Thomas "Tom" Gordon was a tall, soft-spoken detective with sixteen years on the [[LASD Major Violators|Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Major Violators]] squad who led the investigation into the [[Danilo Blandon|Blandón]]-[[Ricky Ross|Ross]] cocaine network in 1986.[^1] ### Background Since 1982, Gordon and his colleagues on the Majors II squad had tangled with the biggest criminals [[Los Angeles]] had to offer: the Mexican mafia, gangbangers, [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] cells, and international money launderers. By 1986 he was a hard man to impress. Former lieutenant Mike Fossey, the unit supervisor and intelligence officer for Majors II, called the Blandón-Ross case one of the biggest he had ever handled.[^1] ### The Project Sahara Investigation When Bell PD detective [[Jerry Guzzetta]] delivered his "Project Sahara" reports to the Majors, they landed on Gordon's desk. The reports had a bit of everything, including an element the Majors had never before faced—a [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-linked guerrilla army allegedly dealing in dope. "There was no telling where this investigation could take them," the unit realized.[^1] Analyzing information from the flipped [[Torres Brothers|Torres brothers]], Gordon's squad reached the conclusion that the Los Angeles crack market was far more disciplined and well organized than anyone had dreamed. Through two mystery dealers named Rick and Ollie, the gangs had established a direct pipeline to the Colombian cartels. The Majors now had names and addresses of everyone at the top of the distribution chain—from Colombian importers to Nicaraguan middlemen to Black wholesalers controlling the South Central marketplace. If everything went right, Gordon could take down the biggest crack operation ever uncovered.[^1] "This was going to be my last hurrah," said Gordon, who was scheduled to be rotated out of the Majors. "Like anyone, I've got an ego, and I wanted to go out with a bang."[^1] ### The NADDIS Discovery On September 17, 1986, Gordon ran computer checks on names the Torres brothers provided through NIN and NADDIS databases. Blandón's file showed a Class One trafficker with addresses in Glendale, linked to associates Roger Sandino and [[Norwin Meneses]]. Meneses's file was staggering: in the database since 1976, twelve aliases, mentioned in thirty-two [[DEA]] investigations, houses across the Bay Area, a mansion in Managua—yet never charged. [[Ronald Lister|Lister]]'s file showed an ex-policeman under active DEA investigation, owned by DEA agent [[Sandalio Gonzalez]] in Costa Rica—the same agent who "owned" Blandón. When Gordon called Gonzalez, the DEA agent "went through the ceiling," screaming that phone lines went through Nicaragua and ordering Gordon not to mention anything in search warrant affidavits: "It's a burn." Gordon was baffled—his investigation hadn't even started yet.[^2] Gordon obtained a DEA informant's report from Riverside agent Thomas Schrettner describing the Blandón organization purchasing 400 kilos per month and confirming all the Torres brothers' intelligence. He also learned FBI agent [[Douglas Aukland]] had independently received a walk-in informant exposing the Blandón-Meneses Contra drug ring. With three independent sources telling the same story, Gordon decided the Majors would move ahead regardless of federal reluctance.[^2] His lieutenant, Mike Fossey, recalled being told "that the CIA was involved with them, screened them, and protected their operation" and called it "a major accusation." Gordon's supervisor Sergeant Edward Huffman briefed the Narcotics Bureau commander, who confirmed the suspects were "possibly Contras."[^2] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 14: "It's bigger than I can handle" [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 16: "It's a burn"