by I A Thompson
“We will certainly do what we can,” Martin added. “Although, I’m still unsure as to how I fit into the picture; I didn’t see anything related to Switzerland. I can only speculate that they want my expertise on money laundering and weapons trading. I had some success in that regard during my career. Or did I miss something in the documentation?”
Regina shook her head. “I didn’t notice anything related to Switzerland either, so you might be right. I do however have an inkling as to why they picked me from all the available CIA analysts. Miami and New Orleans are mentioned in the report on U.S. sightings of ‘Niseko’. I-10 is a known drug running route and I heard just recently that the town I’m from has joined a program fighting particularly dense drug trafficking areas. I never believed the stories I heard in high school, but I guess there must be something to it.”
“What kind of stories?” Martin asked curiously.
Regina grinned. “I had a boyfriend at the time, who swore that the dad of one of his previous girlfriends had two black panthers at his estate, guarding his drug running business. I always thought it was just silly talk. The family has a very successful cargo business, the worst thing I ever heard the dad doing was tax evasion. There was a bit of a scandal in the nineties, but the old man paid up and all was well again. The daughter went on to become a successful TV anchor and eventually moved to New York. She now anchors the morning news on a local TV station up there, wrote a book and is still waiting for her big breakthrough.”
“That’s an awesome story though. I could see someone embellishing that and writing a book about it,” Martin laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Regina replied. “the only books coming out of that part of the country are on religion, fishing and hunting. Obviously, I’m exaggerating, but those are staples of life all over the Gulf Coast.”
“So, what else do we have?” Hardy shuffled the papers in front of him. “Speculations that the drugs came into the European Union via the ports of Rotterdam or Antwerp. Personally, I’d bet on Rotterdam, especially if the drugs were shipped from Suriname. Since we were a Dutch colony until 1975, there are still lots of ties between us, along with strong relationships with the Dutch constituent countries in the Caribbean.”
“That’s it guys!” Martin slapped his forehead. “Why didn’t I see it right away! I know why they wanted me to be part of this. A few years ago, I investigated the Zurich office of DCB, the Dutch Colonial Bank, for violations of the Swiss Money Laundering Law. There were large amounts of cash funneled through that relatively small office; too much to make sense for a private bank, which is all they do in Switzerland. They were able to cough up the paperwork proving they followed the letter of the law, but the suspicion remained for years.”
Hardy checked his watch. “What do you two think about lunch?”
Regina raised both thumbs in agreement. “Lunch sounds great. I know this hole in the wall that serves great Italian food. It’s a bit of a hike towards the Smithsonian, if you’re up for it?”
“A hole in the wall?” Martin looked confused.
“Sorry, it’s just a saying, describing a small restaurant, usually family owned,” Regina explained.
“Sounds good,” Hardy was all in. “We don’t really get Italian food in Suriname. We know pizza and spaghetti, but that’s about it.”
“Well, then you’re in for a treat,” Regina replied and got up to lead the way.
7
By Friday morning, the task force had a clearer picture of what they were dealing with. Teamed up in ever changing configurations, they had analyzed the data available to them from a variety of perspectives. An oversized virtual world map was turned into a pin cushion, yellow for drugs, white for money and red for weapons. Lines of corresponding colors connected the pins, turning the map into a tangled web that would make any spider jealous. Obvious and suspected connections as well as dead-ends had been documented and Interpol’s intelligence unit was given new targeting instructions. The directors of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency had been updated and were working Interpol’s instructions into the targeting directives for their own agencies.
By the time Director Hernandez called the team back together in their command center, he was ready to reveal the plan for the next phase, blessed by the task force’s chain of command.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began once everyone was seated. “We have done just about everything we can accomplish in an office environment. The time has come to talk about the work we now have to do in the field; we need to build on the leads we have and overcome the dead-ends on our map.” He pointed at a single yellow pin next to the name ‘Antwerp’ on the map. “These drugs flowing into Antwerp with nothing leaving the city, for example, makes no sense. These drugs must be going somewhere in Europe. In comparison, the pin in Rotterdam connects to Amsterdam and there is a corresponding white pin indicating a return money flow. We need to know what’s different in Antwerp.” He walked closer to the map and touched a red string between two red dead-end pins. “This weapons trail connecting Montenegro and Corsica. There is no logical connection between the two of them other than that they must be stations along a weapons trade route. The roughly two thousand modified QBZ-97 assault rifles seized from a ship traveling east to west between the two were of Chinese origin and are compatible with relatively easy to come by 5.56 NATO rounds, but you can’t buy these quantities at your average black market shop; there has to be a larger logistics apparatus behind it.”
He turned around to his eager audience. “We will build three teams, each investigating a set of dead-ends. Jonathan and Martin, you will investigate the financial leads. Finn and Lena, you are investigating the drugs and weapons leads in Europe. And finally, Hardy, Zach and Regina, you are investigating the drug routes and origins.”
Zach raised his hand. “Sir, why is the CIA analyst assigned to our team? Wouldn’t it make more sense, if she stays back and analyzes what we’re uncovering. After all, she is not a trained investigator.”
“Context, Mr. Jones, context.” The director’s composure was unflappable and gave no indication of just how irritated he was with his agent, the only one in the group who had a visible problem with accepting Regina in their midst. “Given that we’re operating with a small team across a very large space, we will get faster and better results when we’re embedding Miss Livingston with our investigative teams.”
Zach was smart enough to know when resistance was futile. “As you wish, sir. We will keep her safe and sound.”
Regina was about to blow a gasket; she was concerned about what an arrogant and chauvinist jerk, Zach was. Everyone else on the team was professional, collaborative and nice. If he was copping this kind of attitude for the duration of their assignment, would they be able to be successful? Or would he jeopardize their mission because of his petty objection to her being part of the team?
Tears of anger burned behind her eyes as she scribbled her pen furiously across her page; for the first time this week she missed her CIA team. When she had her emotions back under control, she glanced around and made sure nobody had noticed how Zach had gotten under her skin. Her eyes met Hardy’s.
“I got your back,” his mouth formed the words silently and he smiled.
“Thank you,” Regina replied in the same manner.
During Regina’s moment of distraction, Director Hernandez had walked over to the lectern and returned with seven bulky envelopes.
“Team,” he continued. “You all may intermittently have to operate under cover. These envelopes contain the identities we have created for you, complete with travel documents, driver’s licenses, credit cards, professional credentials and cell phones. Also included are, airline tickets, hotel reservations and rental cars as needed. Your digital footprint now matches these identities. Your actual records are sealed and inaccessible for the duration of this task force. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the material I’m about to hand out and
let me know if you have any questions.”
One by one, he handed out the envelopes until he got to Regina. “Miss Livingston, you will keep your existing cover identity as a UNICEF, United Nations Children’s Fund, programs analyst. It serves our purposes perfectly.”
“Yes, sir.” Regina had forgotten all about that cover identity she had been issued a few years ago as part of a case she had worked. She opened her envelope and started reading. Great, just great, she thought bitterly. She was to play Zach’s girlfriend? That was going to fly like a lead balloon. Nobody would ever believe that. She looked up and glanced at Zach who looked back with a smirk that indicated how much he was going to enjoy taunting her. He got to live the exciting life of an accomplished journalist doing research for a Time Magazine story, while she for the most part, was going to be his arm candy. What excited her though was that they would be operating out of Pensacola, which would allow her to catch up with old friends as well as spending quality time with her family. Plus, staying at the Hilton Pensacola Beach wasn’t too shabby either.
Lena’s and Finn’s assignment had them posing as account executives for the Maersk Shipping Line, evaluating the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam as a possible fit for the needs of their client Harmony Furniture, producer of fine upscale furniture. They would be setting up shop at the Bilderberg Parkhotel in Rotterdam and making the short trip to Antwerp as needed.
Hardy was instructed to alert both teams of any suspicious ships leaving the northern coast of South America bound for the areas under surveillance by the task force.
Jonathan and Martin hit the jackpot in terms of covers. Their base of operation was the fancy Grosvenor House Hotel in London and their expense account was commensurate with their roles as investment bankers for the illustrious Thames Investment Consortium. Jonathan’s pedigree and connections, dating back to his school days at the University of Cambridge would open countless doors for them. Alumni of the school that educated great thinkers like Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, generations of British nobility and dozens of famous artists were a tight knit group. With the right set of questions over a pint of beer or two and the prospect of landing a big deal, the two would be able to access a plethora of information.
“Questions, anyone?” Director Hernandez asked after the team had ample time to read through their assignments and digest the information. His question was met with silence. “Excellent, I take silence as agreement. For the rest of the morning, please work out an operations plan with your partners. I will review your drafts and we’ll have everything finalized by the end of the day, so you can report to your new posts by Monday. I’ll be in my office, should you need anything.” He turned around and left the room.
8
“So, Hardy, since you are the common denominator, why don’t you tell us where we should start?” Zach looked at the Surinamese agent.
Lena nodded. “Yes, let’s start with some import/export statistics, so we can narrow down what type of shipments we should be looking for.”
Hardy cleared his throat. “Okay, off the top of my head, the largest pieces of the export pie go to aluminum oxide, gold, refined petroleum, bananas, rice, hardwood and believe it or not whiskey. Biggest export partners are the United States, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Belgium and Guyana. The biggest import categories contain again refined petroleum – we import more oil than we export – mining equipment, caustic potash, diesel powered trucks and cars in general. Our biggest import partners are, you guessed it, the United States as well as the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, China and Curaçao.”
While Hardy spoke, Regina pulled up Suriname in the CIAs World Fact Book and skimmed its content. After he finished, she added: “The CIA has Suriname in Tier 2 of the human trafficking watch list for not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The country is believed to be a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to forced labor. Traffickers from Suriname have also been identified in connection with exploitation of victims in the Netherlands. It’s also a growing transshipment point for South American drugs destined for Europe via the Netherlands and Brazil as well as a transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing.”
Hardy smiled sadly. “As much as I wish I could refute what you just said, the truth is, these things happen, and our government has been suspected of turning a blind eye too often.”
Finn sighed. “So, I’d say, in addition to drugs, weapons and money, we’ll also look out for traffickers and their victims.”
“You guys,” Martin said. “I have a sneaking suspicion that weapons may be of equal, if not bigger importance than the drugs. I found an article on the use of Aluminum Oxide for ballistic armor. We have a rather sizable manufacturer of air defense systems in Switzerland who delivers to roughly two dozen countries, one of which is the United Arab Emirates. And for my American friends, guess where your beloved SIG Sauer pistols originally came from? Small world.”
“Huh”, Zach said. “I always thought they came from New Hampshire.”
Martin smiled. “They do now, but prior to 1985 they had to be imported into the U.S. I hope you don’t think I’m a geek, but my dad has been a weapons aficionado his entire life.”
Zach grinned. “No worries, I know our two countries have a long history of using each other’s weapons. After all we gave you a bunch of FA-18s for your Air Force and you gave us back your old F-5s so we can reutilize them for training. One hand washes the other, and a whole lot of money changes hands in the process.”
Lena raised her right eyebrow. “Can you two wrap up your love fest, so we can get back to business? Regina, doesn’t your agency monitor weapons’ deals across the globe to ensure nothing falls into the wrong hands? Can you do your magic and find us everything connecting our six countries in terms of weapons and Surinamese aluminum oxide? And cross-reference what you find with all mentions of ‘Niseko’.”
“You got it.” Regina gave her a thumbs-up.
In addition to determining the direction of Regina’s research, the team not only decided on communication means and frequency, but also which initial companies and persons of interest to begin their investigation with.
By lunch time, they had worked out a framework for their three teams’ assignments and their connection to each other. Regina was impressed by the efficiency and effectiveness of her new partners. They looked at every angle, drew conclusions and adjusted their approach at lightning speed, which made her feel glad to be a part of the team and not on the receiving end of this attention.
They delivered their draft to Director Hernandez, and when they returned from lunch, he was already waiting for them. His face remained neutral, not providing any insight into what he thought of their plans; it was evident they would have to wait until he was ready to tell them.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you want me to tell you how brilliant your plans are.” Hernandez looked serious and somber.
Regina was surprised by his demeanor; she thought what they had worked out was solid. Jonathan and Martin would begin with Advanced Weapons Systems in England and Wangen Air Defense in Switzerland and work their way through Europe’s weapons manufacturers and their clients.
Lena and Finn would begin with all known places in Holland and Belgium where ‘Niseko’ was sold and work their way back to the port, or ports of entry and subsequently focus on finding the company who shipped the drugs. Zach and Regina would do the same on the Gulf Coast.
Hernandez started talking. “What you have put together would do for any conventional investigation, I give you that. But, that’s not what you’re here for. If we wanted conventional, we could have gone the well-worn path of previous investigations. Unfortunately, they only netted us a dozen dead agents and nothing to show for it. What I need from you is the unusual, the outside the box thinking.”
He paced back and forth, from one end of the room to the other,
visibly agitated. “I cannot stress enough that you are going up against a very, very well-organized outfit, and we simply don’t know how far its reach goes. So, once you leave this building, it would be wise for you to assume that everyone who’s not currently in this room, could potentially be on the other side. With that said, you’ll have to nix your idea of using Interpol’s I-24/7 data exchange. Find yourself a secure, preferably encrypted, way of calling, messaging and emailing each other. Once a day, I want a consolidated report from one of you. Each one of you has an assigned day, a designated email address and a personal cypher to encode your report. Even if you have nothing new to report, I need you to send your report, so I’ll know you’re okay.”
Zach raised his hand. “Sir, last Monday, you told us all our local bureaus and governments would be available to us for assistance. Why do we suddenly have to pull this cloak-and-dagger number?”
Hernandez looked around the room before turning to Zach. “I did, Mr. Jones, and we’ll stand by it, officially. Unofficially, I’m telling you that the option is for the most part, off the table. Since Monday, two suspected European players went underground. One in England and one in Italy. We can therefore safely assume that someone within Interpol is on the payroll of the bad guys. And unfortunately, we have no clue who it is. We can call in the cavalry once you have an air-tight case, but until then, you will have to investigate covertly. I would highly recommend you keep a very low profile when you’re in proximity of people who know your real identity, which will for the most part change your well-laid out plans. With that said, I am signing off on the plans you submitted. They will be your official course of action and what you will be reporting on officially. Make it look good but stay away from anything you’re finding out in your unofficial investigations.”