31 lines
No EOL
3 KiB
Markdown
31 lines
No EOL
3 KiB
Markdown
---
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tags:
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- Organization
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- DrugTrafficking
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- ArmsTrafficking
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- Mercenary
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- Intelligence
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category: "Private Organization"
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summary: "'The Company' was a drug and arms organization consisting of approximately 300 members, many of whom were former military men, ex-police officers, or ex-intelligence personnel."
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location: "Lexington, Kentucky and Mena, Arkansas"
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---
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"The Company" was a drug and arms organization consisting of approximately 300 members, many of whom were former military men, ex-police officers, or ex-intelligence personnel. It was involved in large-scale illegal drug trafficking, gunrunning, and mercenary operations, with assets estimated at nearly $30 million, including planes, ships, and real estate.[^1]
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### Activities and Operations
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The organization imported billions of dollars worth of narcotics from [[Latin America]]. It was also involved in the theft of specialized military equipment from the [[United States Naval Weapons Station China Lake|U.S. Naval Weapons Station at China Lake]] in the Mojave Desert, including infrared sniperscopes, a television camera for night vision, tracer ammunition, a remote-control helicopter, and secret components from a Sidewinder guided missile's radar unit. Some of this stolen equipment was intended for drug smugglers, and some was traded to drug suppliers in [[Colombia]].[^1]
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"The Company" was headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, and Mena, Arkansas. Twenty-nine members of the organization were indicted by the Fresno federal grand jury in 1981, including [[Andrew "Drew" Thornton]], a former narcotics officer who later died while parachuting with 77 pounds of cocaine.[^1]
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### Connections and Investigations
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[[Michael Riconosciuto]] claimed to have provided "valuable intelligence" on illegal drug activities and "The Company" to [[Brian Leighton]], a former Assistant [[United States Attorney|U.S. Attorney]] in Fresno. Riconosciuto stated that he had been instrumental in helping Leighton identify members of "The Company" and even led law enforcement officers to a marijuana cache belonging to its members. However, Leighton's testimony in Riconosciuto's trial was evasive regarding their direct collaboration.[^1]
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[[Danny Casolaro]] had been communicating regularly with [[Michael Riconosciuto]] and learned about "The Company." It is suggested that Casolaro may have scheduled a meeting with the Lexington [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] regarding drug trafficking by "The Company" shortly before his death.[^1]
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[[Michael Riconosciuto]] also claimed that "The Company" was still active and that [[Brian Leighton]]'s prosecutions had only served to "vaccinate" the group against further penetration. Riconosciuto sought to hand "The Company" and [[Robert Booth Nichols]] over to [[Financial Crimes Enforcement Network|FinCen]] in exchange for entry into the [[Witness Protection Program]], but his efforts were unsuccessful.[^1]
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---
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. |