March 1986. A high-rolling lawyer named Bob Cooley walks into a federal prosecutor’s office and says that he has information that could bring down the mob.

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Who was Bob Cooley? 

Deep Cover Season Two launches on January 24th. Listen to the whole season early and ad-free by subscribing to Pushkin+.

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The launch of Deep Cover Season 2 is just a month away. Until then, we bring you a conversation between host Jake Halpern and screenwriter/author James Coyne about the genesis of Ned’s novel and the role it played in Jake’s writing of season one. Also, in this episode–a sneak peek of Deep Cover season 2: Mob Land.

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Jake delves into one piece of the puzzle that he didn’t quite get into in season one but has continued to intrigue him: the source. In this episode, you’ll meet Tommy Powell, a former smuggler who guides us through the import side of the marijuana industry. Starting out as a small time dealer in Michigan, Tommy winds up in Colombia inspecting marijuana crops and working as a liaison between farmers and other smugglers. Eventually, Tommy claims, he became one of the first smugglers to bring in really big loads of Colombian weed to the United States.

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Ned gets too close with a female source, a dangerous move that stands to end his marriage and perhaps even his career at the FBI. Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Noriega ramp up. President Bush calls for an invasion of Panama. The final act in our saga ends with a full blown war.  

The first version of Ned’s unpublished novel was written by James Coyne and edited by Andrea McLaughlin. Voice acting by Walton Goggins.

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Word gets out that the smugglers have a silent partner who is none other than Manuel Noriega – the ruler of Panama, a close ally, and a top CIA asset. The three kingpins (Leigh Ritch, Mike Vogel, and Steven Kalish) all testify before Congress. Noriega is indicted in federal court. Meanwhile, Ned gets a call from a Colombian woman who says she can give him intel about suppliers. Ned thinks he finally has a shot at the source.

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This is the story of Leigh Ritch’s escape. It begins with his friends, Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear, visiting the Cayman Islands on their honeymoon. They start fighting, make a ruckus, and Leigh eventually takes them to Jamaica. From there, Leigh hopes to flee to Portugal, but the FBI has something else in mind. Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Ned helps lead a raid on Mike Vogel’s mansion.

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As Ned is in Grand Cayman working undercover to investigate Leigh Ritch, he hears talk about a “general” sometimes called “Pineapple Face.” That can only be the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who, it turns out, has effectively become the syndicate's launderer and protector. The FBI realizes it’s on to something serious, especially when the CIA comes knocking and starts asking all kinds of suspicious questions. The little investigation that began with bikers in Detroit has now implicated the Panamanian dictator – a valuable CIA asset.

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The kingpin of the smuggling syndicate – Leigh Ritch – is safely out of reach in the Cayman Islands. But he’s worried. One of his partners, the Gentleman Smuggler, is in custody. Leigh’s network may soon be exposed. He grows more paranoid, thinking his house is bugged. The syndicate's security guy, Shine, says he knows a guy who can sweep Leigh’s house. His name is Ed Thomas. (Yep, that’s Ned). So, Ned gets special permission to do undercover work abroad and sets off to Grand Cayman with Shine in tow.

The first version of Ned’s unpublished novel was written by James Coyne and edited by Andrea McLaughlin. Voice acting by Walton Goggins.

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Shine takes Ned to Beaufort, North Carolina, where an abandoned boat full of marijuana had been discovered years prior. Locally, that case had gone cold, but Shine knows all about it. It was the work of an activist turned marijuana importer named Steven Kalish AKA Skip AKA the Gentleman Smuggler, a nickname earned because of his charismatic personality and distaste for violence.

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