Operation Big Spender was an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] sting operation launched in the fall of 1989 after L.A. County Sheriff Sherman Block received anonymous complaints that the [[LASD Major Violators|Majors]] squads were stealing from drug dealers. The investigation ultimately exposed widespread corruption within the narcotics units and nearly brought the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-[[Contras|Contra]] drug connection into open court.[^1] ### Asset Forfeiture and the Majors By the late 1980s, the Majors had transformed from narcotics investigators into sin-tax collectors for L.A. County. In 1988 alone, the sheriff's office seized $33.9 million in cash, and another $33 million the following year, along with 66 houses, 110 vehicles, 4 airplanes, and 2 businesses. Of the $33 million seized in 1988, the Majors brought in $13.6 million, along with 4,470 pounds of cocaine. The Majors II squad, now commanded by Sergeant [[Robert Sobel|"El Diablo" Sobel]] after the Freeway Rick Task Force disbanded, was the most productive unit. Sobel bragged in an interdepartmental newsletter: "My men are all trained to tear flesh when they scent blood!"[^1] ### The Sting The FBI sent an undercover agent into Majors territory posing as a courier for a money launderer carrying cash at the Warner Center Marriott. The Majors were tipped off and arrived so fast they nearly exposed the sting. Two weeks later, the FBI tried again at the Valley Hilton Hotel in Sherman Oaks. A hidden video camera captured two plainclothes officers bursting into the courier's room and finding $480,000 in a garment bag. The deputies skimmed $48,000 of marked cash. Sobel and other deputies then questioned the undercover FBI agent, and one deputy persuaded him to sign a form disclaiming ownership. "You can say room service left it," Sobel joked. Lightning raids that night found marked cash in deputies' homes and cars. Sheriff Block suspended nine members.[^1] ### Sobel Flips Within forty-eight hours, Sobel approached federal authorities and volunteered to testify against his crew. He admitted that much of what [[Ricky Ross]] and his partners had accused them of was true: the task force had routinely beaten suspects ("tune-ups"), planted dope ("flaking"), lied in court, falsified search warrant affidavits, and stolen drug money by turning in only a portion of what they seized. The detectives had bought vacation homes, big-screen TVs, jewelry, boats, and Hawaiian vacations. [[Steve Polak|LAPD detective Polak]] had liposuction and his wife paid cash for breast enlargement surgery.[^1] ### Indictments and the Contra Connection On February 22, 1990, a federal grand jury indicted ten deputies on twenty-seven counts of theft, income tax evasion, and conspiracy. Deputy [[Daniel Garner]]'s defense attorney [[Harland Braun]] attempted to introduce documents seized from [[Ronald Lister]]'s home showing CIA drug money laundering for the Contras. Judge Edward Rafeedie gagged Braun and refused to allow the evidence. Six of seven deputies were convicted at trial. Most officers who worked on the Blandón investigation were eventually charged with crimes or forced out of law enforcement.[^1] ### Ross as Government Witness Ricky Ross became one of the government's star witnesses, testifying about selling "thousands and thousands of kilos" of cocaine. The federal prosecutor called Ross "probably the most significant drug dealer" ever to testify for the government. Ross's sentence was cut from ten years to fifty-one months. Another dealer, Alander Smith, serving life without parole, accused government officials including President Bush of bringing drugs into the United States. Outraged jurors acquitted most officers in the second round of trials, citing Ross's deal.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 22: "They can't touch us"