Episode 571: Drugs and Thugs
Summary
Hosts Brace Belden and Liz interview journalist Jack Paulson about the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). They discuss INL’s covert operations, including training foreign police and conducting clandestine raids in Mexico. The conversation explores the agency’s ties to the CIA, its role in financial warfare, and how it funds investigative journalism groups like OCCRP.
Topics discussed
Intro: Turkey legs, blooming onions, and Renaissance fairs
Guest intro: Jack on INL and modern statecraft
INL job listings and covert operations in Mexico
CIA officers in Mexico and police training history
History of international law enforcement training
Bureaucracy, revolving doors, and private contractors
INL's air wing and funding OCCRP
DEA Special Ops and financial warfare tactics
Operation Matrix, Sciari, and sanctions enforcement
The 2001 missionary plane shootdown incident
Journalists funded by intelligence agencies
INL funding heavy machine guns and NGOs in Ukraine
Investigative journalism turning into intelligence work
Wiretapping, PenLink, and digital surveillance
Delegitimizing enemies via drug trafficking narratives
Outro: Doug Winkel and Renaissance fair culture
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