Chapter Eighteen #2
“Thanks for coming everyone,” Snow began.
“As you can see, this is a satellite image of the Port of L.A. It not only has several hundred thousand shipping containers, but over a hundred privately leased warehouses. We need to figure out which new warehouse is being used by Sterling. Noah has been studying all their paperwork, going over leases, a lot of which are buried by shell company after shell company.” Snow tapped the screen over one of the buildings.
“We believe Josiah Sterling has been offloading drugs and stuffing them inside luxury vehicles, but that wouldn’t be done outside in the open. It would happen inside a warehouse.”
“Would ya mind backing up a bit?” I asked, raising a hand. “We must ‘ave missed something. We were under the impression that Sterling was shipping vehicles overseas to fulfil buyers’ orders after they were stolen.”
“He’s bringing drugs into the country in cars?” Cam asked. “I’m confused.”
“They’re right, Lincoln,” Candy said, looking at the agent.
“Mars and Mr. Demarco haven’t been a part of that discussion.
” He flipped on the light. I blinked several times as my eyes adjusted and I reached for Cam’s thigh under the table, squeezing it.
He covered my hand with his own as we turned our attention to the front of the room.
“I’m sorry about that,” Snow said, looking a little sheepish as he turned to SA Noah Burgess who had his laptop balanced on his wheelchair’s platform. “Noah, please tell Agent Clifford and Mr. Demarco what we’ve learned to date.”
“Sure, Lincoln,” Noah said, nodding, making the beads at the bottom of his long braids clack together.
He briefly glanced up then back down to his laptop.
“I’ve been looking into Josiah Sterling’s finances, working with SAC Bowman’s team—and looking over the financials they’ve been laboring to obtain for several weeks. ”
“Noah’s been brilliant,” the lady in question remarked. “I’m sure we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have without him.”
Noah looked up briefly, smiling shyly as he nodded at her.
“Thank you, SAC. Your team laid the groundwork. I only picked up where they left off.” He went back to clicking around on his mouse as he talked.
“It’s taken me a few days to isolate a series of numbered Swiss bank accounts which have a sizeable amount of money in them, and I’m satisfied that they belong to Sterling. ”
“’Ow do ya know?” I asked.
“Sterling pays guys like Mr. Demarco to steal cars, usually five-thousand-dollars for each vehicle,” Candy said, looking at Cam for clarification.
“Yes, that’s right,” Cam confirmed.
Candy smiled at him. “Noah’s been able to find numerous five-thousand-dollar withdrawals from the accounts he’s isolated which is why we’re convinced those accounts belong to him.
The withdrawals are never more and never less than five-thousand-dollars at a time and there are a hell of a lot of them. ”
“Josiah had a lot of guys like me working for him,” Cam said. He glanced at me, looking proud to be of help to the FBI. I was proud of him, squeezing his thigh, as he smiled back.
“In addition to those small withdrawals, Noah cross-referenced several deposits into those same bank accounts with accounts we’ve already confirmed belong to the Durango Cartel,” Bob Crowley said, the thick Irish brogue rolling off his tongue.
“The cartel accounts show withdrawals and these accounts…Sterling’s accounts…show corresponding deposits of the same amounts,” Noah clarified, looking up again.
“So, Sterling’s getting paid for drugs he’s supplying to the cartel?” I asked.
“Yes,” Snow said.
I frowned. “Assuming the accounts do belong to Sterling, I was under the impression that drugs came from Mexico, so why is the cartel getting them from him?”
“That’s a good question, Clifford,” Bob Crowley said.
“The Mexicans smuggle marijuana, cocaine, and heroin into the U.S. but only marijuana is grown in Mexico itself. The cocaine they supply originates in Columbia, trafficked through Mexico to the U.S., but heroin is different. The heroin the Mexican cartels supply, originates in Southeast Asia or the Middle East. In this case, we believe Sterling’s suppliers are in Malaysia.
We know that, because Noah has been able to find accounts belonging to the Malaysian suppliers. ”
Noah was a computer prodigy and brilliant.
I’d never seen him get it wrong yet, so I believed Crowley.
Noah had overcome a shit load of stuff in his life, losing the use of his lower legs to an IED in Afghanistan when he served as a Marine.
He and Judy Mendez—the brilliant IT guru from our Tac Team—worked side by side at times when two computer nerds were needed for an Op.
“And we know it’s the drugs the cartel is paying for...not the cars themselves?” I asked. “It strikes me that ‘igh end vehicles might be just what those arse’oles like to spend all that drug money on. Wouldn’t that account for the deposits and withdrawals?”
“Good question, Agent Clifford,” SAC Bowman said. “You should know that the amount of money we’re talking about here is in the hundreds of millions of dollars and even high-end vehicles wouldn’t fetch those sums.”
“Also, in every case, the dates of those deposits and withdrawals always happen three days before a fresh supply of high-quality heroin hits the LA streets,” Bob Crowley said.
“That’s just enough time for the cartel to receive uncut heroin in Mexico, smuggle it across the border, and ready it for sale by other players down their supply line, eventually making it to low-level dealers on the streets. ”
I nodded, exchanging a glance with Cam who was listening with eyes as wide as saucers.
“Back to what I was saying,” Snow said, dragging my attention back to the head of the table.
“We think Sterling has a network of thieves like Mr. Demarco steal high end cars.
He takes them to the Port of L.A., either by having his thieves drive them—as he did with Mr. Demarco on one occasion—or by trucking them to the docks in cargo containers.
From there, he ships the vehicles overseas to Malaysia, secretly smuggling them out of the U.S.
“Once in Malaysia, the vehicles are packed with drugs and transported back to the U.S. in cargo containers where they legally enter our country, going through Customs with clean paperwork. Once they clear our Customs, the vehicles—packed with drugs—are driven across the California border into Mexico where the cartel gets their hands on them.”
“But you said the drugs end up here in the U.S.,” I said.
“They eventually do, but Sterling doesn’t distribute them,” Crowley said.
“He leaves the drug importation into the U.S. along with distribution here to the various cartels, though, the Durango cartel has been the only one we’ve tied to Sterling thus far, thanks to Special Agent Burgess.
” Crowley acknowledged Noah who smiled back at him.
“That seems like a really roundabout way of smuggling drugs into the U.S.,” Cam said.
I looked over at him, surprised that he’d spoken up.
“Sorry for jumping in, but does it make sense that Sterling ships the drugs which are inside the cars over the border to Mexico, only to have them end up back here in the U.S.? The drugs must cross the border twice.”
“It’s fine to ask questions, Mr. Demarco,” Candy said.
He was wearing a very satisfied smile on his face, and I wondered exactly what he was thinking.
Maybe he was starting to warm up to Cam?
“We think the reason Sterling does it this way is because it’s not too difficult to export high end vehicles to Mexico with a legal paper trail that proves he’s brought them into the U.S. from Malaysia.”
“All Sterling has to do is to provide proof that the cars he exports to the Mexicans were brought legally to the U.S. from overseas,” Noah said.
“When the Mexican authorities look at the paperwork he provides to Customs, they’re looking for discrepancies in the vehicle ownership, not the fact that the vehicles are stuffed with drugs when they’re shipped into their country. ”
“Because they’re much more focused on stopping drugs being trafficked into the U.S. than out of it,” I said as everything became clear to me.
Noah nodded. “That’s right, Agent Clifford.
” He scanned his screen again. “I’ve found over fifty instances where Sterling’s crews we assume, drove high-end vehicles into Mexico in the last year alone…
all with legitimate paperwork that he imported to the U.S.
from Malaysia. They went right through the border crossing without anyone looking at them sideways. ”
“He’s basically laundering the cars from Malaysia,” I concluded. “That legitimizes the vehicles with both U.S. and Mexican Customs.”
“That’s right,” Snow said.
“Don’t the Mexican authorities have dogs sniffing for drugs in cars before they’re allowed into their country?” Cam asked.
I sat up straighter as pride filled my chest. It was a good question.
“They do,” Crowley said, “but they only look at one in ten vehicles leaving the States. It’s a gamble that’s paid off for him so far.”
“You’re saying it’s a risk…but a small one,” Cam said as Crowley nodded.
“Even so, if Sterling’s crews ‘aven’t been caught yet, they eventually will be, even if there’s only a 10 percent chance,” I said.
“Yes, they will, but we’d like to speed that up,” Snow said, “which is why we asked you to bring Mr. Demarco into the office today, Agent Clifford.”
Cam nodded. “How can I help?”
“You’re the only person in this room who’s met Josiah Sterling,” SAC Bowman said. “We’d like you to tell us everything you know about him.”
“I don’t know much,” Cam said without hesitation, “but if there’s something specific you need to know, I’ll try and help.”