What do you guys think about the death that occurred in this case? Do you think the official story is most likely true, or was it a possible case of retaliation?
Raulerson was corrupt. My uncle said there were at least one time, possibly more when Raulerson was Sheriff that deputies put up a roadblock at either end on Eagle Island Road to keep traffic off so a drug plane could land. I fully expect it was vengance.
Why would any Law enforcement burn all evidence? Who ever ordered that, is exactly who should have been investigated. It smells to high heaven! These convicted were probably the scapegoat’s for those who benefited the most. This Sheriff based on your story and his employment history of never missing work days, working nights and being involved with Federal agencies, this man was too close to taking down the Mover’s and Shaker’s of this Operation.
Lester Peterson was my granny's brother. Story is that Uncle Lester was signaling a drug plane for landing at night with a flashlight when a DEA agent tapped him on the shoulder. That's when Uncle Lester was arrested. He spent a few years in Federal Prison at Eglin AFB in The Panhandle.
I was 13 years old in 1983. My uncle would take me to Fort Drum just north of Okeechobee. He was a Airplane mechanic. We both lived in West palm Beach and he would pick me up Friday after school. And we would drive to a ranch in Fort Drum and he would work on airplanes at the ranch installing " Go fast parts" which he told me made the planes go faster. He would get paid a couple thousand dollars every time. Then we would spend the rest of the weekend at J&B fish camp. He would buy everyone beers and would disappear in to the bathroom a lot with different people all night while I drank cokes and fished off the dock all night. After the drug bust we never went again to Fort Drum. I asked him why we don't go out there anymore. He said "The funs over kid. Everyone sold there planes" I didn't put it all together till much later.what he was involved with. Only in South Florida😄
I lived at the Okeechobee Airport in 1979-1980. I Was a flight instructor and a charter pilot. The owner of the planes was a retired USAF Flight Surgeon who setup a medical practice in the town. He had a 39’ motorhome and he left it at the airport and it was my home for about a year. The activity at night after midnight was amazing. The takeoffs and landings were almost constant. Im now a 71 yo Veteran living in North Carolina and I thank God I never got involved with that crap.
You could have been loaded without marching or barracks inspections. I don't think drug smuggling is necessarily moral, but it's more moral than killing people who are no threat to the US and thinking it's ok because you wear a uniform.
@@iviekicklighte673 Government kills off their competition, look what happened to Barry Seals. He used to fly government imported dope into a little airport in Mena,Arkansas. He tried to go work for himself so they offed him.
Bro I am from Australia and stumbled across your channel and wanted to let you know I'm hooked! I love how well made your videos are and how you've got a focus on stories local to your area.
Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the latest podcast. I was so excited to see that you uploaded again. As a native Floridian, there is just something about these stories that really does it for me. Thanks for your hard work.
I absolutely LOVE your content, I grew up running around that area graduating from Vero Beach High School in 95. Theres alot in that marshland that would fill 100 Novels KEEP UP WITH THE GREAT CONTENT
My uncle was one of the Okeechobee 8 with his father in law (at the time), V. L. Underhill. Uncle Dewaine said the reason he didn't go to prison is because the U S Government would not allow the key witnesses in his case to testify because it would have incriminated the then Vice President George H W Bush. Dewaine's records from that trial are still sealed. Dewaine went completely straight after this ordeal, but his phone and his parent's phone were tapped for years.
I lived on Norman's Cay, where the main smuggling operation moved to after Okeechobee. Everyone knew Reagan and Bush worked with the Medellin cartel to pay for an illegal war in Nicaragua that congress forbade them to wage. Thanks for speaking up about the truth.
@El_Petothe phone probably echoes and had static. My dad moved RV's full of weed in the 80s. I always thought out phone was tapped but he always used pay phones for business. RIP dad. He od'd and died in 22
@@Atrainswrldwhen the DEA bugged my phone I received a letter saying it had been bugged for this period. This was of course after the case was over and they never got what they wanted off of it. Don’t know r this is mandatory. Probably otherwise why would they have sent us a notice?
I lived in the Florida Keys in the early 1970's. I was a commercial fisherman. I was told, and it was proven to me that a person could purchase cocane from any cop in a car. If you wanted an honest cop speak to one who is walking. While i was there the Mayor, the chief of police, and the captain of the fire department were all arrested by the DEA for distribution of cocain. Not one word was printed in the local newspaper. They were all back on their jobs come Monday morning and no one said a single word. I moved away.
I grew up in Lakeland, and was close with a lot of pilots because my stepdad owned a Fly In community. Years later I watched cocaine cowboys for the first time and my jaw DROPPED when I saw familiar faces and familiar properties being interviewed and talked about... rural South and Central Florida was a hotbed for pilots, smugglers, and Narco expats. It's shocking growing up and learning that most of the older folks you knew were involved...
Oh!!! I thought it was all of us right wing terrorists and my fellow racists were the number one threat in this country??!! Or so I've been told!! 17.000 times.....
We are the people who work for or know someone who works for a Government agency. We are the cast of characters who make up our government. So by your argument we are our own problem...
Always look forward to your videos! Insanely well done and you always set the tone well. The interviews with people involved are especially compelling. Thanks for making quality stuff
I remember a Lonnie Raulerson in Okeechobee when we lived there. My Grandpa was the Clerk of Court his name was Josh Barber and was elected in 1936 as he campaigned for his cousin Fred Cone bid for Governor of Florida and did some campaigning for FDRs Second bid for President all on the same ticket in Okeechobee and All won their bids for office.My mother and her three brothers all grew up in Okeechobee . I lived there till I was 9 and we moved to Ean Gallie in Brevard Co. My uncle Mike Barber later was elected to the clerks office and was there until the 90s and his Son Thomas Barber took over the Business Started by My Grandpa and my Mother Betty Barber . I heard about the weed being grown around Okeechobee but didn't hear about the coke smuggling in Chobee ! My Grandpa would be a lil miffed at her community pillars running astray in that fashion glad he didn't see that . All the people you mentioned knew my family well . especially the Raulerson's and Padgett's as in The local Drug Store . No pun intended .😂😮❤
There's absolutely no way ANY law enforcement officers or detectives would do something SO incredibly stupid as "immediately burn pillows & sheets" from a man who had just been found on them dead from a gunshot wound to the head. They were either involved, paid off, or were threatened & intimidated into destroying such key evidence to cover up a murder. Also: if the county coroner found that the angle of the wound to his forehead proved that the Sheriff would've had to use his left hand, even though he was right-handed, and the fact there was NO blood spatter on his hands........yet he still ruled it as "a suicide"........leads me to believe the county coroner himself was aiding in the cover up too.
@@Fukallibs Barry Seals flew in and out of there quite a few time before the government eliminated him.He knew too much in the end.He was the real Cocaine Cowboy!
Over the years fishing off of miami i found bales of "stuff". I was able to open my own business at 30 and was pretty much retired by then. I almost lost my life twice aftee being robbed, very scary. After i made my money i moved to the gulf side up north
I grew up in south Florida in the 80s:90s. You learned a lot about a lot very young. Surreal experience since these activities were far reaching into the community
I lived in Lehigh Florida in the 80s and everybody knew about the planes landing in the boonies. You just minded your business and life goes on. Especially drag racing and mudding in the Yucapan
“ Poppy” Bush also used CIA to run Heroin from Afghanistan which is why the US invaded it… taliban had eradicated it. Opioid epidemic came at same time a# Afghanistan invasion.Neo did black tar Heroin EVERWHERE. . Hella coincidence. Bush Clinton crime fam used mena, Arkansas to import coke as Jeb laundered money in Miami real estate on his 20’s, Hilario’s law firm also, etc all dovetails into Epstein and gang in the 90’s also
LMAO! This is so crazy, VL is my grandfather. I cannot believe this story is out there like this lol My father is his son, Shannon. This is actually pretty cool, sad & crazy all at once.
I swear this is you CRL, this is 100% your voice, and I know you're from Florida. Hope this is your channel! And even if it's not, being from Ft. Pierce/Vero I'm happy to see a channel dedicated to the stories of this area!
I'm from a county over. Even in the early 2000 we were getting drops. Most flew the packs in field drops. others landed country grade roads as far south as Palm city! It was CRAZY until about 2009 🤙🌴
When they declared it a suicide, i laughed because what a likely outcome for a gunshot between the eyes right? It’s common…just like a friend of mines relative who ‘shot herself’ in the same place and her boyfriend didn’t hear a thing because he’d taken a whole bunch of melatonin because he had a hard time going to sleep so after that melatonin he was so asleep he couldn’t hear anything as loud as a gun shot right next to him. 🧐 Funny enough the town we lived in also believed his little story and declared it a suicide as well. How ironic
I was 16 in 82,and i could ride my dirtbike from Melbourne,south to Okeechobee,,it was very undeveloped, especially palm bay,,what is now the (compond)planes were always landing out there,,painted white giant x's,,on the empty streets,same as the beach,at wabbaso,and Sebastian,,jets ski'scoming in from boats,,,,
I grew up in Cocoa Beach in the 70s and 80s. Same stuff going on. One day in high school, we were out on they P.E. field when a low flying plane zoomed over being chased by two DEA planes. As soon as they got over the river, they started throwing bails of drugs out of their plane. This stuff was so common that it was not even reported in the news.
I remember living in a local Orlando neighborhood back in 69 through 80. this is when the old airport out there on Highway 50 used to be called Herndon airport. Now it’s called Orlando executive. Are used to be a DC three stores out there. It was seized by the feds also along that time, I think four or five streets down from my house, they rated Earl Resnick‘s house. Took him to federal jail for drugs. Orlando has some strange history if you dig through it.
I was born and raised in Lee county and live about 20 minutes from LaBelle back in the '80s there wasn't a lot of opportunity for the people in these rural areas You were either a farmer a fisherman or had to drive all the way to fort Myers Naples to work so when these opportunities come up to make a lot of money just transporting some marijuana or cocaine people jumped on it quick it's just like a lot of black people in the hood, it's all about risky financial opportunities in low-income areas
At the end of the video you mentioned that the national average of people using illicit drugs is 13%. But I looked it up a couple years ago. In rural areas it’s 19.5%. According to the census Okeechobee has almost 40,000 people living in it. I’d speculate there’s a bit more but let’s go with the 40,000. With 20% of the population using drugs that means that there’s roughly 8000 drug users in Okeechobee. You could speculate how much the average drug user spends. Of course some spend more some spin less. But if the average was $100 a week. That would be $800,000 a week. And that also is over 41 million a year and drug sales. And I’m not talking about 1985 I’m talking about 2023. This town is still corrupt. It’s in its DNA. It’s never been a nice little town.
Naples boy here and I was young but have heard stories from people involved with the Smuggling back in those days here in Collier County ,,,Also we have a cottage up in Steinhatchee in the Big Bend and they have the same stories with the Good Old Boys and Sheriff's all being involved in the 💰💰 making operations,,, Seems like Alot of the Old Florida Small Towns were involved in the 💰 making Smuggling Business back in the Good Old Days,,,
The hatch is a crazy place in itself. I live about 30 minutes from there. Been there a few times. It's one place I'll never go again in my life. Different breed of people there that live by their own rules.
Same with the Dixie Mafia that dropped loads out of small planes, the spot to drop was pre-planned into areas in north Georgia. The former CIA pilot brought the load to Louisiana or Mina, AR. The weed was moved to Atlanta, Spartanburg/Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC.
Just to be clear Everglades City is located in Collier County. Sheriff Collier was part of the family who owned the land, maybe they didn't like smuggling competition on their land. The original Collier is Barron Collier. Robber Barrons.
The Underhills are my grandfather and my father. Just some good ole boys trying to make some cash. They are great men today and this is now behind them. F all the snitches. ✌🏼
Thats crazy. I used to go to a country club in the 80s and I would always order a bloody mary, steak sandwich and a steak sandwich. Always told the guy to put it on the Underhill’s account. They never said anything
Just the tip of the iceberg. From the late seventies all through the eighties, into the early nineties south florida was full of operations bigger than this one. I owned several aircraft through the 80's and all during that time, I was constantly approached to do flights, even a few times threatened when I turned them down. I know of several of the local operations through rumor at the time and confirmed later. They were throwing money around like water, some people I knew took that money. They thought they could buy anyone, to do anything. Thinking back, it's interesting how many of the players I knew, but I never participated, I would never do anything for money, so eventually they stopped asking. Many are dead now, some went to prison for long terms, some short terms, many they never knew the full extent of their smuggling involvements. A few to this day, might still be in the biz, just a lot smarter how they do it. I thought at one time about doing a book, but I like my skin that covers my body, so that idea is gone forever. lol
@@TerranceGangstaWilliams Lots of those folks are still around, some never got arrested or found out, some might even have deaths that could be attached, that means no statute of limitations, so they would probably seek me out very fast. I don't need any money from social media or a book, that bad and especially not in the winter of my life, I don't need the drama. I was never involved, so there's no get even in my book. I 'm not so sure anyone cares anymore.
Some of them are Barry seals friends he hired to help smuggle coke. Barry seal was pablos main smuggler through the air. The movie American made has a few of them in it
Nothing like South Florida in the eighties. Penrods,the button south,shooters,bobby rubinos ribs. The goat ocean mile..oh and in the words of Sonny Crockett the recreational pharmaceuticals!!! Very good vid.
Always is and always has been the best of Coke in the Keys.Lived in Marathon for years until somebody offered me way more money than I thought my house and boat was worth.Still miss the place.
A friend did a major engine overhaul in a few years ago in a sportfish in Marathon for an old man part of the Big Pine 29. Will not mention names. He was paid close to six figures in $20s, $50s, and $100s from the 70s and 80s. 😅
I have family in Omer my grandmother was the HS librarian starting 1966ish grandfather worked for fpl and has a power transfer station dedicated to him on the west side of the lake.
LaBelle is not exactly close to Okeechobee. Okeechobee has grown tremendously and is quite the haven for Canadians during the winter. It's amazing that Okeechobee has somewhat strived over the years but other towns along the lake have just become third-world towns.
The sheriffs actions with the hostage situation is why people used to respect law enforcement. I don't think there is a single cop in this country who would take the place of a hostage like that today.
I knew one of the 8 and loved the story about the $5 bills under the bed. Won’t mention his name out of respect and honor to him and his children and grandchildren.
Man please, I'm a 70 year old FL boy, out of Palm Beach county,I can tell you right now,, you got the low hanging fruit,I knew personally the people moving it ,
In the 70s and 80s, cops judges, lawyers, and bankers, everyone was doing something for coke. I was a carpenter and did well building, but it wasn't just ranchers. It built S. Fl.
Pot is obviously everywhere, but I haven’t heard anything about cocaine or meth in years besides for stragglers. Common sense says there’ll be small pockets of users who are low key, but it seemed to have slowed quite a bit!
I grew up in Chubbtown and I'm from ESOM Hill. Now I live in Okeechobee. I know all the Truth. I heard it all from 7 to 13 years Old. Med is Still Alive And Well. Bush cause the Problem s we have today
Daddy Bush helped kill JFK.Makes ya wonder how America would be like today if they hadn't killed the Kennedys. I'm voting for RFK Jr. this round,f*ck these other clowns!
I just finished a book called Narco Land, which details the history large-scale drug trafficking in Latin America. The author, a credible Mexican investigative journalist named Anabel Hernandez, lays out the details of the US government’s involvement dating back at least as far as the 1960s. The assertions made in the book are pretty shocking - but they’re completely plausible and many are a matter of fact today (such as the Iran-Contra scandal). The book is well documented and is end-noted with cites to US and Mexican government documents. If even half of Hernandez writes about is true, Iran-Contra barely scratched the surface of the US government’s role.
We were sitting out one night drinking beers when a C-54 came over at less than a thousand feet no lights only exhaust flames soon after a king air chasing it they find it at Okeechobee airport the next day very cool 😎 to witness I think the guys got caught they called a cab to pick them up at the airport but the cab took to long or something have lots of other stories being a pilot in Palm Beach thru those years
Not related but use to race Stockcars out there at "Thunder Cross Motorsorts Park." Was a great racetrack, just had piss poor management. Met some great people from Okeechobee.
I grew up in Buckingham,right outside of Ft.Myers. We had 2 different people that was the worst kept secret out in the county that both had multiple unauthorized landings per month. I'm in the era gen x.
I worked in the orange groves for fourteen years near okeechonee.we hired a poor dumbell who called the police when his batwing mower shattered 13 keys or pure. They gave him an attaboy and two hundred dollars for snitching he got fired by the grove owne
@@grizUSMC0331 We would stay at Roland Martin's marina. There seemed to be a lot of snow ❄️ down there if you know what I mean lol. This was 1995ish. I'm old. We did a weigh in for Tracy Byrds tournament one year.
Are people even still doing smuggling with small aircraft? Seems like it was a big thing in the 80's and 90's then you stopped hearing about it. Now it's been all about tunnels and secret compartment cars and freight shipping.
Radar system’s specifically designed for low flying aircraft pretty much crushed this segment of smuggling. Look up Fat Albert Blimp FL Keys. This was mid/late 80’s tech that was the beginning of the end for low flying craft. Submersible watercraft has become more popular than air transport in certain locations now. Not as fast, but can transport MUCH bigger loads.
Arthur was the one that went and showed him where the plane was. He was the one fly on the plane. They had a black hawk helicopter chasing them On the turnpike and how the plane crashes a hit ant pile and broke the strut off the airplane.
So the sheriff's wife was gone that night, he was shot in the forehead, so we could assume he either knew about the drugs/drug investigation and was punished for not tipping people off ahead of time or he didn't know and it was just some type of revenge killing. The suicide story is likely false based on the investigation being so poor especially for the killing of the sheriff.
Truly enjoy this kind of content. Coming from the state where all types of weird happens - any crazy story I've heard originating in Florida doesn't surprise me. Now I know that sentence is only half true because stories like this can happen anywhere. And that's why stories like this are so intriguing. Past crimes with insane plots and stories to go with. Then the addition of who is involved _ it can be hard to believe at times crimes like this truly happens. I'm about to make my way through all the content presented and I also subscribed to your channel..... look forward to future episodes to come...
Lots of crazy shit like this happens on the border here in Texas for years and still happens daily😉 since Trump couldn't get them Mexicans to pay for that wall that never got built!
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Missing Everything [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dTYeMZGzOzw/mqdefault.jpg)
What do you guys think about the death that occurred in this case? Do you think the official story is most likely true, or was it a possible case of retaliation?
Those shots of the old town were amazing. Well done video. Following and rooting for you buddy. ✊
Raulerson was corrupt. My uncle said there were at least one time, possibly more when Raulerson was Sheriff that deputies put up a roadblock at either end on Eagle Island Road to keep traffic off so a drug plane could land. I fully expect it was vengance.
Yes I now
Why would any Law enforcement burn all evidence? Who ever ordered that, is exactly who should have been investigated. It smells to high heaven! These convicted were probably the scapegoat’s for those who benefited the most.
This Sheriff based on your story and his employment history of never missing work days, working nights and being involved with Federal agencies, this man was too close to taking down the Mover’s and Shaker’s of this Operation.
My grandma knows Jeff Underhill, I'm trying to contact him to learn more
Lester Peterson was my granny's brother. Story is that Uncle Lester was signaling a drug plane for landing at night with a flashlight when a DEA agent tapped him on the shoulder. That's when Uncle Lester was arrested. He spent a few years in Federal Prison at Eglin AFB in The Panhandle.
Uncle Lester was my Granny's brother also.
eglin afb aka club fed seems alot of drug smugllers got sent there the tennis court must have been nice
@@cliffrigdon9214so did u 2 figure out if u guys are related?
@@154g yeah it's my brother but he has a different user name. Lolol
I was 13 years old in 1983. My uncle would take me to Fort Drum just north of Okeechobee. He was a Airplane mechanic. We both lived in West palm Beach and he would pick me up Friday after school. And we would drive to a ranch in Fort Drum and he would work on airplanes at the ranch installing " Go fast parts" which he told me made the planes go faster. He would get paid a couple thousand dollars every time. Then we would spend the rest of the weekend at J&B fish camp. He would buy everyone beers and would disappear in to the bathroom a lot with different people all night while I drank cokes and fished off the dock all night. After the drug bust we never went again to Fort Drum. I asked him why we don't go out there anymore. He said "The funs over kid. Everyone sold there planes" I didn't put it all together till much later.what he was involved with. Only in South Florida😄
😂good times with pops. Cool story.thnx for sharing
Small world eh?
Fort drum indian river county 772!
What modifications were done to the planes?
Thanks for sharing
I lived at the Okeechobee Airport in 1979-1980. I Was a flight instructor and a charter pilot. The owner of the planes was a retired USAF Flight Surgeon who setup a medical practice in the town. He had a 39’ motorhome and he left it at the airport and it was my home for about a year. The activity at night after midnight was amazing. The takeoffs and landings were almost constant. Im now a 71 yo Veteran living in North Carolina and I thank God I never got involved with that crap.
You could have been loaded without marching or barracks inspections. I don't think drug smuggling is necessarily moral, but it's more moral than killing people who are no threat to the US and thinking it's ok because you wear a uniform.
Most of those guys ended up Dead
@@iviekicklighte673 Government kills off their competition, look what happened to Barry Seals. He used to fly government imported dope into a little airport in Mena,Arkansas. He tried to go work for himself so they offed him.
Thanks for your service.
Bro I am from Australia and stumbled across your channel and wanted to let you know I'm hooked! I love how well made your videos are and how you've got a focus on stories local to your area.
Thanks so much, man. 🙏
Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the latest podcast. I was so excited to see that you uploaded again. As a native Floridian, there is just something about these stories that really does it for me. Thanks for your hard work.
I can’t get enough of these cowboys stories!#❄️
The Gov. does not like competition
It's individuals that make up the "Gov". 😏
💯
The CIA is the biggest drug cartel in the world.
George and Governor Bill were major smugglers.
Cute@@jeffcampbell2710
I absolutely LOVE your content, I grew up running around that area graduating from Vero Beach High School in 95. Theres alot in that marshland that would fill 100 Novels KEEP UP WITH THE GREAT CONTENT
I understand what you said about the novels and them not being written, do you suggest any good books?
My uncle was one of the Okeechobee 8 with his father in law (at the time), V. L. Underhill. Uncle Dewaine said the reason he didn't go to prison is because the U S Government would not allow the key witnesses in his case to testify because it would have incriminated the then Vice President George H W Bush. Dewaine's records from that trial are still sealed. Dewaine went completely straight after this ordeal, but his phone and his parent's phone were tapped for years.
I lived on Norman's Cay, where the main smuggling operation moved to after Okeechobee. Everyone knew Reagan and Bush worked with the Medellin cartel to pay for an illegal war in Nicaragua that congress forbade them to wage. Thanks for speaking up about the truth.
@El_Petothe phone probably echoes and had static. My dad moved RV's full of weed in the 80s. I always thought out phone was tapped but he always used pay phones for business. RIP dad. He od'd and died in 22
@El_Petoback in those days you could literally hear them breathing on the other end! Or hear the click as they turned on the tape recorder.
@@Atrainswrldwhen the DEA bugged my phone I received a letter saying it had been bugged for this period. This was of course after the case was over and they never got what they wanted off of it. Don’t know r this is mandatory. Probably otherwise why would they have sent us a notice?
@El_Peto Granny said you could hear a little click.
I miss old Florida. We had some crazy fun back then.
Sounds like fun times. I was born too late😂
*Cues Push It To The Limit*
Way before the immigrants and northerners fucked up Florida
@@poindextertunesborn in ‘85 East Orlando/Cape Canaveral childhood. It truly was an utterly wild place and I miss it tremendously.
Florida in the 70s and 80s was wide open and wild. Now its like Disneyland
I lived in the Florida Keys in the early 1970's. I was a commercial fisherman. I was told, and it was proven to me that a person could purchase cocane from any cop in a car. If you wanted an honest cop speak to one who is walking. While i was there the Mayor, the chief of police, and the captain of the fire department were all arrested by the DEA for distribution of cocain. Not one word was printed in the local newspaper. They were all back on their jobs come Monday morning and no one said a single word.
I moved away.
Where is Bum Farto
Were they violent killers fighting for turf back then?
Oh damnnn !!! 😳 smart move ... and say nothing ✌️ 😙
I grew up in Lakeland, and was close with a lot of pilots because my stepdad owned a Fly In community. Years later I watched cocaine cowboys for the first time and my jaw DROPPED when I saw familiar faces and familiar properties being interviewed and talked about... rural South and Central Florida was a hotbed for pilots, smugglers, and Narco expats. It's shocking growing up and learning that most of the older folks you knew were involved...
Love it.
Growing up in Hobe Sound during the 70' & 80's there was no shortage of rumors about who was doing what.
wow! 😳 too sketchy for me, i wouldnt stick around 🤔😏😔😌
Nice I live in port salerno
Very very very well put together. Not one moment was I bored
Hope you drop another video soon, this channel is a hidden gem and I hope this isn't the last we hear from you!
the most serious problem today to the USA citizens is the USA government.
Oh!!! I thought it was all of us right wing terrorists and my fellow racists were the number one threat in this country??!! Or so I've been told!! 17.000 times.....
Now it’s Fentanyl the govt is allowing In our country. Way more dangerous than Cocaine. Look what they just tried with Trump. Inside deal. Sickening
Problem was much more serious six years ago
No, it's been at it worst for the last three and a half years!!!@busterhikney6936
We are the people who work for or know someone who works for a Government agency. We are the cast of characters who make up our government. So by your argument we are our own problem...
Always look forward to your videos! Insanely well done and you always set the tone well. The interviews with people involved are especially compelling. Thanks for making quality stuff
Raulerson closed the investigation and his family owns more than the Hospital.
I remember a Lonnie Raulerson in Okeechobee when we lived there. My Grandpa was the Clerk of Court his name was Josh Barber and was elected in 1936 as he campaigned for his cousin Fred Cone bid for Governor of Florida and did some campaigning for FDRs Second bid for President all on the same ticket in Okeechobee and All won their bids for office.My mother and her three brothers all grew up in Okeechobee . I lived there till I was 9 and we moved to Ean Gallie in Brevard Co. My uncle Mike Barber later was elected to the clerks office and was there until the 90s and his Son Thomas Barber took over the Business Started by My Grandpa and my Mother Betty Barber . I heard about the weed being grown around Okeechobee but didn't hear about the coke smuggling in Chobee ! My Grandpa would be a lil miffed at her community pillars running astray in that fashion glad he didn't see that . All the people you mentioned knew my family well . especially the Raulerson's and Padgett's as in The local Drug Store . No pun intended .😂😮❤
There's absolutely no way ANY law enforcement officers or detectives would do something SO incredibly stupid as "immediately burn pillows & sheets" from a man who had just been found on them dead from a gunshot wound to the head. They were either involved, paid off, or were threatened & intimidated into destroying such key evidence to cover up a murder. Also: if the county coroner found that the angle of the wound to his forehead proved that the Sheriff would've had to use his left hand, even though he was right-handed, and the fact there was NO blood spatter on his hands........yet he still ruled it as "a suicide"........leads me to believe the county coroner himself was aiding in the cover up too.
Ya think? And a Collier to boot. Damn.
well duh they where getiin paidddd $$$
You don't f*ck with the big Dogs if you valued your life.
The 80's under Reagan was a crazy time. A war on drugs while smuggling it in.
The prices were better, too
What was meant by war on drugs. Was we r gonna wage a war on anyone else but America having drugs
Mena connection with Bill Clinton is another interesting story
@@Fukallibs two sides of the same coin.
@@Fukallibs Barry Seals flew in and out of there quite a few time before the government eliminated him.He knew too much in the end.He was the real Cocaine Cowboy!
I 've lived Florida for over 60 years . Things like this are still very common . The local government is always involved .
Over the years fishing off of miami i found bales of "stuff". I was able to open my own business at 30 and was pretty much retired by then. I almost lost my life twice aftee being robbed, very scary. After i made my money i moved to the gulf side up north
Because they play "Ring around the Rosie" in civil asset forfeiture court until they're rich enough to run for President
I grew up in south Florida in the 80s:90s. You learned a lot about a lot very young. Surreal experience since these activities were far reaching into the community
I lived in Lehigh Florida in the 80s and everybody knew about the planes landing in the boonies. You just minded your business and life goes on. Especially drag racing and mudding in the Yucapan
Or going to the slougs at military hill in Buckingham,where I grew up in the 70s and 80s.
Putting GHWB as Drug Czar is like putting a 600 pounder in charge of Krispy Kreme
They were the Bush's competition!!!
Or putting Heels 👠 up Harris Border Czar in charge of the US Border. 😂😂
“ Poppy” Bush also used CIA to run Heroin from Afghanistan which is why the US invaded it… taliban had eradicated it. Opioid epidemic came at same time a# Afghanistan invasion.Neo did black tar Heroin EVERWHERE. . Hella coincidence. Bush Clinton crime fam used mena, Arkansas to import coke as Jeb laundered money in Miami real estate on his 20’s, Hilario’s law firm also, etc all dovetails into Epstein and gang in the 90’s also
Ol daddy Bush was involved with the crew that killed JFK. (The REAL killers,not the fake BS that they told you)
More accurately, it would be as irresponsible as putting Hunter Biden in charge as a drug czar.
LMAO! This is so crazy, VL is my grandfather. I cannot believe this story is out there like this lol My father is his son, Shannon. This is actually pretty cool, sad & crazy all at once.
@kaleth1992 I lived in fort drum when I was a kid and hung out with your dad sometimes. He lived behind the store.
You guys know Debbie Gibson my grandmother?
@@Chobee.FreshSpore the mall-singing ICON? The Only in My Dreams Debbie Gibson?
@@kaleth1992 Your aunt, Gail, used to be my aunt, til she and my uncle split. Still call her Aunt Gail to this day.
I swear this is you CRL, this is 100% your voice, and I know you're from Florida. Hope this is your channel! And even if it's not, being from Ft. Pierce/Vero I'm happy to see a channel dedicated to the stories of this area!
I'm from a county over. Even in the early 2000 we were getting drops. Most flew the packs in field drops. others landed country grade roads as far south as Palm city! It was CRAZY until about 2009 🤙🌴
Crazy story. Well done. Earned a new sub ✌️♥️🎸🎵🎶🎵
Glad your back!
Awesome documentary! Glad to be here before you get all the subscribers!
When they declared it a suicide, i laughed because what a likely outcome for a gunshot between the eyes right? It’s common…just like a friend of mines relative who ‘shot herself’ in the same place and her boyfriend didn’t hear a thing because he’d taken a whole bunch of melatonin because he had a hard time going to sleep so after that melatonin he was so asleep he couldn’t hear anything as loud as a gun shot right next to him. 🧐 Funny enough the town we lived in also believed his little story and declared it a suicide as well. How ironic
I was 16 in 82,and i could ride my dirtbike from Melbourne,south to Okeechobee,,it was very undeveloped, especially palm bay,,what is now the (compond)planes were always landing out there,,painted white giant x's,,on the empty streets,same as the beach,at wabbaso,and Sebastian,,jets ski'scoming in from boats,,,,
I'm from eau gallie. Same time, same stories
Melbourne to okeechobee on a dirt bike lmfao its over 90miles one way
Employers are the biggest problem in America. The govt would be next
I grew up in Cocoa Beach in the 70s and 80s. Same stuff going on. One day in high school, we were out on they P.E. field when a low flying plane zoomed over being chased by two DEA planes. As soon as they got over the river, they started throwing bails of drugs out of their plane. This stuff was so common that it was not even reported in the news.
I turned 18 in 84 grew up in Central Florida and I can tell you lots of business people were involved in financing loads...
I remember living in a local Orlando neighborhood back in 69 through 80. this is when the old airport out there on Highway 50 used to be called Herndon airport. Now it’s called Orlando executive. Are used to be a DC three stores out there. It was seized by the feds also along that time, I think four or five streets down from my house, they rated Earl Resnick‘s house. Took him to federal jail for drugs. Orlando has some strange history if you dig through it.
The lil unknown towns that has these stories take place in them are better than the big cartel stories.
I was born and raised in Lee county and live about 20 minutes from LaBelle back in the '80s there wasn't a lot of opportunity for the people in these rural areas You were either a farmer a fisherman or had to drive all the way to fort Myers Naples to work so when these opportunities come up to make a lot of money just transporting some marijuana or cocaine people jumped on it quick it's just like a lot of black people in the hood, it's all about risky financial opportunities in low-income areas
I remember the judge used to answer the telephone at the LaBelle County Courthouse in the 1980’s.
Yes sir grew up Lee County too!! Totally different place now.
I lived in Labelle until I was in the 4th Grade my Dad grew up there .
@@grizUSMC0331 wow it’s a small world
@@grizUSMC0331 my dad was an airplane mechanic too. he was friends with the Eastern airline pilot who had an airstrip there…everyone knew him
I used to mow the yard of one of the Okeechobee eight...
Did he treat you right and pay you fair?
At the end of the video you mentioned that the national average of people using illicit drugs is 13%. But I looked it up a couple years ago. In rural areas it’s 19.5%. According to the census Okeechobee has almost 40,000 people living in it. I’d speculate there’s a bit more but let’s go with the 40,000. With 20% of the population using drugs that means that there’s roughly 8000 drug users in Okeechobee. You could speculate how much the average drug user spends. Of course some spend more some spin less. But if the average was $100 a week. That would be $800,000 a week. And that also is over 41 million a year and drug sales. And I’m not talking about 1985 I’m talking about 2023. This town is still corrupt. It’s in its DNA. It’s never been a nice little town.
I’m 64 and live in southern Indiana I had a couple friends that made trips to Florida at least twice a month. The 80s was nuts
Good stuff. Now do one with serman dyess and the santa barbara ranch
Naples boy here and I was young but have heard stories from people involved with the Smuggling back in those days here in Collier County ,,,Also we have a cottage up in Steinhatchee in the Big Bend and they have the same stories with the Good Old Boys and Sheriff's all being involved in the 💰💰 making operations,,, Seems like Alot of the Old Florida Small Towns were involved in the 💰 making Smuggling Business back in the Good Old Days,,,
The hatch is a crazy place in itself. I live about 30 minutes from there. Been there a few times. It's one place I'll never go again in my life. Different breed of people there that live by their own rules.
Don’t forget Red Bay over in, I think it’s, Washington County
Same with the Dixie Mafia that dropped loads out of small planes, the spot to drop was pre-planned into areas in north Georgia.
The former CIA pilot brought the load to Louisiana or Mina, AR.
The weed was moved to Atlanta, Spartanburg/Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC.
Barry Seals flew into Mena for years..Ask Bill......
miss your content! hope you’re doing well dude 💛
awesome video!
Just to be clear Everglades City is located in Collier County. Sheriff Collier was part of the family who owned the land, maybe they didn't like smuggling competition on their land. The original Collier is Barron Collier. Robber Barrons.
The Underhills are my grandfather and my father. Just some good ole boys trying to make some cash. They are great men today and this is now behind them. F all the snitches. ✌🏼
@@anaraeunderhill7436 VL did about 30 years because he didn't snitch...
Lier
Thats crazy. I used to go to a country club in the 80s and I would always order a bloody mary, steak sandwich and a steak sandwich. Always told the guy to put it on the Underhill’s account. They never said anything
Yes sir,,got that right
tell them thanks for that great coke in the 80s!
😂 the burning palm tree made me lose track of what this was about true okee
Just the tip of the iceberg.
From the late seventies all through the eighties, into the early nineties south florida was full of operations bigger than this one. I owned several aircraft through the 80's and all during that time, I was constantly approached to do flights, even a few times threatened when I turned them down. I know of several of the local operations through rumor at the time and confirmed later. They were throwing money around like water, some people I knew took that money. They thought they could buy anyone, to do anything. Thinking back, it's interesting how many of the players I knew, but I never participated, I would never do anything for money, so eventually they stopped asking. Many are dead now, some went to prison for long terms, some short terms, many they never knew the full extent of their smuggling involvements. A few to this day, might still be in the biz, just a lot smarter how they do it. I thought at one time about doing a book, but I like my skin that covers my body, so that idea is gone forever. lol
Write a book. Tell your story it's decades old now. Leave a legacy in some funds for the grands
@@TerranceGangstaWilliams Lots of those folks are still around, some never got arrested or found out, some might even have deaths that could be attached, that means no statute of limitations, so they would probably seek me out very fast. I don't need any money from social media or a book, that bad and especially not in the winter of my life, I don't need the drama. I was never involved, so there's no get even in my book. I 'm not so sure anyone cares anymore.
@@MACvSOG we love old Florida stories
@@MACvSOG you can change names and write it as a "based on" true story!
You tell stories very efficiently. Good video. Keep it up. I’m subbed up.
Some of them are Barry seals friends he hired to help smuggle coke. Barry seal was pablos main smuggler through the air. The movie American made has a few of them in it
Your a great storyteller.
interesting story, thanks and well done. The temptation for easy cash.. very destructive.
You would be suprised at what old people now did when they were young,successful folks dont get caught,I was 20 years oldin 1983,crazy times.
Very few really got away with it
Made a couple hits and quit
Those were the smart ones
Nothing like South Florida in the eighties. Penrods,the button south,shooters,bobby rubinos ribs. The goat ocean mile..oh and in the words of Sonny Crockett the recreational pharmaceuticals!!! Very good vid.
Do a story on the Big Pine 29 bust that took place in 1983. 29 people arrested by Feds on Big Pine Key, FL.
Always is and always has been the best of Coke in the Keys.Lived in Marathon for years until somebody offered me way more money than I thought my house and boat was worth.Still miss the place.
A friend did a major engine overhaul in a few years ago in a sportfish in Marathon for an old man part of the Big Pine 29. Will not mention names. He was paid close to six figures in $20s, $50s, and $100s from the 70s and 80s. 😅
Crazy the man asking who’s responsible is the main culprit responsible for it
Ironic isn't it? Shows what kind of clown show they're running
The Underhills? The Underhills??? Isn't Fletch still using his credit card?
Yes, he still has not returned from his urinalysis… must be real bad.
I’ll have a steak sandwich and a steak sandwich, deliver it to cabana 1 🤣🤣
I need to go…i have a thing
Can I borrow your towl? My car just hit a water buffalo!
Seems like the sheriff wasn't a member of the local secret handshake lodge.
edit: RIP Sheriff Collier
Do the story on Nadine MacArthur shooting her husband of MacArthur Dairy Farms , Charles MacArthur.
I have family in Omer my grandmother was the HS librarian starting 1966ish grandfather worked for fpl and has a power transfer station dedicated to him on the west side of the lake.
LaBelle is not exactly close to Okeechobee. Okeechobee has grown tremendously and is quite the haven for Canadians during the winter. It's amazing that Okeechobee has somewhat strived over the years but other towns along the lake have just become third-world towns.
100000000 million?
Bill Clinton and George Bush
Hold my beer 🍻
The sheriffs actions with the hostage situation is why people used to respect law enforcement. I don't think there is a single cop in this country who would take the place of a hostage like that today.
Ft. Pierce is my town 😅 i know a few stories too 😅😅
Mine too
nice video !
I knew one of the 8 and loved the story about the $5 bills under the bed. Won’t mention his name out of respect and honor to him and his children and grandchildren.
Man please, I'm a 70 year old FL boy, out of Palm Beach county,I can tell you right now,, you got the low hanging fruit,I knew personally the people moving it ,
people who are real movers and shakers don't talk about it .... that's how i know you are full of it
I lived in Tampa 75 to 81 and had NO clue this drug thing was happening…hung out with good people I guess…
What happened at 9:53
voice wise, Bizarre?
July 7 1983, operation everglades. 1 day later, i was born. Coincidence? I think so.
You just might be on to something there.
We need to talk !!! I have information i didnt know was pertinant until this video ... I was there !!! Graduated Okeechobee High School 1986 ...
Did you know coach Jackson and coach kingery ?
Sherif has sinus problems… hmmmm we know what causes that
Ha ... he was allergic to palm trees 🌴
Allergies to skiing ⛷️ ❄️❄️❄️
*sheriff
In the 70s and 80s, cops judges, lawyers, and bankers, everyone was doing something for coke. I was a carpenter and did well building, but it wasn't just ranchers. It built S. Fl.
The war on drugs is over drugs won.
Pot is obviously everywhere, but I haven’t heard anything about cocaine or meth in years besides for stragglers. Common sense says there’ll be small pockets of users who are low key, but it seemed to have slowed quite a bit!
I grew up in Chubbtown and I'm from ESOM Hill. Now I live in Okeechobee. I know all the Truth. I heard it all from 7 to 13 years Old. Med is Still Alive And Well. Bush cause the Problem s we have today
Daddy Bush helped kill JFK.Makes ya wonder how America would be like today if they hadn't killed the Kennedys. I'm voting for RFK Jr. this round,f*ck these other clowns!
I just finished a book called Narco Land, which details the history large-scale drug trafficking in Latin America. The author, a credible Mexican investigative journalist named Anabel Hernandez, lays out the details of the US government’s involvement dating back at least as far as the 1960s. The assertions made in the book are pretty shocking - but they’re completely plausible and many are a matter of fact today (such as the Iran-Contra scandal). The book is well documented and is end-noted with cites to US and Mexican government documents. If even half of Hernandez writes about is true, Iran-Contra barely scratched the surface of the US government’s role.
Good ol Oliver North!
We were sitting out one night drinking beers when a C-54 came over at less than a thousand feet no lights only exhaust flames soon after a king air chasing it they find it at Okeechobee airport the next day very cool 😎 to witness I think the guys got caught they called a cab to pick them up at the airport but the cab took to long or something have lots of other stories being a pilot in Palm Beach thru those years
Not related but use to race Stockcars out there at "Thunder Cross Motorsorts Park." Was a great racetrack, just had piss poor management. Met some great people from Okeechobee.
We moved to S.FL area in the mid 80’s my dad worked at the airport. I later found out he was a gun smuggler that would sell to narcos in SoFlo
I would like to take a moment to congratulate drugs, on winning the war against drugs
LOADS came in as far away as Kay Sal Bank, San Salvador Bahamas...a bunch of Good Ol Boy's...a lot of COKE 🤐
Holy balls! What a story!
If I learned anything from watching Dexter, it’s Blood Spatter not blood splatter.
Geez ... I thought it was Blood Lather.
@@ohioguy215 That’s “bloody lather”. You get that when you cut yourself shaving.
@@thenoneckpeoplerepresentat8074
Well ... if you look at my photo to the left, you'll see that I don't shave.
I grew up in Buckingham,right outside of Ft.Myers. We had 2 different people that was the worst kept secret out in the county that both had multiple unauthorized landings per month. I'm in the era gen x.
I worked in the orange groves for fourteen years near okeechonee.we hired a poor dumbell who called the police when his batwing mower shattered 13 keys or pure. They gave him an attaboy and two hundred dollars for snitching he got fired by the grove owne
What about the Clark boys and myakka of gold?
Tommy Charlie Donnie and their sister Cindy. They lived on the dairy farm when I was in jr high school. Do you remember Bubba Rucks? @dirtbike1921
Shot two inches above his eyes? Nah, nooo way.
83 good year, good president, good economy walkman cassetts double aa batteries, and the arcades.
Wow that's sad and it makes me angry
We used to drive down to Clewiston, Fl. And run bass tournaments is that near here?
Yes@Trent3872 I was born in Clewiston yes it's kinda close
@@grizUSMC0331 We would stay at Roland Martin's marina. There seemed to be a lot of snow ❄️ down there if you know what I mean lol. This was 1995ish. I'm old. We did a weigh in for Tracy Byrds tournament one year.
One of the best beef steak sandwiches I’ve ever had was in clewiston
I know the man that was in the plane and his brother at the beginning of the story.
Are people even still doing smuggling with small aircraft? Seems like it was a big thing in the 80's and 90's then you stopped hearing about it. Now it's been all about tunnels and secret compartment cars and freight shipping.
Radar system’s specifically designed for low flying aircraft pretty much crushed this segment of smuggling. Look up Fat Albert Blimp FL Keys. This was mid/late 80’s tech that was the beginning of the end for low flying craft. Submersible watercraft has become more popular than air transport in certain locations now. Not as fast, but can transport MUCH bigger loads.
Arthur was the one that went and showed him where the plane was. He was the one fly on the plane. They had a black hawk helicopter chasing them On the turnpike and how the plane crashes a hit ant pile and broke the strut off the airplane.
Those fire ant mounds are damn big in Florida.
Does anybody remember Okeechobee purple?
Ive lived in okeechobee my whole life, never knew about this
My uncle lived. Down low lifestyle
That's what happens when you skip school and smoke pot all day watching Andy Griffith
You got to be kidding you must have been about the only one in town that uninformed
@@GuyRips I'm 15 bruh
Was 13 in 83 used to work at the Fort Apache marina have done work on alot of smugglers go fast boats!!
Always much love from 4th gen. Vero
So the sheriff's wife was gone that night, he was shot in the forehead, so we could assume he either knew about the drugs/drug investigation and was punished for not tipping people off ahead of time or he didn't know and it was just some type of revenge killing. The suicide story is likely false based on the investigation being so poor especially for the killing of the sheriff.
Anybody in that reform school contact the Whitehouse Boys for information about the victims of reform school abuse compensation bill
Truly enjoy this kind of content. Coming from the state where all types of weird happens - any crazy story I've heard originating in Florida doesn't surprise me. Now I know that sentence is only half true because stories like this can happen anywhere. And that's why stories like this are so intriguing. Past crimes with insane plots and stories to go with. Then the addition of who is involved _ it can be hard to believe at times crimes like this truly happens. I'm about to make my way through all the content presented and I also subscribed to your channel..... look forward to future episodes to come...
Lots of crazy shit like this happens on the border here in Texas for years and still happens daily😉 since Trump couldn't get them Mexicans to pay for that wall that never got built!