---
category: Other
summary: Former Austrian citizen and undercover informant working against Ben Kalka
  for the California DOJ, central to a massive methamphetamine reverse sting operation.
tags:
- Person
---

[John Di Giorgio](/people/john-di-giorgio/) was a former Austrian citizen who was allegedly an undercover informant working against [Ben Kalka](/people/ben-kalka/) for the [California Attorney General's Office](/organizations/california-attorney-generals-office/). His criminal indictment was filed under seal by the INS on October 26, 1989, and remained secret for nearly a decade. At a news conference on November 17, 1989, former [California State Attorney General](/organizations/california-attorney-generals-office/) [John Van de Kamp](/people/john-van-de-kamp/) touted the case as the "biggest methamphetamine seizure in the world," displaying 1,022 pounds of methamphetamine and $1 million in cash.[^1]

[Pam MacLean](/people/pam-maclean/), a reporter for the *San Francisco Daily Journal*, spent thousands of dollars to get the Di Giorgio file unsealed. The unsealed documents revealed that the [U.S. government](/places/united-states/) was looking for an alleged $13 million in laundered drug funds believed to be in [Switzerland](/places/switzerland/), [Germany](/places/germany/), and [Israel](/places/israel/). The methamphetamine precursors supplied to [Ben Kalka](/people/ben-kalka/) were reportedly part of a "reverse sting" operation headed by [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) agent [Robert Barnes](/people/robert-barnes/).[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.