088 Former ATF Agent Talks about ATF Corruption

[Music] Mr Lou dos brother welcome to the podcast um we need to get you up we need to get you up to to my area and sit at the table for like 3 hours I need a trip yeah I need a trip let's do it so for those that don't know who you are so I was uh run-of-the-mill ATF agent run-of-the-mill that's the that's the way that you're going to label yourself that's what I was man it was nothing special but I uh I I was lucky enough to get around some real pipe hitters some great guys who who came before me and learn from them learn their tricks and uh I I certainly didn't invent the wheel I just copied them and tried to make it a little bit better yeah and and because I I was lucky enough to work with some of these guys who were doing this super Innovative undercover stuff uh I I was able to fall into that world and uh and I made a name for myself and I did it by I did it by starting out the way you should start out uh I I don't if you're a marine Raider or whatever you are you got to start out by mastering the Small Things the little things the basics the basics and that's exactly what I did because I didn't I didn't come from that world I didn't grw up in that world so I was doing nickel and dime um eightball Buys in Alleyways in car washes in uh parking lots you know buying a stolen gun from a convicted felon uh from a gang banger buying a stolen shotgun from you know some cracker out in the country and uh just very small cases and I just kind of built my resume up that way and and learn the trade got my confidence and what I wanted to do you know there there were guys that came before me Jay Dobbins who first guy to ever get a Hell's Angel patch uh to infiltrate the Angels uh Chris bis who was just doing these incredible cases and they're traveling all over the country and that's what I wanted to do so I didn't I didn't try to you know just become them overnight so you knew Jay and Chris when you were doing I did yeah yeah I I uh I was lucky enough to get an invite uh from Jay in 1999 uh to do a home invasion crew out in Tucson Arizona and that was kind of my introduction to the national scale uh I almost blew it when I was out there um I uh so so I was kind of the new guy and you know they were you know so they're kind of busting my balls and and with these home invasion Crews uh after you know we bought a bunch of guns from these guys we bought a bunch of dope we bought explosives from these guys they were they were selling um what your what what time frame was this this was 1999 wow they were selling not only pipe bombs but they were selling RPGs shut the [ __ ] so we bought an RPG from him and uh we in Arizona in in Tucson Arizona man yep and uh what were they using what are they going to do with an RPG you know all they were all even back then they were all tied into cartels and they had access to to some of these crazy weapons and explosives man um even back then damn so so uh when you do these home invasion Crews um you know the home invasion is one that we make up so it's not real but they think we're really going to hit a Stash House m so you do a final meet always to give him an out so I would say you know Nick you sure you want to do this I'm giving you that last chance right to give you an out you know and that's for legal reasons right okay they're committed so exactly yeah so so uh the SWAT team is always you know following us around um you know during these deals usually they're like on top of buildings up in trees and they're sweating and they're miserable so to kind of throw a bone Jay Set this last meeting uh in a strip joint in Tucson so they could dress down in plain clothes and just be patrons right so uh what Jay did was for security for security for security so so back then you know we had the big nagra the recording equipment and stuff this was before we had all the fancy little key fobs and [ __ ] so so Jay was like all right you're going to you're going to wear all the monitoring and recording equipment and the only place it's Tucson right and it was hot as [ __ ] was was in you know I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt so I had to put it all in my groin you know hide it all my underwear and [ __ ] so I had all this stuff in there that's recording and monitoring so the teams can hear us and then when we get in there and we're we're we meet with the bad guys and all and uh after they leave Jay sends a stripper over he pays for a lap dance for me to make me more uncomfortable cuz I got all this [ __ ] and now there's a there's a girl dancing right and and I'm so I said all right you know what I'm I'll play with this so I asked her I said how much did he pay you for this she said 20 bucks I said here's 40 when when you're done with this song I Saidi want you to give him a lap dance I said but he's kind of kinky he likes it rough so give him a little slap in the face right so she goes over there and she starts dancing for him and she turns around and I didn't see she had rings on she turns around with like a Mike Tyson right hook right to his upper cheek what and blows his face up right here he still has a scar today both eyes blackened the next day and and so he was getting sutured in the by the uh swap Medic in the bathroom Sut them that's how bad it was and I was like I'm done man like I'm never going to get invited to anything again like he to say he was pissed off would be an understatement and again I I was I was a new guy man so I was like how new are you uh I I jumped over to ATF in uh the end of 97 and this was so a couple years yeah maybe two years on yeah so I was like well that's my first and last invite to the big leaks and uh I guess I'm going back to doing paperwork back to Alleyways right and in the parking lot so so uh but anyway uh Chris who's here right now Chris bis he he smoothed everything out and talked Jade down and and everything was cool and we became friends after that and uh and that was my first time you know working with those guys who were kind of I don't want use word Heroes but they were guys I looked up to yeah um and and that kind of broke me in that world and I I was addicted to it and I was able to start traveling the country after that once once I had built my resume up doing those small time things and uh next thing I know I'm I'm all over the country uh embedding myself with these criminal organizations uh just just doing what I I absolutely love to do man I just uh I was so it was the only thing in my life that I ever felt like I was really good at you know and we've talked on the side like it kind of became part of your identity right the undercover work how long you how long were you do did you do it 18 years 18 years years undercover undercover yep uh how [ __ ] up how [ __ ] up was your brain when you got done real bad real bad and you know I I would never advise anyone uh the smart guys and girls do it for five or six years and then they're done yeah they go do something and build their resume and get a good job and they retire have a life they have a life yeah have a life and I can tell you this there is zero uh market for a retired undercover agent in the private sector I mean I couldn't get a job when I retired because it's not a transferable skill to the private sector at all I mean corporate Espionage maybe yeah maybe but uh and I found ATF wasn't a big uh help on the resume not a very popular agency not not when you retired huh no uh so I I didn't care cuzz I was able to do what I to do uh guys like us I think we run everything into the ground cuz that's our nature and and that's what I did and I no one to blame but myself same and and just like you I mean initially like we've talked about this but like initially I was pointing fingers at the organization which what it's normal right but the reality is it's on you man it's us yeah it's you nobody put a gun to your head and it was I volunteered and then I volunteered again and then I volunteered again yeah yeah so you you can blame the brass and you can blame me all you want you're doing it because you want to do it let be real but you know I I wouldn't change the thing I'm sure you're the same I wouldn't you know it [ __ ] me up uh it didn't work out well for the family and all that but I would I would not change anything because at least I got to do what I I feel I was made to do yeah and and get to uh get to the highest level yeah and then I [ __ ] it all up but I got to the highest level at some point so and then you had to figure it all out after the fact man I had to crawl over that Finish Line brother at the end yep but I but I did crawl over it so what you're you know obviously you know back in your day in the ATF you guys were dealing with scary ass criminals yeah like evil people yep where are you at today with what the shenanigans are they're doing I I'm not proud of uh of of where my agency is going um it's like in my from my point of view it's like they pivoted from really dudes with RPGs to like taxpaying citizens to legitimate gun dealers yeah um well as you know better than anyone it's leadership okay right so everything goes It's all about leadership and it all trickles down so if you look at the leadership um the current ATF director he was he was U Obama's roommate in at Harvard so that should give you some idea what his thoughts on the guy that was trying to describe guns and and totally [ __ ] it up didn't know anything so if when you have um an anti-gun director of at the ATF at the ATF that's exactly what you're going to get and and what I see these rulings coming out which are always very confusing first of all and what they're doing is instead of going after the criminals now you know they're targeting legitimate Federal Farms like lies and saying they're the bad guys they're trying to do everything right yeah in with a legal commodity in the legal Market back by our Constitution which is backed by our constitution they're trying to do everything right and that's who the ATF is targeting now not not the end user not not the trigger puller did I mean you were probably in such a different world but uh did you kind of see this over there over over those all those years you kind of see the the the snowball effect of this happening really saw it um and you know I don't want to get political but I saw it when Bush got out and when Obama came in and that's when we felt it too in the military same M we started to get uh where we had a a a prior leader who had said that you know we need to have a warrior mindset and all of a sudden a memo came out saying you know we're not Warriors we're we're Guardians and we were all like what Guardians like you know we're gangs guns and drugs you know we're not guarding bad people bad people yeah yeah I'm not trying to guard them and even memos coming out uh wanting us to refer to defendants as clients so that's that's interesting because that kind of dialogue is the exact kind of dialogue in memos we were getting in Special Operations it was like it went from them being the enemy to them being misunderstood yes and it and all of a sudden we had handcuffs on us and we had to play a lighter role and that was under that was under the Obama Administration exactly that was right when we started to happen and [ __ ] started to kind of and and that's I mean you know to hear that from you guys you're you're in a higher level than we are this is we're I'm in Afghanistan right you know what I'm saying so you know it's just it's definitely a trickle down you know from from leadership and it affects you the guys on the street the guys in on the battlefield um when you have really bad judgment you know up at the top you're handcuffed like you're handcuffed man and and it changes the job and then you and what happens then and I've seen this is you don't get the same recruits uh you know yeah and and I've seen that with newer Academy classes it's yeah cuz you I wonder I wonder if you go back would you and I get selected for the same job probably not now probably not not if we answered questions honestly if we were honest right probably not like I don't think so y yeah and you know I I feel super like this subject I feel strongly about that our country needs strong leadership guys like us right we're necessary uh we're necessary for this country to survive in the world cuz the world is dangerous and ugly um it's not all unicorn horns and rainbows like they want they want it to be n yeah sometimes you got to do some sometimes you need some bad men to do some bad things absolutely because there's there's those out there that don't understand a good talking to there's only one thing they understand force force that's right and and that's all they respect yeah that and I think the gross populist they have this they have this misconception that you can like reason or talk or or or that the evil that we know exist in the world is not there right right and that's just naivity man that that's just you know if you don't if you don't get that you you are going to be a victim if that's your mindset your day is coming your day coming at some point for sure so you do this 18 years undercover yeah totally blow up your life yeah like as we all as we all do right um and then you kind of have to put it all back together and uh yeah where did core is obviously we're at the military appreciation weekend thanks for being here by the way um absolutely again um but how did how did that transition that recovery um into you being who you are today um how did core fit into that how the hormones fit into that I was uh I I was at a low Point mentally mentally and physically and and physically I I was a train wck with no motivation mhm uh always wanting to take a nap yeah I always wanted to take a nap it was you wake up you wake up exhausted exhausted um and I couldn't understand why I really I couldn't I couldn't understand why and uh you know mentally how old were you when you retired I was 48 when I retired 48 yeah damn 26 years I came on at 22 I did 26 years and uh you know I retired I was I was kind of asked to leave uh but I retired um all the good ones are right escorted me time for you to go yeah you don't have to go home but you can't stay here kind of uh so so I I had blown up my uh my personal life and my professional life so you know I was I was at a low mentally and a low a low physically so and I couldn't get a job I I couldn't find a job that I really had no no transferable skills to the private sector uh so I I really didn't know where to turn and when I found core I had no idea I'd never really gotten blood work done yeah I hadn't you know I'm sure you guys are saying we got a government physical once every year and I mean the bare minimum but they're not looking at they're not looking at hormones like that yeah I thought I was generally healthy yeah and you know when I saw this five page you know blood test come back and I saw all these areas where I was like in danger of of it was amazing you know hot you ran hot for a long time yeah I was I was in the red for a long time and uh you know my wife looked over that and she was like wow you're you're a train wreck and uh no wonder you're an [ __ ] right well that explains it right right and uh and you know like so many other like so many other guys uh I thought you know I mean I looked decent I was like I must be in decent sh you know I was in a bad way and uh once I started getting everything regulated you know once once I signed up with core and I started getting regulated the most amazing thing to me was I I didn't want to take a nap anymore yeah like all of a sudden you're ready to like do [ __ ] yeah I was a dragon ass yeah and miraculously at that point I started making money again right I I try to tell people man it's a weird thing it's like I I know it sounds stupid to say get on testosterone you'll make more money dude it's crazy it happens I think it's just because you have more Drive yes so it's it's like not just the nap thing but it's you wake up and you're like I want to attack life yes and because of that you end up inadvertently having more opportunities and and making more [ __ ] happen because you're out there and you're doing it and and it inste of just sitting on the couch feeling like [ __ ] yeah because and you know I'm sure you're just you know the government pension isn't all it's cracked up to be so you know right so so unless you want to live in a van down by the river that's that's you're not getting much else so you know once once I got into core and once I got right and and I got balanced uh my motivation went through the roof and uh that's when I I really jumped into this whole entertainment industry thing um because So speaking of that you got to you got a thing right so it was actually Bootsy when I was when I was way down who said you got to write a book write a book and the only reason he said that was for my mental health cuz he saw I was in a bad way it's a there it's a cathartic process absolutely as you know cuz you got a great book so I wrote the book but I didn't do anything with it I never marketed I didn't do anything with it you know I wrote it as a as a mental uh practice almost and uh capsulating all of your yes stuff but but I wasn't I didn't make money off it because I never pushed it I never tried as soon as I got right as soon as I got to core and and I found my motivation you know I went out there I got a literary agent he sold and this is amazing you know we talk about the the I never I had not made money for like 3 years after I retired no [ __ ] I I hadn't and then I sold the rights to my book as soon as I got motivated I got a literary agent I started hustling a big Hollywood company bought it now they're making a Netflix series out of it uh and then Discovery Came Calling uh the Discovery Channel and I got a show on Discovery that's already aired we're filming the whole first season starting April 1st MH and again my motiv you know like I'm on the phone every day I'm I'm recruiting police departments you know to go film these different shows at because I'm motivated yeah I have energy now get give me the snaps of the discovery one I go around the country featuring any undercover sting operations that local police departments are are into and it doesn't it could be a prostitution ring it could be guns drugs stol merchandise human trafficking and we just want to highlight the good work you know that these cops are doing out on the street that that's actually impacting the community you know drastically but it it but it impacts their own individual life as well for sure yeah so it's a sacrifice that they're volunteering to do you know and and you know people don't know about these things obviously because of the nature of undercover work but we just want to highlight it and show law enforcement in a good like because there's been about four years now where all you see is bad things about law enforcement right I mean everyone's kicking law enforcement in the ass so our goal and I have a very Pro law enforcement team at Discovery Channel and a the goal is just to show a good light shine a good light on the work that they're doing that is actually saving lives and and like I said it's making a difference in these communities like when they do one of these things and whether they're taking out people who are praying on kids you know or whether they're taking out people who are putting that fentanyl poison on the street it's a difference right there in that Community when you take that you know those guys off the street yeah it puts a Deb it puts a Deb it does it does it keeps them looking over their shoulder right I mean you're never going to stop it totally but we got to keep them looking over their shoulder because this Administration has come in and the bad guys aren't looking over their shoulder anymore no cuz they're getting if they do get locked up they're out the same day and uh he got he got this is another podcast I have to show it but he he was a cop in Detroit got shot um got shot in the stomach shot the guy seven times wow he lived just put leave it at that like I don't know how he lived but he lived yeah Cockroaches cockroaches and uh they found him non- guilty body cam footage everything saw the muzzle flash everything found him not guilty and then and then outed him Chris have told me about you yeah how [ __ ] up is that dude I I I don't even know how to I can't even anyway so it's probably it's probably a a decent PR piece for the public to witness that kind of thing to see the the really evil work that they're that they're having to deal with to go oh yeah there's a purpose for this these cops they care like they grew up in a lot of them grew up in that Community they live in that community and they they actually do give a [ __ ] and they're making a difference right there so we just want to show that man nice you know it's so the first episode's already out right it's already been out what's it called uh operation undercover it's on Investigation Discovery it's also on uh Discovery plus and Max used be HBO Max so you can stream at anytime just type in operation Undercover on and you're going to go back and you're doing more we're doing seven seven more episodes and that'll be a whole first season and then hopefully I have a second season after that and where's your book at uh the book is on Amazon um it's called storefront sting uh an ATF agent's life undercover and you know it's just out there on Amazon and the Netflix show is is uh in production we have a writer and it's started man congrats dud Cong and once again all because I I found it inside of me to start hustling and I give that credit to core Core Medical because it changed my life you just what and the biggest thing we talked about this in the pool um a while back but it was just the biggest thing I think is just taking ownership of where you're at just owning it and being like I'm in charge of getting healthy I'm in charge of my own success yep and then when you do that it's like where it is I mean I I was a slug like yeah I really was oh I know same same as I no Direction n you know no no drive and then everything changed once yeah and and you know I I realized like I had some chemical imbalances man you know I needed I needed to get adjusted and uh man what a difference it and it was it wasn't overnight but it was within a couple weeks like things started to change and I know it sounds cool amazingly I started making money right after that that's that's why I try to tell people man well guys listen he's going to come to Wilmington or to our neck of the woods we're going to sit down for 3 hours and just do storytelling which is any time you or Chris or Mel all talk I'm just like whoa he has have a wildli man we had a good run you know we we were uh we were allowed to do it when we could still be Cowboys right you know I they could never do what we were doing then you know this wasn't that long ago definit end of an era though yeah it was the end of an era uh we had a good run we had a good crew and and we we killed it man yeah you know so in the comments in the either the podcast or the video drop all your questions we'll refer to that um and that way we can tell some more stories when you come up all right other than that they tag him tag myself screenshot this show this with a friend peace thank you say that to our friend I love [Music] this

Channel: NK Show Clips

Views: 108,518

Keywords: atf agent arrested, atf bust, nick koumalatsos, nick koumalatsos edc, nick koumalatsos recon, nick koumalatsos cody alford, nick koumalatsos podcast, atf raid, atf rules, stupid atf rules

Id: 6J3hgG0PZqs

Length: 25min 16sec (1516 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 18 2024