How Rick Lydges Became America's Most Successful Drug Smuggler | Masterminds | Real Crime
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- Опубликовано: 3 апр 2023
- The story of Rick Lydell, who was considered America's most successful drug smuggler, bringing over $20 billion of cocaine into the U.S. Lydell was a mastermind, a world-class aviation expert, and an outstanding pilot. The video covers how Lydell was able to elude the authorities' security net and land billions of dollars' worth of cocaine into the United States. The video also describes the methods used by the government to combat drug smuggling in the early 1980s, including the installation of sophisticated radar networks and the deployment of air patrols.
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From "Masterminds"
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Serving only 2 years for 7 mil I mean that’s a good deal bro 😎
7 mill that was found. You think a guy like this doesn’t have holes buried with pallets of cash
You obviously have not been to the feds
After 13 years I'm sure there is plenty money that they never found. 2 years is worth it
I agree
@@anytimelater it was in canada, im sure he was fine
"Befriended the police and government officials". That explains how he got away with it for so long.
Engineer and Pilot that ran a fleet for Air America....
"Retires" in Miami.... I'm sure he just quit his passion for flying?
Police. Politica. Smuggler ...unis shit involved
Masterminds was a great series....watch them all.
As a wise man once told me, "trying to stop drugs with force, is like trying to empty a river with a ladle.
Good one
Yup it would make more sense to try n get ppl clean and/or not start in the first place!
@@daveg-Vancouver_Island Nowadays it gets people dead: because it's laced with Fentanyl . So people are learning you can't take a risk with any street drug.
... let the rivers flow ...
Yhea even the name they give it to appeal to the scared population and win votes tells you it's the wrong way to go about it. The "war" on drugs isn't in 99% 9f cases a war on drugs it's a war on users many of who got caught up with something due to the choices life didn't give them. Strange isn't it that in countries like Norway where they concentrate genuinely on education, rehabilitation and giving people a chance have the lowest drug use, reoffending and violent crime where as countries like America have the largest prison population per person of any in the world.
Only 2 years for Smiley? Talk about an inconsistent justice system...
So, he's second only to the DEA as having smuggled the most coke into the US!
Don't forget the CIA who sanctions it all.
All that the government did to try and stop the flow of drugs and I can still go downtown and get a gram of dope with no problem. Great job Uncle Sam !!
Uncel sam is he drug dealer of the world, now u dont get Dope in pakistan Iran Afganistan after usa left..
Biden has made it even better today, la is wrecked with drugs and fentanyl he’s letting flow into the country with undocumented people, he’s making sure every American can have some drugs!
They don’t really try and stop the flow of drugs and drug money 💰, that’s just a cover story. The laws against drugs keep prices high.
@@ryanehlis426 uh hhhh hi m huh h
The DEA guy talks about cocaine hurting a lot of people. What about that legal drug called alcohol ?
They say you can't snitch on yourself. That's why you got to put in work alone. 😂
Fact
When there is a demand, someone will step in and provide it.
As the saying goes “greed will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay”.
If you make a tv show that concluded with how you got caught, you’re not all that of a mastermind 😅
The real masterminds are still roaming around free
Greed is everywhere, until you get caught.
Well smiley did his hustle for 13 years B4 cops arrested him lol
3:52 No. The question is, how to repeat it AND NOT being caught.
Smiley was imprisoned for 2 years? That makes me wonder why I worked so hard honestly for so many years?
You're right, when the bankers (Mother Fuckers) call in your line of credit makes you wonder why, one has been honest for many years? When you can make millions on the other side of the fence! And get two years??? I'm sure old smiley had a hidden stash somewhere. Unless he was stupid I doubt he was.
Smiley is a G...
These guys are super smart and sophiscated
I’m
Sure they can get a legal professional job easily
They are smart
The pay isn’t nearly as close, if he hid the money he only got 2 years, think about that for a moment. The systems punishment laws are very inaccurate he’s probable a Lavish millionaire right now with millions in real estate this happened in 2001 and he got out in 2003, what’s 2 years in anybody life ? that’s a very very short time frame and nobody changes their lives that fast or makes that kind of money anyways.
He was making BIG money moves😮😮😮
*Very nice documentary very well done*
Smiley got two years? Unbelievable
Why?
@@paxiong6541 that’s not even a slap on the wrist
I would sacrifice two years to make thousands, just sayin
@@miriam2909 welcome to the justice system
Canada
Hunt for Smiley for 13 years..but he serve his time just 2 year😄
That’s messed up. He needed to put in for life.
The actor for Smiley, the way he had to smile the whole time for the documentary😂 he look like Viagra Bob living large😂
Interesting video
I recall this being on tv like 20 years ago
Also there is a movie on this story ig
So once again greed brought down an otherwise fool proof plan. Rick was dumb to let an associate of his languish in jail
Why didnt they put tracking devices in a few boxes or pallets and follow and see where they go, strange.
So you get 345 years for smuggling drugs but only get 20 years for murder? 😮 Something isn't right
Think. How much havoc and crimes/murders are coused if u put 800 pounds of cocaine on streets ? Way worse than one random murder. U clearly dont have understanding how drugs influence lives
@@laurisgaluza9668 I never committed crimes when I was using just a few traffic violations
It’s because smuggling bypasses taxation,murder does not.
@@laurisgaluza9668 I definitely know what drugs do. I grew up in the industry, nothing I am proud. I was talking about the time difference not the crime
Crazy....huh?
He should've quit while he was ahead. $7M? retire!
They get addicted to the rush of what they’re doing. The money (when you have that much) becomes second to them or else they would’ve cut and ran. Rick had over 30 million, he didn’t need to keep making runs or have his team do it anymore. The thrill of doing it and getting away with it was what kept him coming back.
Great thinker
Yhea personally I'd say the best smuggler in history will be someone who's never caught or even suspected committing a crime. If he'd stayed small he might never have been caught instead he did what most silly people did and got over confident. Once I had 13 million I'd be out, gone. Bringing in others wasn't at all smart.
Im just glad I got to see the where "The Office" got their video!!
After making millions of stolen goods, you take a 2 years vacation in a Canadian prison.
Not really. He will do like 1 year for good behaviour. Not too shabby
Rick was indeed a very clever man. I saw another documentary, there's a lot more to this re the DEA
@R'up are you able to find the other documentary? This is very interesting. He is indeed a very smart man.
What's the documentary called?
This guys wasn’t the only person to figure out tanking, low level flights with touch n go re-entry into USA airspace. There’s WAY more of guys like this that didn’t get caught. Abandon planes with suspicious fuel systems popped up all over the place at small municipal airports across the mid-west in the 90’s. Trace of titles went to fictional characters and companies.
Excellent video, thanks
Ricks worst mistake was not tossing his boy a few million to be quiet. If he did his boy could’ve probably gotten the charges down to manslaughter and been out in under 10 years. I’d do 10 years for 3 million today, back then it was probably worth like 5 million.
8:33 Yeah... I don't think Jorge Ochoa was an Elvis impersonator being driven around in a giant white limo with butterfly doors.
2 years 😢 for 13 years stealing and millions in banks only 6 million fine. Wow. Those ppl the investigators happy and proud.... Shhhiiii
Theft is not a federal crime😁
Another major theft at the airport $22M in gold last week 😮
Sint Eustatius is an island in the Dutch Caribbean, not Cayman. Cayman consists of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac.
22:28 No. They are hurting themselves. Nobody forces them to take drugs. But YOU, big fella, you and your colleagues protect this exact system which makes people drift into drugs.
Is there a version without the constant pop music?
Criminals are most of the brilliant people there is!
Smileys was a victimless crime.
None hurt or threatened. All companies get paid out by their insurance company and buyers get great deals.
👏🏿
The CIA Cocaine Importation Agency says hold my beer 🍻
The war on drugs. The only ear we all were happy to loose.
How is it that so many people posting on these comment pages have no idea of the difference between lose and loose? Is the education system really that pathetically poor?
@@jamesgraham6122 apparently the drugs got a hold of me during during my time in the education system. Musta loost my mind
@@jamesgraham6122 😅
@@jamesgraham6122 yup it is especially if your gud at sports
He gets two years jail and made millions .
How much was spent on a 13 year investigation, plus millions in business losses that increases the price of everything for all of us, and he gets 2 years...because he cooperated. What a country.
It doesn’t make any sense, absolutely none, this is more of an inspirational story now for the future smuggler.
Dude if you run out of room to store stolen goods stop stealing!!!
He’s a genius
This is the kind of guy that would be recruited by the airforce in one of those thriller movies
Smiley only got 2 years. Thats crazy.
Yeah it is......he should have got promoted to CEO!
Smuggler’s Cove in Florida
I was hoping him to say Dunder Mifflin 😂
Is there a movie about this?
Wonder if his Company or "Best Service" made the TD Gold shipment from Switzerland disappear?
Great movies, and with all respect for law against crime, I am from the Middle East, and I am just curious to know where did the confiscated bulks of cash goes to, or through which channels it is routed. Are there any public annoncements in such regard ? I have seen probably in Miami Vice episodes in the 80s or similar movie that all or part of the confiscated stuff goes as a bounty for the officers? I think that the confiscated assets are auctioned, but how about the dispursement of the paper currency. Take Care. John Kaplanian from Jordan / Middle East
Hello John. I’ve been to Jordan. Very nice place. When it comes to the money, it’s complicated. Sometimes it’s divided and paid back to the creditors. As far as I know the police does not keep it. But this world is corrupted, so who knows.
@@AppleWaveGamer Agreed. It’s a great question that you’d think that there was a simple answer to. So, yep, who knows…..🤔
I'm pretty sure the police keep the confiscated cash and property, at least if it's a local police operation. I'm not sure about federal, 3-letter agencies.
The federal gov't can seize your cash basically for any reason, indefinitely. Even if you're just suspended, you can have assets seized.
Asset forfeitures are usually held through trial and the kept by the confiscating agency.
DEA and DHS are the worst.
I know in the 70s there was many flying from Mexico to the middle of the country. Flying low through the mountains. A few where caught flying that route I remember. Many got away tho.
2 YEARS??!! WTF
O well this aint good news for the 20m that went missing from the toronto pearson few weeks ago
Were this not also the "Goodfellas"(Henry Hill) connection?
Air America, now, that sounds familiar...
The CIA had the biggest coke smuggling operation in the U.S.
Air America is nice stories
What about Boston George?
44:30 except for that air can of gold that went missing last month
2 year? Sign me up!
Yo are you sure this guy ain’t who we suppose to be looking up to? This sounds like it’s the right career part to choose….just saying
WTF? Both the title and the description got his name wrong. It’s RIK LUYTJES!
Hahahaha.
I'm sure Rik prefers it being misspelled.....
The amount of ads within this video makes more money than rick
The candy store of drugs
The subject of this video is a legendary man whose name is
Frederick “Rik” LUYTJES.
The people who posted this video should be ashamed that they couldn’t even spell his name properly.
Not that hard to do even few minutes of research…
Yeah, and in the description under the title they call him another different surname again: "Rick Lydell" . Lol
It's litteraly multiple times in the docu itself. How can you fuck up a name so bad when it's on your damn screen.
At 21:30 big letters..
Hahahaha.
I'm sure Rik prefers it being misspelled.....
It's not an accident; they know how to spell his name. This video is a straight ripoff of the original video. Misspelling names (among other strategies) slows down plagiarism searches, including glueToob's.
Smiley won from start to finish
They should make a movie of smiley
This sound like the movie called American made with tom cruise
Ya I hope so
That guy Lydges has cash stashed. Whenever he gets out he’ll be set. What a life eh? Flying the friendly skies.
He's been out. This airport is in my backyard, he moved to Florida after he was released
Good for you well done
@Real Crime Rick Lydges, really? How hard is to Google his name?
Was part of his genius using a pseudonym? The entire video description calls him Lydell, not Lydges. Hmmm...
I'm from PA & I've never heard of him. Well, unless the film "Air America" is about him.
One of my best buds in the USAF, in the late 80s, worked a special secret mission and I suspect it was DEA related. 🇺🇲
I this was shown in cinema portrayed by Tom Cruise titled American made..
Colombia to miami
Come on we're talking about Barry Seal here
STOP USING DRUGS!!!
NEVERRRRRR
Easy there we just transporting them
I can't I'll die
@@davidwoermansr thats the spirit
@@ians9390 they'll also kill me but without oxys and fentanyl I have strokes and heart attacks because the pain f@cks me up too bad (I have a couple lbs of metal in my spine and neck) I've survived 7 strokes and 3 heart attacks my luck is bound to run out sooner or later on the plus side I get free nasal spray that will stop an overdose so I can save someone so they can continue partying
2 years for 13 years of selling stolen goods?? And the son and wife get off?? Wow what a joke.
I can't believe that Benny didn't have a work phone 🤦♀️
I only have a work phone for 1 of my businesses the other when I'm working I don't want to be messed with and couldn't hear it anyway
@@davidwoermansr i understand your viewpoint but I doubt your 2nd business ia an illegal business
@@clairesutherland4868 nobody in the area knows about it and it's a cash only buissnes I don't report the income for taxes so it's probably not legal in many ways
@@davidwoermansr be careful what you write on the Internet ;)
Its funny in vancouver canada now if you have 2.5 grams of cocaine your okay 😂😂
Plan! Plan! Plan!😂😂😂🎉
Paolo Escobar enter the Chat
😂😂😂
This man should be free
What were the pills, was it ectasy?
I really wanted to watch this video but the background "music" was too disconcerting. What was the point - it was unnecessary and too distracting.
😊didn't get 2 yrs. Likely half the time-1yr if he maintained the smiley demeanor
Smiley 2 got year's it's a joke 😂😂😂
2 years !?!? wtf ?
🤷🏼♂️Theft is not a fedral crime, like bank robbery is😁
No attempt to stop drugs Now. Southern Border open door. Makes this show so back in days. How many planes, drones trying to stop drugs fentanyl from Mexico.. ah forget about it. Parents teach your kids to avoid early death.
Rick is really cool 😎
Look I can see why they'd think Smilies crimes were a gang but honestly no one talking about it says it can't be more than 1. Let's face it if 2 people have a secret it won't be a secret for long.
Genius man but sad to say he used it in an evil manner.
What about the 20mil in gold that disappeared?
Only two years and released? So, is he broke now?
So this vid offers not one, not two, but THREE different ways to spell his name - Lydges, Lydell and at 21:30 in the vid Luytjes! Which is it "Real" Crime?
I grew up in the heart of Little Italy in downtown Manhattan, stealing merchandise was the bread and butter of the Italian and Jews. The Italian would do the highjacking and Jews would sells the merchandise. That was then, today they had moved to bigger and better things. You know what I mean?😊
They put an Asian guy on the thumbnail 😆
So smiley was the early days equivalent of:
E-Bay, Liquidation 📦 Stores, Kijiji, Mystery Box 📦, etc... Suppliers?! Is this how 🤔 Temu started? "Shop like a billionaire"..."Pay wholesaler prices without having to buy products in wholesale volumes!" 😂😅