The C-11 Squad | FULL EPISODE | The FBI Files

in New York in the 1980s the emergence of crack cocaine brought a new wave of violence ramble for power ordinary citizens were victimized even children are not on you the FBI joined forces with the New York City police to take back the streets the best weapon against deadly drug gangs if the ceiling [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] New York City is no stranger to gang violence but when a twelve-year-old child was kidnapped the gangs had crossed a line Lauren Horsemen race to find the missing boy before it was too late I'm Jim Kallstrom former head of the FBI's New York office agents would have to infiltrate the secretive world of a vicious gang to stop the murderous exploits of a drug lord in the 1980s crack cocaine invaded the Harlem section of New York as it did many urban areas in America over time the cheap and highly addictive drug crippled communities unlike any other drug head before with the crack came ruthlessly violent gangs that ruled the streets no one was truly safe [Music] on December 5th 1989 12 year-old Donald Porter was walking to elementary school he never made it to class [Music] when he didn't arrive home after school his family worried they hadn't been able to find him in the neighborhood at 9 p.m. Danelle sister received a phone call a man on the other end said Donnell had been kidnapped he wanted $500,000 of the boy would be killed the sister said the family didn't have that kind of money he didn't matter to the caller he warned them not to contact police then instructed them to go to a restaurant at a hundred and twenty-fifth and Broadway behind a trash can in the restroom they'd find something that would prove he was seriously a family friend went to the restaurant so the porters could stay by the phone he didn't know if it was a setup [Music] following the kidnappers orders he checked behind the trash container and found a coffee can inside were two rings an audiocassette and a child's severed finger Donnell was hurt and could be bleeding to death despite being warned not to the family called the New York City police the family told investigators what they knew [Music] detectives inspected the evidence the sister said that the rings belong to Donnell they've been given to the boy by his older brother out is important on the tape a recorded plea for help was definitely Darnell's voice the family told detectives about a second call in which the kidnapper had lowered his ransom to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars it was still far beyond their means they said they didn't know why they were targeted for such a high ransom but detectives knew what the family wouldn't say the victims older brother Richard Porter was a major crack cocaine dealer in the area police believe the kidnapping was related to his drug empire NYPD contacted the New York FBI's reactive squad for assistance Special Agent David Higgins our narcotics expert was asked to provide more intelligence on Richard Porter anything Richard Porter then about 25 years of age was a well-known crack dealer whose activities took place in Central Harlem he was one of those individuals who got in early on the crack trade in New York and he had created a significant drug empire in Central Harlem Richard Porter had made millions of dollars selling crack on New York's streets detectives knew where his turf it didn't take long to find Porter detectives recognize the person he knows witnesses drugged you and parting her album art ahead of it this visit wasn't about drugs it was about finding Donnell Porter agreed to come to the station for an interview though he said he didn't know how he could help no surprise I don't know anything at least new portal is very close to the Nelly but he claimed to know nothing about who was behind his brother's kidnapping on the streets these matters are usually solved without the cops though Porter most likely held the key to finding Donnell he was in no position to talk to authorities Richard Porter because of his situation as a drug trafficker found himself in a ticklish situation legally it would have been difficult for him to cooperate directly with law enforcement I believe he attempted to handle this situation on his own to some extent police had nothing to hold him on authorities needed to find someone else to help they canvassed the area trying to gather information on the kidnapping in such a close-knit neighborhood someone had to have heard something about Donna but residents were too afraid to talk Harlan's violent gangs had a stranglehold on the community detectives were left with nothing with each passing day police in NYPD's 32nd precinct new danelle's chance of survival decreased investigators maintain contact with the boy's family who were desperate for more word from the kidnappers a week after the abduction the family received a note in it the kidnappers hinted Danelle was still alive the child they demanded their money but no more ransom calls came with no clues to the boy's whereabouts and no one talking police had reached a dead end they somehow needed to pressure Richard Porter into cooperative activity or hope he would pay the ransom to get Danelle back then on January 4th 1990 a months after danelle's abduction the body of his brother drug kingpin Richard Porter was found in a Bronx Park he had been shot twice in the head and chest there would be no one to pay the ransom now it was widely assumed that Richards death was connected to the kidnapping and probably the result of a ransom payment gone bad however it was noted early on that when his body was discovered his wallet contained over two thousand dollars in US currency his jewelry was there apparently his automobile was nearby so there was some question about what the actual motivations were behind his murder with Richard Porter's death investigators lost their closest connection to the abducted 12 year old to find another source they increased pressure on lower level dealers and Porter's organization [Music] facing drug charges they were offered leniency in exchange for information some said Porter's partner ALPA Martinez could be involved playing as others claimed an infamous Harlem gang called the preacher crew might be but none offered direct leads to the crime three weeks later a boy's body was recovered in the same Bronx Park where Richard Porter was founded are now much more his family identified the body of Donnell Porter [Music] cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head death of a child is always a disturbing event there was a 12 year old boys on the way to public school he's kidnapped tortured he's heard on the tape cassette crying for help from his family danelle's murders stunned the entire harlem community even though violence was a daily occurrence there at the time sergeant James Maher worked NYPD's notorious 32nd precinct where Darnell lived in late 80s the early 90s 32nd precinct which is actually geographically only one square mile was where most violent precincts in New York City they averaged in the area of the upper-60s to low-70s of homicides a year and added on to that were shootings several hundred shootings that the people didn't die in response to the increased violence in the city a task force called the c11 squad had been formed at the FBI's New York field office detectives from the 32nd precinct and FBI agents were assigned to the squad c11 was created to address these entrenched criminal conspiracy groups in the city of New York the locals brought their knowledge of the streets the knowledge of the subjects involved to the table the federal agents brought along with them the access to the federal courts which included the access to the federal sentencing guidelines in the United States Attorney's Office after the murder of Donnell Porter they knew they had to take back the streets c11 would first go after Alba Martinez Richard Porter's partner if their partnership had unraveled he would have had the most to gain from extorting Richard Porter and killing him a year earlier a warrant had been sworn out for his arrest on drug charges but when Martinez couldn't be found federal prosecutors had to drop the warrant in police computers the c11 squad flagged the names of known associates of Alba Martinez if any were arrested they would be notified months later police in Washington DC pulled over a car after observing its driver engage in a drug deal the driver was a known courier for ALPA Martinez police found a large amount of crack and thousands of dollars in his car noting the flag on his record from New York DC authorities would contact the c11 squad after the courier was sentenced to 20 years to life on drug charges c11 agents had him transported to New York for an interview an agent explained that under federal law his sentence could be reviewed if he cooperated with authorities he told what he knew about Martinez and Porter's East Coast drug operation drugs would be distributed both in New York City by Richard Porter and in Washington DC by Elfa Martinez while in Washington DC Martinez allied himself with individuals that he found to be strong on the street if you will in order to protect his drug operation in Washington DC and it was not unusual for literally see bags worth of US currency to be shipped out of Northern Virginia and Washington DC up into the Porter neighborhood at 130 second and seventh Avenue in New York City it was enough for a renewed arrest warrant on Alpo Martinez agents canvassed the neighborhood talking to people who knew Martinez most were afraid to talk eventually agents learned the fugitive was going to pick up his wife's car at a dealership in northern New Jersey undercover agents staked out the dealership they didn't know if Martinez would show up but they knew he liked fast cars that afternoon a sports car they watched a passenger get out but it wasn't morning as agents couldn't tell if the fugitive was driving they had to risk a closer look if they could arrest Martinez it might help solve the murders of Richard Porter and his 12 year-old brother down an agent visually identified Martinez as the drive down the radio to go-ahead signal but before the arrest team could use Monica Martinez spun away agents gave chase but the fugitive disappeared into heavy traffic with Alpo Martinez still a fugitive the abduction and murder of 12 year old Donnell Porter remained unsolved the abduction and murder of 12 year old Donnell Porter showed that harlem's drug violence was out of control the FBI's c11 squad knew the murder was connected to the boy's brother crack dealer Richard Porter but Porter himself had been killed c11 believed finding Porter's partner ALPA Martinez would provide answers but in 1991 Martinez had eluded an FBI undercover operation from the incident the FBI got his license plate number and alerted New York Police to be on the lookout for the vehicle the next day police spotted it parked on a Harlem Street they impounded it hoping it might lead to Martinez they believe the fugitive wouldn't retrieve the vehicle himself but FBI Special Agent David Higgins waited to see if he'd send someone a young lady showed up and claimed to be the true owner she was the registered owner ultimately a quick investigation established that she was what we call a straw man or somebody who had stepped forward in order to buy and register the car on behalf of mr. Martinez Martinez was nowhere to be found in New York acting on a tip that he had traveled to Washington DC agents set up surveillance at the DC home of the fugitives ex-wife in the early hours of November 7th 1991 they spotted Martinez getting into his ex-wife's vehicle this time he wasn't driving as they pulled out the FBI made them the fugitives ex-wife pulled over the cocaine in his possession helped cement the case against one of the biggest drug traffickers on the East Coast ultimately mr. Martinez pled guilty to an indictment in Eastern District of Virginia which accused him of trafficking in over a thousand kilograms of cocaine the wholesale value of that would be 20 million dollars investigators also had evidence against Martinez on several gangland murders they told him they knew he was Richard Porter's partner so he stood to gain from de Nell's and Richard's death hoping to avoid the death penalty Alba Varden has agreed to cooperate he admitted killing his partner Richard Porter Martinez had begun to suspect his partner had been cheating him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars senator from there he said that more than a year earlier on January 4th 1990 he and an associate had taken which imported for a ride almost immediately Martinez and the associate each shot they dumped his body in the Bronx Park where it was found the next day Martinez swore it was just about missing drug money it had nothing to do with Donnell Porter's kidnapping and murder no evidence or testimony linked Martinez to that crime [Music] he went to prison for life although they had put away a major drug dealer the local and federal investigators of the c11 squad were no closer to solving the murder of Donnell Porter they reviewed FBI intelligence already gathered on other harlem gangsters who might have profited from extorting and killing Richard Porter [Music] one gang stood out is likely suspect they were known as the preacher crooning the gangs leader was Clarence preacher Heatley FBI special agent joe walsh formerly of the c11 squad knew the preacher and his crew were well entrenched and very dangerous preacher crew was the established crew neighborhood you know for a long time preacher been kicking around the streets of Harlem since the early 70s and everybody knew him by his nickname the black hand of death and everybody was definitely afraid of him NYPD sergeant James Marv the see 11 squad learned the preacher had a reputation for violence but the gangster was an elusive figure in Harlem you could walk up to anybody in a 32nd precinct no matter how church-going they are no matter whether they're businessmen or local drug dealers they all have a preacher story they all know who preacher is ask any of them to describe preacher to you or majority them they're not going to be able to because this guy was an infamous legend in Hall the players and harlem's drug underworld had carved up the area in two zones each block each alley was the established turf of a single dealer most dealers respected the boundaries but the preacher did not he considered all of Holland his turn he made his money not by dealing drugs but by taxing other dealers but he was mostly in to extortion extorting drug deals these are guys that were violent in their own in their own right he would go up and claim their car if a drug dealer looked like he was getting paid so to say he was driving a brand new full-size Mercedes Benz and preacher liked that car that was preachers those who argued with preacher paid a heavy price it was a system that made him a rich man if you're hitting every other drug dealer on the streets you know two thousand here three thousand here five thousand there that's a lot of money and adds up and believe me they all paid because if they didn't pay teacher would pay him a visit or here in order his people pay him a visit and they'd wind up dead the preachers history of extortion and violence made him a likely suspect and the abduction and murder of Donnell port-a-john c11 had outlined the basic structure of the preacher crew the preachers main lieutenant was a man named John cuff he was a particularly dangerous criminal according to see 11s detective Vinny Flynn John cuff was an ex New York City Housing cop as a cop he provided protection and bodyguard work for preacher so if they were driving through the neighborhood and was stopped John cop had a shield where he would probably be let go and not given a summons or anything further what happened John cuff had a reputation and want to be feared a very violent person yet no evidence linked either man to Donnell Porter because those C 11 suspected preacher was involved in the deadly kidnap he probably didn't commit it himself he distanced himself from mostly crime so that his main lieutenant or other henchmen carry out his orders at beaches commanded their brutal extortion tactics earned the money and kept witnesses too intimidated to talk of Lee insulating the crew against investigation we go into you know a bodega you know some place up in home and say we know he came in here and a guy would have a cast on his hand we know he broke your hand and and and the shop owner would say I don't know what you're talking about you know and that that shop owner would be paying rent you know or taxed and to preacher but nobody would tell us anything with people too afraid to talk crimes continue to pile up on New Year's Eve 1992 emergency units responded to a call in the preachers territory a man lay dead in his car the victim of a drive-by shooting his family survived the harrowing ordeal they described how the killer's pulled up next to them on the street and opened fire they claim they didn't know who did it or why and like tinel's kidnapping no one in the neighborhood admitted seeing anything it was another tragic killing in Harlan that might go unsolved the C 11 squad had to breach the area's violently enforced code of silence and finally get insiders to talk a shocking drive-by shooting was added to the list of unsolved murders in harmony with witnesses too afraid to cooperate with police the case was open for two years then in 1994 the C 11 squad found a witness who told them the shooter was a preacher crew member named Malik detective Vinnie Flynn learned that Malik had a violent reputation he became a so-called director of security for the preacher organization he was in charge of group of members who were known as the janitors the janitors were the people that had to clean up the problems with a message of family and you couldn't be a janitor unless you killed somebody [Music] to get more on the leak in the preacher group c11 tried to send in undercover officers it was yet another dead end according to FBI Special Agent Joe Walsh we weren't able to really get in so to speak and get an undercover in there to buy narcotics from preacher because preacher was very very careful he was a you know he's a very smart man and we couldn't get the the the undercover you know close to him the preacher had closed ranks ordering the people he extorted not to sell to new buyers and to keep a low profile on the street investigators needed a witness with close ties to the crew a distributed business cards hoping one would find its way to an Insider willing to talk their persistence paid off in April 1994 a crew member contacted the C 11 squad because he realized his life was in danger he said the preacher had started going after his own crew members preacher had killed two of the informants partners fearing he was next he asked sergeant James Maher for protection it was a stone-cold killer himself who became an informant that was so fearful of preacher enough being killed like his partners had that he came to me that he came to us that he gave us information on specific crimes that he talked about crimes that had been unsolved for years investigators were frustrated that the informant knew nothing of 12 year-old Donnell Porter's kidnapping and murder but he did give investigators their first specific insider information about preacher Heatley's organization he mentioned a killing basement that the crew used as a meeting place and execution chamber at some needs preaching on cultural fullen the fate of gang members who had fallen out of favor killer if the majority voted thumbs down preacher ordered a bill in March 1994 preaching called for a vote on Malik the janitor who had done the drive-by shooting he believed Malik could no longer be trusted those death the vote was thumbs down [Music] yeah yeah you just summon Malik to head Malik thought he was there to take part in the beating of a crew member that he had had problems with in the past all right not realizing he was the real target yeah Malik was excited and others invited him to the basement if you went down there and you were followed in there you know somebody's behind you you weren't coming out alive because I think he had to die he was gaining too much influence within the organization preacher wouldn't talk and they pleaded for his life but the order had been given at preaches command other janitors used a circular saw to dismember me [Music] the informant said that preacher ordered him and another crew member to dispose of the body class they poured acid on the Leakes arms to remove gang tattoos that could link him to the crew then they left the body parts and several crumbling abandoned buildings they kept movie Ted in a refrigerator for a couple of weeks and they kind of paraded it around on a stick you know that's how preacher would you know keep the fear of God sort of speaking in the in a younger younger Turks in his organization the fear was too much for the informant though he knew leaving the crew was equivalent to a death sentence he hoped the c11 squad could protect it didn't take long for word to get back to the preacher that the informant had cooperated one day the informant was leaving a New York courthouse when he spotted preacher and cuff he was sure they were there to abduct and kill him he went to his car and called his C 11 handlers the informant advised me that his fear that he was going to be killed by the organization he was going to be abducted right in the middle of the afternoon in a courthouse the agents of c11 rushed to stop another murder in the preachers territory it's gated Devils a former member of the preacher crew feared the gang was out to kill him for cooperating his authority Alderson D technician the FBI c11 squad came to his aid just in time they arrested main Lieutenant John cuff and the crew leader himself Clarence preacher he sergeant James mock the other arresting agents searched the veal there was evidence inside including information about my informant masks tape there was a parent at the time that my informants feelings were right he was going to be abducted that day but no one could prove that the men were coming to kill the informant the preacher and cuff were released the incident brought the C 11 squad's investigation of the crew into the Oakland [Music] that's what it became apparent that they were being investigated by the FBI I mean here's this detective that they know from the three to don't when he does make an arrest makes arrest with FBI agents it became apparent to coffin preacher that the FBI was breathing down their neck preacher further insulated himself the FBI would have to get him by going after his organization to prosecute they would use federal racketeering statutes known as Rico originally designed to bring down organized crime families Rico requires that strict criteria are met according to FBI Special Agent Joe Walsh you have to have your organization you have to have your leader which in this case was preacher and he has to have five or more people working underneath him you know the facilitate the conspiracy of the organization but you also need three predator defenses three federal offenses the c11 investigators surveilled the preacher crew gathering evidence on offenses to support the RICO case they noticed unrest within the gang it seemed the pressure of c11 s investigation was getting to the preacher from an informant agents learned he even ordered the murder of his main lieutenant john cuff agents were obligated to warn cuff of the hit maybe my shield he goes I know who you are you don't have to show me your shirt I said you know John I just wanted to let you know that there's a contract out of your life and I swear there's nothing but space when you look in his eyes and he goes everybody wants me dead cuff was undaunted by the threat though the preacher was tightening his grip on his men investigators still needed to get evidence of the crimes the crew committed to support the racketeering organization as more buyers and sellers were arrested some agreed to helping to outline the group in detail according to detective the new flame we obtained the informants through narcotics investigations arrests made by the three-two precinct and a 3-2 detective squad through information they developed and informants they developed because of arrest information was compiled which built a case against the preacher crew unfortunately no one had information on the Donald Porter murder but one arrested crew member offered details of another murder committed by the crooked one hoping for leniency he said they decided they didn't want to pay for a shipment of drugs [Music] they told the supplier that a young woman had stolen them and that they would take care of him she was a single mother who sometimes worked as a courier for the crew they brought her to a Harlem apartment telling her they wanted her to hear a record they had produced she hadn't stolen any drugs that didn't matter to the crew the informant explained how they filmed at the crime scene then dumped the body in an abandoned building he couldn't remember exactly which building it was [Music] in August 1996 after more than 5 years of meticulous investigation the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District our unit rate decided they had enough indictments and arrests on federal RICO charges here we've got the first indictment was against Clarence preacher Heatley and John cuff the indictment was kept seared if word got out to the preacher you might disappear forever investigators staked out preachers Harlem headquarters they hope news of the indictments haven't been leaked and that if they found it they could arrest him without a fight they knew preacher was surrounded by armed men willing to kill at his command in late 1996 the C 11 squad was ready to arrest Clarence preacher Heatly [Music] no one had seen him in days on August 12th he emerged from his headquarters building detectives made sure he was alone then moved in as he was arrested the elusive gang leader remained relaxed and confident as soon as he was in custody other teams arrested his main lieutenant john cover two months later 15 more preacher three members ruined the rest team paid for simultaneous tape they had to strike fast for force to arrest gang members safely detective any Flynn and other c11 investigators developed more cooperating witnesses among the arrested crew members once people were arrested and being prosecuted they agreed to cooperate and they felt that they were used by the preacher crew and felt that if in some cases if they didn't participate they would have been killed too so this was their way out of the preacher crew and I'm under Clarence he Lisa control investigators learned in which Harlem buildings the crew dumped some of their victories finding physical evidence was crucial in order to prosecute the RICO case one building was a shell partially collapsed on the inside further complicating the retrieval after days of excavating tons of rubble a body was discovered lab examiner's determined it was the body of the young mother who had been killed as a cover for stolen drugs she had been shot in an apartment in an adjacent building evidence response teams check the apartment that's the apartment where they kept the Malay shed and in the refrigerator there was a lot of blood still left in the apartment and inside a refrigerator there was much blood from when they couldn't you know I kept his head they were able to trace out at the land Malik and several others had been killed in the basement of the preachers headquarters crime scene technicians processed the basement arrested crew members said preacher had them scrub the place with boric acid after each killing most of the basement was clean aiya but technicians were able to recover traces of blood on the windows and on the saw blade that had been used to dismember Malik but the investigation was not over the abduction and murder of young Donnell Porter was still unsolved morning gentlemen answers about his death finally came from an unlikely source we can assistant district attorney convinced the boys of that creature come in to talk he was one of the crews main players left on the street and had been labeled a snitch two attempts have been made on his idea suggested that Porter cooperate to earn protection and prison he confessed to several murders and revealed what happened to his nephew Dino according to sergeant James Marr the kidnapping was prompted by jealousy and greed the underlying factor with Johnny Porter Johnny apples with the kidnapping was when he came home from prison Richie Porter his nephew was this big Harlem drug dealer he was getting paid Richard Porter used to wear a lot of gold used to really like flashy cars he was making a lot of money and he wasn't given any to Johnny Porter and Johnny Porter felt he was owed this he decided to take it and the way he took it is he snatched the kid Porter said the preacher agreed to the kidnapping he sent one of his janitors Malik to help they believed Richard Porter would pay anything to get his brother back they kept the boy in a basement where no one would hear they cut off his finger and recorded the boys pleas for help to prove to his family they were serious Appl and preacher hoped for $500,000 enough to set Apple up in his own drug trade and enough to [ __ ] Richard Porter when Richard couldn't come up with that amount of cash they lowered it to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars then the unexpected happened preacher and Apple learned that Richard Porter was murdered there'd be no ransom make a creature Heatley later told Special Agent Joe Walsh about his decision I preached that right down on a room and and told me exactly what happened you know he looked me right in the eye and said you know I couldn't let that boy live after after what had happened yeah John Porter insisted that it was Malik who actually don't carry Malik was later killed and dismembered at the preachers command think twice John Porter was sentenced to natural life because of the evidence collected by the C 11 squad each member of the preacher crew went to prison [Music] their leader Clarence preacher Heatley pled guilty to federal racketeering charges that included drug trafficking assault and murder he was sentenced to life with no chance of parole he and his crew will never again terrorize the streets of Harlem it's estimated that they're responsible for approximately 45 murders that we're aware of numerous robberies if you add the extortion in these people were were a decade long or better crime wave in themselves they were they were just amazing the devastation that they caused in these communities that changed when the c11 squad dismantled the preacher for Allen since the case was closed Harlan has seen a rebirth paalam today the 32nd precinct is running somewhere between 15 and 20 homicides a year down from the 70s down from 70 a year in late 80s during the crack cocaine binge I think we accomplished quite a bit with this drug this case and the drug organization doesn't exist anymore so it can't hurt anything else [Music] [Applause] you [Music]

Channel: The FBI Files

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Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail, Clarence heatley, RICO, c-11 squad

Id: QVh4uTyNH2Y

Length: 50min 37sec (3037 seconds)

Published: Sat May 09 2020