Sergeant Smack, page 22
The crew chief’s trip to Travis was successful but, when Thornton returned to the U.S. in February and went to see Brooks to pick up the bags, he bumped into a big problem. Brooks had only one of the two AWOL bags. He told Thornton that the roommate of the crew chief who had brought the heroin to the U.S. had the other one. The crew chief’s roommate did not have an AWOL bag, so the crew chief allowed him to use Thornton’s bag for a weekend trip home. When the roommate returned, the crew chief, who had brought the bag to the U.S., did not have an AWOL bag to take with him on an 18-day trip to Alaska, so he took the bag with him. Thornton later recalled: “We got a bag of dope roaming all over the States and the kids didn’t know what they got.”
”I’ll just wait until the guy shows,” Thornton informed Brooks, silently cursing his bad luck. Finally, the crew chief returned from Alaska and left the bag in his room. Thornton got the passkey to his room, snuck in and retrieved the bag. Late with his delivery, he caught a plane for Goldsboro and called Ike’s house the night he arrived. A man whose voice Thornton did not recognize told him that Ike was not home but to leave the bags in the bushes at the trailer court in Dudley. Thornton, however, got confused and could not remember the location, so he had to call Ike for directions. Ike sounded ticked off, but told Thornton he could pick up his payment in two or three days. It was Thornton’s third successful trip and now it was payday. Ike gave him $12,000 for the four bags he delivered. Gil received an additional $4,000 for a bag Thornton had already delivered.
THORNTON SPENT FEBRUARY and March 1975 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base waiting for the day he could retire. Meanwhile, he met frequently with Ike to discuss his future role in the drug ring as Ike’s “money man” in Bangkok.
Losing confidence in Smedley by the minute, Ike told Thornton he wanted him to be responsible for buying the heroin and that he should buy it directly from Chai, who had now become the main conduit to a supplier in the Golden Triangle. Thornton had no problem with this arrangement. He did not trust Smedley either, although he realized he might have to work with him if he wanted to make some big money.
Thornton retired from the U.S. Air Force on March 31, 1975, and on May 2nd returned to Thailand. Thornton had a U.S. passport but did not bother to get a visa before he arrived in Thailand. He had a 30-day tourist visa stamped in his passport upon arrival at Don Muang airport. Freddie Thornton was ready to enter the drug trade in a big way.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Going Postal
WHILE IKE ATKINSON’S drug ring adopted Freddie Thornton’s crew chief method of smuggling heroin into the U.S, Ike was still moving much more heroin via the postal system. The dapper Robert Ernest Patterson, who once used his motorcycle to bring Ike the money Ike mailed to Thailand to buy heroin, had been Ike’s main contact for the postal connection since its inception. In March 1974, after serving a five-year tour of duty in Thailand, Patterson left the country for a new assignment at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. Patterson had been a dependable and valuable associate, but for Ike, Patterson’s departure posed only a temporary glitch in his heroin trafficking operation. Ike replaced Patterson with Herbert Houseton, another Bangkok APO (Army Post Office) employee.
Herbert Houseton had been in the Air Force for thirteen years. He worked as an administrative supervisor in the APO, having arrived on June 30, 1974, for his third tour of duty, Houseton was assigned to the postal and courier service at Don Muang Air Force Base, and by August 1974, Sergeant James McArthur began to bring packages to him for shipment to the United States. Houseton had gotten to know Mac, as McArthur’s friends called him, at a poker game that had been going on for years that included Jimmy Smedley and a number of other players who were a part of Ike Atkinson’s band of brothers. Houseton and McArthur became good friends. A native of Betsy Lane, Kentucky, McAthur worked in the APO’s administrative office of the chief clerk and had a variety of duties, including overseeing all the financial and personnel work.
The Customs tag for the first package McArthur brought to Houseton read “two bags of used clothing.” A couple of days later, McArthur returned again with packages for the U.S.; they contained more used clothing, according to the Customs tag. The third time McArthur came with packages to Patterson’s counter at the APO he did not buy insurance for them, which McArthur thought was a little odd.
“What’s in the box?” Houseton asked.
“Just some more old clothing,” McArthur explained.
McArthur left and Houseton, his curiosity piqued, put the package under a fluoroscope, a device that uses an x-ray source and a florescent screen to examine images inside an object. All he could see, however, was the outline of the clothing and the hangers.
One day, McArthur came by the APO and asked Houseton if he could talk to him in private. They went to the back of the Receiving and Delivery Department, where McArthur told Houseton he wanted to send a lot more packages to the U.S. in the future.
“How many?” queried Houseton.
“A lot.”
“Fine, “ said Houseton. “What are you sending?”
“Nothing but used clothing,” McArthur said. “You don’t have to know anything more.” Then he asked Houseton: “Would you agree to being paid $400 for each shipment you make?”
Houseton stared at McArthur, wondering if he should press him for more information, but he decided to adopt a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Later, Houseton claimed: “At the time, I had no idea about what was being sent to the States. I had been thinking a little bit on my own and I figured, well, you know, maybe he’s sending some valuables or stuff of that nature. I didn’t have any reason to turn him down. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. Four hundred dollars is a heck a sum, but I didn’t ask any questions.”
Later the same day, McArthur returned to the APO and handed Houseton an envelope with $400. Houseton had never made such easy money.
ON OCTOBER 14, 1974, Houseton was transferred to a branch of the main APO in the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) compound in downtown Bangkok. Two weeks after his re-assignment, at about 11:30 in the morning, Houseton received a call from McArthur.
“Are you alone?” McArthur asked.
“No,” Houseton said, “I’m here with another worker, but he will be going to lunch in about fifteen minutes. “
“Good. I’ve got some packages to bring over.”
“Okay, bring them after the guy goes to lunch,” Houseton replied.
McArthur brought Houseton two packages with the Customs tags already filled out. Later in the day, McArthur met Houseton outside the post office and gave him another $400.
The packages from McArthur continued to arrive at Houseton’s postal counter, but one day McArthur brought four black AWOL bags to Houseton’s home. McArthur told Houseton that he, Houseton, would have to supply the clothing to put in the bags, and it would be up to him to wrap and prepare the shipment. Houseton had no problem with that, given the money he was making. McArthur also gave Houseton a list of addresses in North Carolina to where the boxes were to be sent. Houseton found two boxes and put two AWOL bags in each one. He then sealed the box, addressed the package, indicated a return address, filled out a Customs tag and mailed the packages.
A few days later, McArthur came by the APO to tell Houseton that his Thai tour was ending. McArthur advised Houseton that the packages would still come to him for mailing; someone would contact Houseton to advise him of the arrival date. A few days later, Houseton got a call from Ike Atkinson who asked the postal clerk to come over to his residence on Soi 53, Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok.
After greeting Houseton in his charming manner, Ike told Houseton to have a seat, and they discussed Houseton’s postal operation. Houseton gave Ike a “briefing” about how he had handled the packages. Ike was pleased, but he wanted to know more about the operation’s logistics. How long did it take for a package to go from Thailand to the United States, and vice versa? When were the boxes picked up at the APO? By whom? After Houseton had filled Ike in on schedules and procedures, Ike showed Houseton a list of addresses to which he wanted the packages sent. Houseton noted the names of the North Carolina cities on the list (Fayetteville, Goldsboro and Raleigh).
“What kind of deal do you want?” Ike asked Houseton.
“I really don’t know,” Houseton said.
“Did you know how much McArthur was making?” Houseton shook his head.
“You don’t know how much money Mac was making? Ike asked. “Would you agree to the same thing he was making?”
Houseton said: “Yes.” Ike told Houseton he would receive $4,000 for every package he sent out.
Ike took Houseton to a locked closet in the living room. “Now, this is the closet where the bags are kept,” Ike said, unlocking the door. The closet had a little divider in the middle. ”The bags on the right-hand side are for Rudolph Jennings, while the bags on the left are your bags,” Ike explained. “Only two people besides me will have keys to the closet: you and Jennings. When you come to the house and find the closet locked, take the bags on the left of the divider and send them off.”
If the closet door was unlocked and there were bags found only on the right, Houseton was to leave them alone because they were the “unfinished products” for Jennings. Before Houseton left, Ike gave him the two packages and two of the addresses. “When you finish addressing the packages, destroy the addresses,” Ike instructed. “Come by every day to see if there are any boxes to send out.”
But the next day Houseton got too busy to show up. Ike called. “What happened? Why didn’t you show up?” Ike snapped. “You got a schedule to keep. People back home are expecting those bags. When the bags don’t show up at a certain time it screws up the flow.” The next day Houseton went by Ike’s place and picked up four bags.
ONE DAY HOUSETON went over to Ike’s house and found Rudolph Jennings and Ike in the bedroom sitting in chairs facing the bed. An AWOL bag and what looked like tools lay on the bed. They exchanged greetings and Jennings went to another room and closed the door. They were preparing bags for shipment, Ike explained. Houseton could see that they had unstitched the lining of the bag. Ike showed Houseton where they put the heroin in the false bottom. “Rudolph is a real pro at this, but I’m giving him a hand because we’re backlogged,” Ike explained. “We sure have a lot of bags to go out.”
Houseton saw that Ike was wearing a thin pair of latex gloves, and he watched as Ike pressed hard on the plastic bags to make sure they fit nicely into an AWOL bag. When Ike was finished, he looked up, smiled and nodded as if to say, “a job well done.”
Business was so good that Ike wanted Houseton to find someone else to help bring the bags to the post office. “It would look better and be safer if someone actually could bring the bags to the APO for you to mail them,” Ike explained. ‘”Do you know anybody who can help out?”
“No I don’t, but I’ll ask around,” Houseton said.
JUST BEFORE LEAVING Thailand, McArthur had a car accident that prevented him from shipping his car back to the U.S. So he put the ownership papers to the car in Houseton’s name and told his friend to keep it for him until he returned to Thailand after he retired or was discharged from the service. Houseton had some repairs done to McArthur’s car because he was using the car and he knew Mac would be good for the money spent on the car. McArthur was now deep in debt to Houseton because Mac also owed Houseton $1,600 for some of the packages he shipped to the U.S. and for a gambling debt of $2,700.
Houseton had let Ike know about the money Mac owed him. One night, Houseton got a call from Jimmy Smedley who told him to come over to his house. Smedley had something for him. When he arrived, Houseton found Smedley, Thornton and Luchai Ruviwat in one of the bedrooms sitting in chairs counting a large stack of American money piled on the bed. Thornton asked Houseton how much money McArthur owed him. Houseton said he did not know the exact amount, but it was around $1,600. “Give him his money,” Thornton told Smedley. Later, Thornton informed Houseton that the stack of money on the bed totaled about $180,000.
“Ike wants you to invest in a shipment that he’s sending to the U.S. sometime in the near future,” Smedley told Houseton.
“What’s that about?’ Houseton asked.
“All I know is that Ike wants you to invest $4,100 in the shipment and you’re goin’ to get a $25,000 payoff,” Smedley said. Thornton verified the deal.
The next day around noon, Houseton did as he was told. He brought Smedley the money Smedley had given him the previous day and added $1,400 of his own money.
A FEW DAYS later at the Windsor Hotel’s NCO club, Houseton spotted a friend of his named Sergeant Jasper Myrick. In his early twenties, the square-jawed Sergeant Myrick, a native of Alabama, wore a short Afro and worked at the Windsor Hotel, one of the several Bangkok hotels that the U.S. military leased from the Thai government. The two friends sat down and had a drink in the lounge. In chatting with Myrick, Houseton realized that his friend could fill the position that Ike wanted: someone to deliver the packages to Houseton at the post office. After all, Myrick always seemed to talk about how much he needed money. Houseton gave Myrick the same pitch McArthur had given him. Myrick was interested but asked, “Is there anything I should know?”
“No, not a thing,” Houseton assured him. “You will just be sending regular AWOL bags full of used clothing. Would $200 a package work for payment?” Myrick smiled. Houseton had struck a deal.
Houseton began going to Ike’s place to pick up the bags and deliver them to Myrick’s house. Myrick came by Houseton’s counter at the APO with the bags ready for shipping. Houseton gave Myrick a receipt and shipped the packages out. Ike had supplied Houseton with some additional addresses, and Houseton gave them to Myrick. In all, Houseton sent fourteen packages. He kept a running tally of the shipments by logging them in a little black book, numbered one to fourteen.
One afternoon Smedley called Houseton and told him to come by his house. It was payday. Smedley gave Houseton a brown paper bag containing $10,000 in cash. But as Ike once said, “All good things must come to an end.” Houseton did not know it at the time, but that transaction marked the end of the Houseton-Myrick postal connection. On January 28, 1975, Ike returned home to North Carolina aboard Pam Am Flight 002 for the last time.
A FEW DAYS before Ike’s return to North Carolina, some of the packages Houseton had helped prepare for shipment began arriving in Goldsboro, North Carolina. On January 22, 1975, an elderly woman named Ethel Waters received a typewritten letter from an organization called “People to People,” informing her that she would be receiving a package. The mail carrier who brought Mrs. Waters the letter told her he had delivered three such letters that same day. When the mailman left, the old woman read the letter. “Congratulations, Mrs. Waters, you have been selected to receive a gift package of clothing.” The letter went on to explain that People to People was a tax exempt organization whose sole purpose was to help people. The letter was signed: “Mr. James G. Smith, Director, People to People” and had the return address: “North Carolina State Highway Patrol, PO Box, Cary, North Carolina 27511.”
Mrs. Waters was suspicious. She was the type of person who believed you couldn’t get something for nothing in this world. She could not recall getting a letter similar to this one before and thought: what an odd address for a non-profit organization.
The next day a package arrived at Waters’s house. Ike’s drug ring, not an organization calling itself People to People, had sent it. Ike’s plan was to have one of his associates stop by Waters’ residence and retrieve the package, claiming that it had been sent to the wrong address. The drug ring had done this before with success, but Mrs. Waters panicked before one of Ike’s operatives could come by and pick up the package. The strange letter she received the day before had already freaked her out. She thought the package might contain a bomb. So it did not take much for her to call the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff’s deputies came to see Mrs. Waters, and they examined the package. It had a Bangkok post mark, but Mrs. Waters explained: “I know no one in Thailand.” The deputies decided to take the package back to their office for inspection. An x-ray examination revealed that the package did not contain a bomb. Now they needed a warrant to look inside.
“I got a call about two or three in the morning from the Goldsboro Sheriff’s Department,” recalled Durward Matheny, who, at the time, was based in Raleigh as head of the SBI’s Document Investigation Section. ”They told me to come to Goldsboro and examine a package that had arrived from Thailand. They had an example of Ike Atkinson’s handwriting. They identified Atkinson as the person whom they thought had written out the address appearing on the package’s label. They said that if I could identify the writing on the package as Ike’s, they would have probable cause to get a warrant, open the package and look inside. I was able to verify that the handwriting on the package belonged to Ike.”
Inside the box, the authorities found two black AWOL bags containing some old clothing and a woman’s purse. Upon further examination, the authorities noticed the stitching that held the lining had been re-stitched because several of the stitches had missed their original holes. In unstitching the black AWOL bags, the authorities found a hidden compartment and two plastic bags with what looked like a total of one kilo of heroin. The Sheriff’s Department notified U.S. Customs and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The authorities were now on the lookout for more packages from Thailand.
