Operation Jackpot (drug investigation)
Encyclopedia
Operation Jackpot was a federal drug task force based in South Carolina
that captured and convicted more than 100 marijuana smugglers from 1983 to 1986 during President Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs
. Among the chief targets of Operation Jackpot were South Carolina marijuana kingpins Barry Foy and Les Riley, who stood accused of smuggling 347,000 pounds of marijuana and 130,000 pounds of hashish
into the United States. Known as the 'gentlemen smugglers' because of their college educations and aversion to violence, Foy, Riley and their associates regularly sailed drug-laden boats from Jamaica, Colombia and Lebanon through the marshes of the Eastern Seaboard. Because of lax drug coastal patrols, hometown familiarity and a plethora of inlets, South Carolina was the gentlemen smugglers' most frequent destination for offloading drugs.
Organized by U.S. Attorney Henry McMaster
, Operation Jackpot was one of the first federal drug task forces to use newly-enacted federal civil forfeiture laws to combat drug smugglers by seizing the gentlemen smugglers' assets, including homes, cars, money and boats. Operation Jackpot was also one of the first federal task forces to combine investigators from a variety of federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs Patrol. Ultimately, Operation Jackpot would indict four smuggling rings operating in South Carolina. Many of the smugglers and kingpins evaded arrest for years, resulting in manhunts across the United States and world through the early and mid-1980s, and captures in Antigua, Australia, Miami, New York, and San Diego. The last fugitive from Operation Jackpot was arrested in 2007.
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
that captured and convicted more than 100 marijuana smugglers from 1983 to 1986 during President Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
. Among the chief targets of Operation Jackpot were South Carolina marijuana kingpins Barry Foy and Les Riley, who stood accused of smuggling 347,000 pounds of marijuana and 130,000 pounds of hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
into the United States. Known as the 'gentlemen smugglers' because of their college educations and aversion to violence, Foy, Riley and their associates regularly sailed drug-laden boats from Jamaica, Colombia and Lebanon through the marshes of the Eastern Seaboard. Because of lax drug coastal patrols, hometown familiarity and a plethora of inlets, South Carolina was the gentlemen smugglers' most frequent destination for offloading drugs.
Organized by U.S. Attorney Henry McMaster
Henry McMaster
Henry Dargan McMaster is South Carolina's Republican attorney general, having been first elected on November 5, 2002. He was a unsuccessful candidate for the GOP nomination in the 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election.- Biography :McMaster received a bachelor's degree in history from the...
, Operation Jackpot was one of the first federal drug task forces to use newly-enacted federal civil forfeiture laws to combat drug smugglers by seizing the gentlemen smugglers' assets, including homes, cars, money and boats. Operation Jackpot was also one of the first federal task forces to combine investigators from a variety of federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs Patrol. Ultimately, Operation Jackpot would indict four smuggling rings operating in South Carolina. Many of the smugglers and kingpins evaded arrest for years, resulting in manhunts across the United States and world through the early and mid-1980s, and captures in Antigua, Australia, Miami, New York, and San Diego. The last fugitive from Operation Jackpot was arrested in 2007.