T he black Cadillac pulls into the diner’s parking lot in Queens. Built in the 1950s, the building looks like it only exists on a rainy day, the rock-lined exterior out of another time. I step out of the Uber and look up at the restaurant where, in 1983, my father was arrested after escaping federal prison. He had spent two years on the lam, and was brought down by the U.S. Marshals after eating breakfast with his longtime mistress. He had just come from organizing a new shipment from Colombia. I imagine the day was also rainy. Almost 40 years later, I am there to meet with the Drug Enforcement Agency officer who tracked him for nearly a decade, trying to bring down one of the biggest mari juana kingpins of the 1970s, the man I once called “Daddy,” and one of the architects of the modern drug trade: Dan McGuiness. When the Cadillac arrived at my hotel, I had to laugh. The last time I saw my father, he, too, was driving a black Cadillac. He had just arrived in Los Angeles … [Read more...] about Learjets, Mistresses, and Bales of Weed: My Dad’s Life as a Drug Kingpin
Recall by how much the acid levels in the ocean have increased by over the past 250 years
Inside Operation Grouper: the DEA’s War on Marijuana Smuggling
It was the first hour of November 3rd, 1980, as the Learjet left behind Miami’s city lights and headed west over the dark of the Everglades. Aboard were two principals, each flanked by their respective henchmen . Until this hour, they had never met. The one who had leased the plane was a thirty-six-year-old drug-smuggling kingpin named Dan McGuiness. He had a penchant for ordering up Learjets on short notice. Once, after striking up a conversation with a young woman in a Boston bar, he went, on impulse, over to a pay phone and called up a Learjet from Miami to take the two of them to Jamaica for the weekend. McGuiness had pulled off enough successful smuggling deals to be able to afford little luxuries like that. The other man, forty-two-years old, was well known in smuggling circles as Theo Poulos, a specialist in providing highly specialized off-loading services to “mother ships” coming up from Co l ombia laden with marijuana . The aircraft was now headed for a … [Read more...] about Inside Operation Grouper: the DEA’s War on Marijuana Smuggling
Sam Asghari, Britney Spears Attack Kevin Federline For Saying Sons Avoid Her
TMZ/Getty Britney Spears and Sam Asghari went on the attack after Kevin Federline , the father of her 2 children, did an interview saying the 2 teens are avoiding their mom. Sam went on social media, saying ... "There is not validity to his statement regarding the kids distancing themselves and it is irresponsible to make that statement publicly. The boys are very smart and will be 18 soon to make their own decisions and may eventually realize the ‘tough’ part was having a father who hasn’t worked much in over 15 years as a role model." Getty Britney doubled down ... "It saddens me to hear that my ex husband has decided to discuss the relationship between me and my children … as we all know, raising teenage boys is never easy for anyone … it concerns me the fact that the reason is based on my Instagram … it was LONG before Instagram … I gave them every thing … Only one word: HURTFUL … I’ll say it … My mother told me ‘You should GIVE … [Read more...] about Sam Asghari, Britney Spears Attack Kevin Federline For Saying Sons Avoid Her
A Skateboarder Quit the Olympics to Come Out As Trans. A New Doc Shows His Journey
Since quitting the 2020 U.S. Olympic team and stepping away from competitive skateboarding , Leo Baker has had no regrets. “I am happier than I’ve ever been in my life, beyond what I could have ever even imagined,” he says, speaking on a hot August day by Zoom from his Brooklyn apartment. He’s wearing a black tank top, exposing tattoos on his chest and arms, and his side-parted blonde hair has just the right amount of bounce to call to mind another Leo’s beloved Nineties style. “Purging all the stuff that was not working for me, like quitting the Olympics and getting rid of all this stuff that was not ‘it,’ created a clearing for things that are it or could be it.” After rising to fame as a child skater on the competition scene, Baker was considered a sure thing for the sport’s debut at the 2020 Tokyo games. But he felt deep ambivalence. A new documentary , Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story , which premiered at the Outfest film festival last month and begins streaming Aug. … [Read more...] about A Skateboarder Quit the Olympics to Come Out As Trans. A New Doc Shows His Journey