Episode Transcript
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0:00
Hey there, chameleon listeners. This
0:02
is Feyman Roberts, and I'm interrupting your
0:04
regularly scheduled program to introduce
0:06
you to a new captivating podcast
0:08
that I'm hosting alongside my co-host, Jim
0:11
Muschion, that you can't miss out on.
0:13
I know you're a fan of high stakes
0:15
investigative thrillers and love to dive
0:17
into the psyche of con artists and corrupt individuals
0:20
as much as I do.
0:21
So add this to your next lesson
0:23
list. Smokescreen, Betrayal
0:26
on the Bayou. Trust me. Once
0:28
you start, you'll be immediately hooked.
0:31
For almost two decades, DE agent,
0:34
Chad Scott stopped at nothing to put
0:36
drug dealers behind bars. He
0:38
controlled a web of snitches and played people like
0:40
pawns.
0:41
His successes earned him awards from his superiors,
0:44
but
0:44
his willingness to bend the rules made enemies
0:46
of his fellow agents and gave him a terrifying
0:49
reputation on the streets.
0:51
Think of the real life training day or the wire.
0:54
We gained an exclusive insight into the
0:56
elusive world of the DEA and
0:58
the hidden truth behind the war on drugs with
1:01
access to the FBI's war room. We
1:03
hear from high level drug dealers and the informants
1:05
who turned them in.
1:07
The story of Chad Scott gets you on the front
1:09
lines to see how the war on drugs is waged.
1:12
If you like what you hear, be sure to add
1:15
Smokescreen, Betrayal on the Bayou to
1:17
your weekly listening. For those of
1:19
you who don't want to wait to listen, you don't
1:21
have to. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
1:23
to binge all episodes now, all ad
1:26
free. Just click subscribe on
1:28
the top of the Smokescreen show page on Apple
1:30
Podcasts or visit getthebinge.com
1:33
to get access wherever you listen.
1:36
Here's a clip just for you from the new season.
1:45
Chad Scott is heading to an appointment at the DEA's
1:48
Office of Professional Responsibility, OPR.
1:52
It's the DEA's version of internal affairs. Chad
1:55
has pissed off a lot of people in his career.
1:58
Some have waited years for Chad to get. trouble for
2:00
something. It'd kill to hear
2:02
Chad face the music. The
2:05
Drug Enforcement Administration is notoriously
2:07
secretive. They wouldn't tell us anything
2:09
related to Chad's case. We've
2:11
got the tapes from that room at the DEA's headquarters
2:14
in D.C.
2:15
Thanks to our sources, we're a fly
2:17
on the wall.
2:24
It's February 2016, a
2:27
cold, windy day in D.C. Chad's
2:30
an intense guy. He's blonde, blue-eyed,
2:32
built like a boxer. Chad's
2:35
the kind of guy you can tell immediately
2:37
he's a cop.
2:37
He's got a high and tight
2:39
haircut. His eyes are always roving.
2:42
He often looks pissed. Whatever
2:45
the cop look is, he has it. Chad's
2:48
not just any cop. He's the star
2:50
in the New Orleans office of the DEA. He's
2:53
an award winner, and he has years
2:55
of outstanding performance reviews.
2:58
And an agency obsessed with stats, he's
3:01
the guy bringing home the bacon. He's
3:03
well-connected, too. Chad's
3:06
friendly with politicians, even
3:08
a few country music stars. But
3:10
getting someone to D.C. like this means only one
3:12
thing.
3:13
You're
3:15
in deep shit. They
3:18
tell Chad they're going to put him on leave for 10 days. To preserve
3:20
the integrity of
3:22
the DEA and for his own protection. Because
3:24
as of yesterday,
3:29
two guys on Chad's team had been arrested.
3:31
They were both handpicked by Chad himself
3:33
to work with the DEA. And they were caught selling drugs
3:35
and stealing money.
3:38
Now Chad's being told he's under investigation. and
4:00
I'm disgusted.
4:02
The feds want to find out if Chad was
4:04
in on their scheme and what else he
4:06
might have been up to in nearly two decades
4:08
of service. But
4:09
Chad's not going down without a fight. He
4:11
dares the feds, the Office of Professional
4:14
Responsibility, to come
4:17
after him.
4:17
Listen straight down. Investigate it. Investigate
4:20
away. I want somebody independent
4:22
to investigate this. This is
4:25
all about shutting me down. That's all
4:27
it's ever been about. Because
4:31
I work fucking circles around. This
4:34
is a professional attack.
4:38
Chad thinks he's being called in because jealous
4:40
coworkers ratted him out. Because
4:42
when you get all the awards and you
4:44
don't mind rubbing it in, you
4:46
might win some friends. But you're
4:49
going to make enemies too. We need a DA to hit the
4:51
phone. We're going to hit your crutch.
4:54
They tell Chad not to contact informants. They take his
4:56
badge, and they tell him to book a flight
4:59
back home to Louisiana.
5:01
It's the worst trouble he's ever been in. But
5:03
when he leaves the building, he's a free man.
5:07
For now.
5:14
Federal investigators are going to be digging deep
5:16
into his record. And that was no
5:18
small task. Chad was
5:20
a prolific agent who specialized in walking
5:23
a thin line. But now, investigators
5:26
would be deciding what was okay and
5:28
what was flat out illegal.
5:31
Chad's cases made headlines. The
5:33
DEA ignored red flags. They
5:36
ignored warnings from within for 17 years. See,
5:41
Chad is a Rorschach test.
5:43
His actions invite interpretation and
5:45
opinion.
5:46
You look at his career, and you might see the greatest
5:48
DEA agent in the South. Or
5:51
you might see a criminal. Some
5:53
people say the ends justify the means. Getting
5:56
drugs off the street means you have to be willing to get
5:58
your hands dirty.
5:59
Sometimes you've got to bend the rules
6:02
to get around bureaucracy. Chad
6:04
was the epitome of that mentality. He
6:07
bent rules and he twisted arms. It's
6:10
an old DEA adage. You
6:12
don't find informants sitting in church. And
6:15
for some, that's okay.
6:16
Because all's fair
6:19
in this war on drugs. I'm
6:23
Famin' Roberts. And I'm Jim Mustian.
6:26
From Neon Hum Media and Sony
6:28
Music Entertainment, this is Smoke Screen,
6:30
the trail on the bayou.
6:32
Episode 1,
6:34
The White Devil.
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