents believe there are three suspects Inside the target house.
Two are felony fugitives on the run from the law.
(man) I secured a warrant for both individuals, A felony warrant for both.
And we're going there to affect their arrest.
Expect dogs to be there.
Expect kids to be there.
Expect the worst-case scenario.
So, that's it.
Load up.
(moore) a fugitive is someone that makes me very nervous In that a person like that Has a lot to lose.
And a person who has a lot to lose Is going to fight for his survival.
He's gonna feel very cornered, and he may come out fighting.
I'm ready, I'm ready.
We about to make this left.
It's gonna get poppin'.
(gatewood) and if we're gonna do a search warrant And we hit the house, We want to hit it quickly so we can surprise 'em So they can't barricade themselves or destroy evidence Or obtain a gun.
You have to pretty much guarantee That they're gonna be armed.
Right here, right here, right here.
Get this guy right here.
(man) search warrant.
[all shouting.]
Let's go, get your mother [bleep.]
ass out here.
[overlapping voices.]
(man) police, search warrant.
Get on the ground, get on the ground! Boy going out back.
Get on the ground! Don't move.
They're running.
Don't move, do not move, do not move.
(man) both of y'all put your mother [bleep.]
hands up.
(ripken) to us, these drug dealers, they're enemies.
I mean, they're someone that we're looking to lock up.
(man) before I get to searching y'all, who got dope on him? Who got money on him? (ripken) these people that we target, They're two- and three-time offenders.
You know, they've been through the prison system.
(man) you've been a criminal for a long time, man.
(ripken) then they come back out, and they go right back to it.
Man, they're just killing them rocks down here.
Just killing 'em, man, look at that.
(gatewood) $5, $10 rocks.
(ripken) the bottom line is, it's all about money.
Everybody's trying to make that buck.
That's it for crackheads.
You know, it's all in a day.
In a city as tough as detroit is, You end up getting locked up, or you're gonna end up dead.
(man) justin, we're briefing.
(henriksen) 10:15 a.
M.
Group 14 is targeting a heroin dealer In detroit's notorious west side slums.
Target's rosemary [bleep.]
.
She's a black female, about 43.
She drives a red convertible [bleep.]
.
She sells cocaine, Heroin, prescription pills, one-stop shop.
She said that she was looking to get rid of 100 Or 150 grams of heroin.
(henriksen) the task force will use a high-risk undercover technique Known as a "buy walk" To purchase heroin from the suspect.
It's nearly impossible to prosecute a drug dealer Until a dea operative goes undercover To make a buy from the suspect.
[greer over radio.]
all right, looks like he's out.
And he's going up to the front door now.
(hoyt) a buy walk is an operation we use Where, as agents, we pay for narcotics.
We take that evidence, And that's used for prosecution.
It's very dangerous.
Any time that dope and money comes together, There's always a possibility of violence.
(greer) when you're undercover making a buy, I'm always scared about getting robbed.
Sometimes people can't come up with the drugs.
And it's more important that they get the money, 'cause they don't know you're the police, So they won't hesitate, if they have to, to rob you.
[greer over radio.]
all right, looks like he's out of the house now.
And he'll be rolling out of there in a second.
(gatewood) and so what we're gonna do is, just get the 1/2 ounce today.
I'll type for the door today, I'll have the search warrant in hand.
Then tomorrow, we'll go on that.
Any questions? Comments, concerns? Nice job, woody.
Thanks, appreciate that.
(henriksen) this buy walk operation is led By task force officer rick "woody" gatewood, A narcotics cop assigned to group 14, And special agent brad ripken, a seasoned veteran of the dea.
Today is just prepping it to-- For something a little bit bigger.
(henriksen) brad and woody have been building a case Against a heroin dealer for two months.
Their main source of information has been a busted drug dealer Turned confidential informant.
Hey, what's up? (henriksen) the dea's best sources of intelligence On the criminal underworld are criminals themselves, Busted drug dealers who get reduced sentences For becoming confidential informants or "cis" (gatewood) you got 9 ounces.
You're gonna go to prison.
If you want to make it right, now's the time.
If not, take the not, go to jail.
(greer) to be a good ci, you're involved.
You've been arrested before.
You're in the circles of drug distribution.
So you can't ever really trust 'em.
What's up, man, what you got? (man) I got a guy coming from canada.
(moore) there is a risk in dealing with 'em Because they may tell you something They think you want to hear.
They may tell you things are safer Maybe than they really are.
It is a strange relationship.
But without them, we'd be lost.
(henriksen) 11:45 a.
M.
Brad and woody meet with the confidential informant Four miles from the buy location.
(gatewood) 'sup, big fella? (henriksen) the ci is a drug and weapons trafficker Under a federal indictment, So the agents know he could be unreliable or worse, dangerous.
(gatewood) he's not a nice guy.
But unfortunately, we have to work with c.
I.
S You know, they're bad guys.
They're bad individuals or involved in, You know, seedy [bleep.]
.
We have to use 'em.
We have to utilize 'em.
And there's no way around.
It'll take us 14, right? 20, 40, 60, 80, 100.
(henriksen) the plan, buy 1/2 ounce of heroin for $1,400.
(gatewood) and I'll just mute my end of it Just so I can hear you shoot the [bleep.]
with her.
Then I'll meet you right back here.
(henriksen) 12:30 p.
M.
The plan is set into motion.
Brad and woody know that one mistake Could have deadly consequences.
When dea returns (hoyt) if there is a shooting, Leave the shell casings where they are.
It's gonna be a homicide scene, okay? (henriksen) group 14 is locked, loaded, And hunting a dealer who's terrorized this neighborhood For 30 years.
(man) police, search warrant.
(man) go! Police! 1:00 p.
M.
Woody and brad's confidential informant Is inside the target's house Attempting to purchase 1/2 ounce of heroin.
He places a call to woody so the agent can eavesdrop On the meet with the female dealer.
[cell phone rings.]
Yeah.
(gatewood) thing about the buy walks, You can't control what the ci's gonna do And then your target.
You just don't know what they're gonna do.
You know, he could get beat up, get assaulted.
He could get himself in danger.
I'm ultimately responsible for him.
If he gets kidnapped, we're-- we'll have our gear with us, And we have to extract him.
(henriksen) the deal is done.
(gatewood) cookin' with grease.
What we'll do is, I'll type a search warrant for the house, Get it ready for tomorrow.
You know, she answered the door armed.
[laughs.]
Like wyatt earp.
(henriksen) while group 14 waits for their warrant, They receive word that another dealer they've targeted Has been spotted by surveillance teams.
They immediately assemble for a raid on his home.
(gatewood) the target is slow [bleep.]
.
Yeah, he's 60 years old, Has an extensive criminal history.
Been arrested since '74 for guns, dope, And actually did fed time.
He's nadis'd as a kilo dealer, heroin, Who's been selling drugs for 30, 40 years.
I mean, that's just what he does.
He's, you know, selling drugs to kids Near a school area, also to other addicts.
He's older, might get scared, May have a weapon for his protection.
I think he realizes that he has nothing to lose.
If shots are fired upon reaching the door, What we're gonna do is hold position and cover.
We get inside the house and shots are fired, what we'll do, We'll assess the threat in there, Try to suppress the threat.
If there is a shooting, remember, Leave the shell casings where they are, It's gonna be a homicide scene, okay? (greer) the target is old and sick, But he's selling drugs.
And when you're selling drugs, You usually have weapons with you.
You can't treat it any differently.
He can pull the trigger on a gun just like anybody else.
This guy could be dangerous Because he could have the attitude that, "there's no way I'm going back to jail.
This is it," you know, "I'm doing whatever I can to stay out of jail.
" And that's usually The most dangerous person you can deal with.
(gatewood) the ci, he said-- he was like, "you really gonna do this? He's a bad man, good luck.
" (hoyt) what goes through my mind Before I execute an arrest warrant is staying composed.
If you're at a frenzy, Yore no good to yourself or nobody.
(moore) there is a very real chance that someone could see us approaching And make entry with a search warrant.
If they see a big van coming down the street, In these neighborhoods, they know who that is.
They know we're coming.
And that poses a lot of danger for us.
[all shouting.]
(henriksen) group 14 secures the house and finds the suspect inside, High on his own dope.
(gatewood) come on, slow, you're better than that.
I know you are.
(henriksen) during the search for evidence, Agents confront another lethal situation.
Someone living in the house is infected with aids.
Oh, [bleep.]
.
(henriksen) and there are dirty needles lying everywhere.
One minor mistake could prove deadly.
(hoyt) pretty nasty house.
You know, dealing with heroin is a really, really nasty drug, Lot of intravenous needles being used, sharing needles.
You got to decontaminate your clothes, shoes.
You know, you never take none of this stuff home.
Why don't we see what we got? (gatewood) anybody have any gloves? (greer) they got a couple ounces of heroin on the table, Looks like when we made entry, they--he was cutting it up.
There was some razor blades around.
There's a little scale, a ton of cash around.
Looks like he pretty much cuts it up And serves people out of the house.
(henriksen) the suspect was caught holding more than 2 ounces Of high-grade heroin, A felony that could get him 20 years in prison.
(hoyt) what you think about all this? That ain't too good.
(hoyt) no, it ain't.
(henriksen) but the agents will often reduce the charges If the dealer would give up his main supplier.
It's a technique known as flipping a suspect.
Dea agents almost always work as a team.
Bad day in the neighborhood, come on.
(henriksen) but when it's time to flip a suspect And turn them into a confidential informant, It's a one-on-one battle between criminal and cop.
If you want to get out of these charges right now, You cooperate with me.
I won't charge you.
(gatewood) if a cop thinks they-- just because they're a cop, They're gonna beat somebody on the streets, They're sadly mistaken.
You know, the guy on the street education Will run circles around you.
(woman) look, officer, That's my first time ever meeting that man.
I swear, I never met him before.
You're lying.
(gatewood) we have to make 'em believe That I know more than they do, So they might as well just tell me Because I already know.
The questions I'm asking you, I already have the answers to.
You help us out with this address tomorrow, I forget about your participation in this.
(gatewood) hopefully it works.
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
Listen, I'm telling you-- Hey, slow, I'll make you a deal.
I'll make you a deal right here.
(henriksen) 5:45 p.
M.
Woody pushes hard to get the suspect to flip on his supplier.
I mean, all you have to do is Just point me in the right direction.
Everybody has an opportunity.
I'm giving you one.
Do you want to go back to prison? I'm ving you the opportunity to stay out of prison, You don't care.
Put me up with one thing right now, And you'll walk away from this like it never happened.
You got a good chance of never getting out of prison.
You're cool with that.
(gatewood) sometimes, you know, you get somebody that's been involved In, you know, the drug game for a long time.
There's nothing you can do to 'em.
A lot of times, they'll just take it on the chin.
(henriksen) the suspect refuses to cooperate.
It's a decision that could send him to prison For the rest of his life.
Even though slow didn't flip, We, you know,disrupted.
We closed down shop.
He's not selling drugs out of his house anymore.
Is everybody out, any police left? Everybody has decisions, you know.
And if you're gonna make a decision to sell drugs, You have to accept what's coming down the pipe.
(henriksen) next on dea, Can I help you? (henriksen) an undercover meet is suddenly compromised.
I'm wondering what these guys are doing on my property.
And agents' lives are on the line.
(moore) she's had a weapon every time Our informant's dealt with her.
(ripken) hey, woody, you want to brief? (gatewood) yes, absolutely.
Anybody need an ops plan? I do.
Hold on.
(henriksen) 2:15 p.
M.
Using the heroin recovered in yesterday's buy walk, Group 14 has obtained a warrant To raid the home of their female target.
So what we're gonna do today is, We're gonna send the ci in.
We're gonna make an order for 50 grams of heroin.
If she has the 50 grams on her, We're gonna pull the ci out, In which time we'll probably execute the search warrant.
She's armed.
She said, she always drives the car fast And always has a heater.
And once the ci came out, He said, "yeah, she had a pistol in her waistband.
" The thing that makes rosemary [bleep.]
so dangerous is, She carries a weapon, Talked about having a heater, Liked to carry it.
In my opinion, you carry it to use it.
We don't want to try to get into Another shooting scenario on the street.
We got to make sure we announce our presence And be clearly marked with police So she knows she's not a stickup.
We'll just secure the address And then hit the house.
(moore) cuffs are ready, gloves, gun.
You know, she's had a weapon every time That our informant's dealt with her.
So we just have to approach her with caution.
(henriksen) 2:55 p.
M.
The raid van heads out for the target's neighborhood To take a position within striking distance.
(moore) when we pull up, I will be the one actually putting hands on her, Meaning putting handcuffs on her, Not actual hands, more handcuffs is what I meant.
(henriksen) this operation calls For brad and woody's confidential informant To make another drug buy before the raid.
But when the agents arrive for their scheduled meeting, The ci is no where to be seen.
We're just waiting on a c.
S.
He'll be here in a second.
Oh, let me have one of those crackers.
Brad and I went to college together.
We just both ended up coming in the same group.
Let me have a sip of your water.
[laughs.]
Mm-mm.
You know I'd make sure there's something floating in it.
Mm-mm.
I went into law enforcement for the camaraderie.
We get along well in the group, And I think that's why our group succeeds At the arrests that we have and the cases that we make.
(henriksen) 3:20 p.
M.
The ci is 20 minutes late.
So brad and woody use the time to strategize.
Pull the raid van up--I'd pull the raid van up real tight, And if she comes walking out the door, Just take her at that point.
We're gonna live and die and see what we get.
Whatever.
Can I help you? I'm wondering what y'all over here for.
We're looking at the buildings--the buildings-- Some nice buildings.
It's not private property.
It's a public alley.
We'll be out of here in a second.
Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll just call the police.
Okay.
All right.
No problem.
(gatewood) yeah, I am white.
And sometimes it is difficult In a neighborhood that's predominantly black.
Generally if a white individual goes into a neighborhood, They're there for a reason.
Yeah, I'm wondering what these guys are doing Over here on my property.
What property? Right here.
You own the alley? I own the alley.
You own the alley? How'd you work that out? I got people.
A lot of times I've had people walk up on the car.
And you either have to decide that you're gonna Talk to the person and try to come up with a story And bull[bleep.]
your way out of it Or just get in the car and leave.
Smile.
All right.
What are y'all doing back here, man? We work with channel 7.
We're doing a thing on dilapidated buildings And cleaning up the alleys.
You didn't see the channel 7 truck out here earlier? We just try to do the best we can with it.
You have a good day.
All righty, you guys have a good day too.
All right, man.
You got a card? No, can't do that.
Peace.
All right, you have a good one.
(henriksen) 4:05 p.
M.
The confidential informant finally arrives.
He's more than an hour late.
(gatewood) jesus, you look like a roll of life savers.
[laughter.]
What's up, my man? You all right? Good, you got any dope or anything on you? What we're gonna do is, when you get in there, Same thing as we did last time, Leave your phone on so I can hear what's going on.
The number one rule in this is, you do not front the money.
Okay.
I honestly do believe that they may be a ci.
We do have to give 'em some type of respect If you want 'em to be comfortable enough Where they're gonna do something for me.
That's it.
But they're ass[bleep.]
.
All cis, they're all the same.
You can't trust 'em, 'cause you can get yourself In a lot of trouble.
All right, listen, now go in there, Just say, "now I'm ready for that-- The 50.
The 50.
And that's it.
And then come right back here.
All right, I just made contact, good conversation, So we'll see what happens.
You know, in detroit, there's a constant threat Of a ci being robbed.
We're gonna send him in there.
And he has warning signals.
And if he gives a warning signal, We're gonna have to suit up And enter the house to recover the ci Hopefully it won't come to that.
(henriksen) 4:15 p.
M.
The ci arrives in the target's neighborhood, Where surveillance teams are already in place.
Green minivan, the multicolored life saver jacket You could probably see from the sky.
There are ten agents positioned Within four blocks of the target's home, But only one, the eye, Is close enough to see the ci enter the house.
(ripken) looks like your ci is going up to the front door now.
And he's inside.
Just general conversation.
He's only gonna be in there about a minute.
Guess it won't be too long now, huh? (henriksen) next on dea You see the pistol? (man) here we go.
Search warrant! (henriksen) the raid team risk their lives To take down an armed dope dealer.
Police! (greer) this waiting's killing me.
(henriksen) 4:20 p.
M.
A dea raid team is positioned three blocks From the drug dealer's home Waiting for a confidential informant To buy 50 grams of heroin.
The dealer is armed.
One mistake could get the ci or even an agent killed.
(greer) he said any second now, so we're just gonna wait, then.
And wait and wait.
But it's not like we're not used to sitting around and waiting.
As many times as it happened, You'd think we'd be used to it by now, though.
Every time.
[laughter.]
Why is this taking so long? We're all about having a good time, and we kid around a lot.
A lot of it's to take the edge off a little bit.
This feels like 100 pounds or something.
This probably, yeah, about 200 or 100 pound, I don't know.
[laughter.]
But when we start getting close, You can see a difference in our face, I mean, definitely in the tone of our voice.
We don't kid around when it's close, 'cause we know it's time to take care of our business.
(henriksen) every agent on a raid has a specific role In the line or stack.
[overlapping voices.]
Agent number one uses a fireman's halligan To pry open heavy gated doors (man) police! (henriksen) clearing the way for agent number two And his battering ram.
Agents three and four are the first to enter the house, Armed with shotguns and assault rifles.
Their primary objective: Neutralize immediate threats While the rest of the team effects arrests.
(man) go down, go down or right.
Police! (henriksen) the raid team strikes fast and hard.
And in most cases, its targets don't know what hit them Until it's over.
so one or two things are gonna happen.
We're either gonna take the house, Or we take her down in the driveway Like we talked about before and then hit the house.
(moore) if she gets in the house, that's fine As long as she doesn't shoot at us while she's doing so.
Everybody good on that? (all) yes.
(henriksen) finally, 90 minutes into the operation Go ahead.
(henriksen) woody gets a call from the ci.
The buy is complete.
Does she have anything else in the house, you think, or no? Okay, you see the pistol? Okay, all right.
[cell phone rings.]
Hello? I'm on my way.
It was a good deal.
All right, bye.
Everybody ready? (greer) the worst thing that can happen that I can think of Would be going through the door and either the ram, We don't hit right the first time Or it takes us a little while to get in the door.
It gives her time to get the gun And kind of get in a position to start cranking off rounds Right through the door as we're trying to gain entry.
And that's why it's important for us to get in As quickly as possible.
(moore) if someone tells you they're not scared, he's lying to you.
[engine revving.]
If you're not scared, that's dangerous.
When I started this, I didn't have children, And it really wasn't as big a deal to me.
Now I have a kid, And I want to go home to him.
And that's why we're all there, To take care of each other.
(greer) I'm gonna block the driveway.
Doors are unlocked right now.
We'll do it to determine of the order up there.
Justin's got ram.
[all shouting.]
(man) search warrant! Dea, search warrant! Search warrant! [overlapping voices.]
Police! (greer) I was the first one through the door.
I encountered rosemary in the bedroom.
When I saw her, she had a gun in her hand.
(man) put your hand behind your back.
(man #2) get on your stomach.
(greer) it was a tense situation.
(woman) oh, my god.
(greer) but she decided to drop the gun, and nobody was hurt.
(man) upstairs clear.
(man) lower's clear.
(man) clear, coming out.
(henriksen) in a matter of seconds, The raid team has secured the house And subdued the suspect.
(gatewood) she happened to have the handgun loaded With the magazine in a pocket.
(henriksen) possessing a semiautomatic handgun is a felony.
That alone could get her six years in prison.
Within a few minutes, agents find the dealer's stash.
(gatewood) we were able to recover the heroin.
Looks like about an--60, 70 grams of heroin And some money, and also another assault weapon.
Right now, we're trying to figure out If she wants to cooperate.
She might want to try to flip on her source, Which we're trying to do.
(henriksen) the suspect is advised of her rights.
She waives them and agrees to talk to the officers.
(gatewood) you're in a lot of trouble.
Ooh--what we're gonna do-- This is what I'm gonna propose to you, okay? You do something for me tonight, You get somebody that delivers us an ounce, Ounce and a half of crack right off the street, You're gonna walk away from this Like it was just a bad day.
When I'm trying to flip a suspect, What works for me is, just try to get comfortable with 'em.
Hell yeah, and the ship is sinking.
You have to know the parameters.
They're not my friend.
They're not anything like that.
I'm just trying to use them to further the investigation.
I need--I either want crack or heroin.
I'm just gonna be honest with you Like you're being honest with me.
10, 14 grams isn't gonna do anything for you.
I'm just being honest with you, okay? What's the most you think you can get from somebody? So you can call somebody and say, "listen I need a 40-- I need 40 ounce--40 grams.
" It's ultimately their decision, and I'll tell 'em that.
I'll tell 'em out of the gate what they're being faced with.
Either it's a handgun, it's minimum two years.
You had two guns in the house.
And another thing on you-- another thing too is, You had crack.
In the fed system with a handgun? [whistles.]
You're hit.
They have a decision to make, And if they want to do it, I'll help 'em out.
If they choose not to, I respect that, And they can go to jail.
If you want, All of this can be a bad dream If you cooperate with me.
If you don't want to, Then that's fine.
I respect that.
But I'm gonna tell you this: If we leave here, all deals are off the table.
I'm just letting you know that.
(henriksen) next on dea, group 14 sets a trap Call him, tell him you're like five minutes out, Where you want me to go? (henriksen) that will put them in the line of fire.
It could end in violence.
I know what you're going through right now.
You don't want to do your guy.
I understand that.
(henriksen) 5:00 p.
M.
But when it comes down to it, It's gonna be you or him.
(henriksen) woody is pressing a busted drug dealer to give up her suppliers.
But time to make a deal is running out.
(gatewood) you have to get 'em to flip in a timely manner, 'cause a lot of time, once somebody gets locked up, The word spreads.
Once you raid a house, Everybody's gonna know throughout that whole city.
But you have that window of opportunity.
If you can get 'em to flip immediately, That's a chance that less people are gonna know That they've had some involvement with the police.
Here, come on, we'll think about it.
I'm gonna take you to jail for right now.
Amen, sister, now we're on the same track.
Right now, it's taken a little while to talk to her 'cause there's a trust thing.
We're the police; she's, you know, a drug dealer.
So we're still trying to develop some type of relationship Where she can trust us.
But she--she wants to cooperate.
She wants to do the right thing.
She's caught red-handed.
So she wants to join the team.
Yeah, get some hard.
I'll give you $1,600.
Can you get two? Perfect, we're cooking with grease.
Come out here, put your shoes on.
Get this [bleep.]
rolling.
(henriksen) facing 16 years in prison, the suspect finally agrees To set up her crack cocaine supplier.
But it's a dangerous operation, And time is now a major factor.
(gatewood) we got the keys.
So we'll just go back, secure it.
(henriksen) if the supplier is tipped off, The ci and the men of group 14 could be walking into a trap.
I swear to god.
(henriksen) 5:40 p.
M.
Task force officer christopher dawson transports the suspect To a prebust meeting.
Incredibly, the mood in the car is not at all tense.
Ooh.
As superstitious as you are, You should've acted on that.
(gatewood) I don't think that all drug dealers Are necessarily bad people.
They have families.
They have the obligations at home.
They're just faced in a bad situation.
For whatever reason, they're choosing that lifestyle.
I obviously don't agree with it, But sometimes good people make bad decisions.
Well, let's all be thankful that nobody got hurt.
How's that? Absolutely, everybody's got somebody to go home to, right? It's something, right? Yeah.
Let's not all just focus on the car, 'cause that neighborhood's hot.
Everybody look around And make sure we don't get enemy fire.
(henriksen) 6:30 p.
M.
Agents plan a high-risk op known as a "buy bust.
" This is gonna be a 10-, 15-minute operation.
We're not gonna be down here all day long for this.
(henriksen) the flipped dealer will buy crack cocaine from her supplier.
Once the deal goes down, agents will bust them both.
(gatewood) once the target gets into the car, We'll just swoop up and just do a buy bust.
Call him, tell him you're like five minutes out, "where you want me to go?" (henriksen) the dealer's call to her supplier is crucial.
If the supplier suspects anything is wrong, The operation and the agent's lives could be at risk.
(greer) any time you're using an informant that you just arrested And now they're setting someone else up Within an hour or two of the arrest, You don't know a whole lot about that informant.
You haven't corroborated a ton of what they said.
It's dangerous, the fact that we don't have any other information Than what the person just told us.
Here's $1,000.
All that money back.
After this deal, when we pick him off, You stay in your car.
You don't leave.
We're gonna act like we're gonna lock you up On some warrants and [bleep.]
, okay? Yeah, to make it look real, right? (greer) we arrest the target and the ci simultaneously To not make it very obvious right off the bat That the ci is the one that set the target up.
The ci has to put on an act somehow that they didn't believe That they were gonna get arrested And put it back on the target.
"no, you set me up.
" It could end in violence for the ci if somebody were To find out that they were working with law enforcement.
Let's go before it's dark.
(henriksen) 7:00 p.
M.
As the flipped dealer leads the team to the buy, There's no way to know if they're walking into a trap.
Next, will the flipped drug dealer Hold up her end of the bargain He's inside right now.
(henriksen) or will group 14 get caught In a deadly crossfire? Bring your hand back.
(man) I'll kill you.
(henriksen) 7:00 p.
M.
Dea group 14 is headed to their second raid of the day.
Their plan: Use a flipped drug dealer as bait To catch her cocaine supplier.
Darren, you got a light on your shotgun? (darren) yeah.
(henriksen) this operation will take agents deep Into enemy territory.
(moore) if you're in the middle of a drug neighborhood And identified as a dea agent, it's not a great scenario.
In detroit, you can definitely get shot just for being a cop.
This is one of the most violent cities in the country, And there are people that just shoot at cops.
[man on radio.]
stay on the [bleep.]
.
(henriksen) the ci is parked at the buy location.
Surveillance teams wait nearby.
And two blocks away, the raid team is poised to strike.
Is he known to carry a weapon? Yeah.
[bleep.]
Trying to do a buy bust with a car, taking a car down, There's so many uncontrollable factors.
He could ram the vehicles.
He could try to run you over.
If he strikes a child or another car, We're ultimately responsible.
This guy was really checking us out.
Was that our guy or not? (greer) the adrenaline and the fear that goes along with it is, I would say, why 90% of the guys in this group do what they do.
Not taking action isn't an option.
If that was part of my personality, Then I never would have took this job.
You go into it knowing that there could be a situation Where you have to pull the trigger.
(greer) ready, everything's unlocked.
He's there now.
[engine revving.]
He's inside right now.
Me and you, dude.
Stop, right here, right here.
(man) go, go, go, go.
Get out.
(man) get your [bleep.]
hands up.
I'll kill you.
[all shouting.]
(man) get 'em up mother [bleep.]
.
(man) I got him.
I got him.
[overlapping voices.]
I'm doing nothing.
Bring this hand back.
(man) bring your hand back.
(man) you got the cuffs? I ain't doing anything.
(man) shut the [bleep.]
up.
(gatewood) you got any pistols on you, big fella, huh? If you do, it's cool, just tell me.
(rosemary) oh, my god.
Get me off the street, please.
(gatewood) hey, listen, you do anything crazy, You're gonna be eating pavement, big fella.
My safety's number one.
Listen, you keep putting your [bleep.]
up against that thing, You're gonna start running into problems.
You understand, capisce? I ain't afraid of that [bleep.]
I got one.
(henriksen) according to the plan, The flip dealer is arrested to conceal her role in the bust.
Watch her.
(moore) a lot of times, they feel bad after they flip on somebody.
She's definitely still shaken by it.
She obviously didn't expect this today.
But she'll be fine.
She'll get over it.
(henriksen) $1,400 worth of crack is recovered at the scene.
It's perfect leverage for woody to use to flip the supplier.
(gatewood) step over here.
Now, I understand you're kind of well-known down here.
You got a couple different spots.
You're in serious trouble.
It can't get any worse for you.
2 ounces of crack, you're [bleep.]
.
Out of the goodness of my heart-- And you can think I'm bull[bleep.]
.
People do think I'm bull[bleep.]
when I say this, You have one opportunity I'm gonna give you To help yourself out.
But you're gonna have to do something.
(moore) the goals of making arrests on people is for them to flip.
So if we can make an arrest, that person flips, The next person we arrest flips, I mean, we move up pretty high.
Tonight we had one person that flipped.
And the second one, I think, Is actually deciding whether they're going to or not.
(gatewood) so if you want to do something, we'll talk to you When you get back, weigh our options and go at it.
But like I said, if you don't want to do anything, I respect that too 'cause you're a man.
But once you get the penalties for crack in the fed system, You're gonna be like, "damn.
" [laughs.]
My man.
It doesn't sound like he's gonna cooperate.
So we'll lock him up, And we got him with over 50 grams.
So we'll type paperwork on him And get him arraigned in the morning.
(henriksen) although the supplier refuses to flip, The operation is a success.
In just two days, agents have recovered More than $10,000 worth of crack and heroin, Taken two unlicensed guns off the street, And put three dangerous drug dealers out of commission.
(gatewood) all right, man, let's go.
(greer) at the end of the day, if you make an arrest, If you have a good result in your investigation, It's a great feeling.
Take a deep breath and say, "I accomplished something.
" We took a violent guy off the street.
That's always a good day.