235 Latin Gangs Infiltrating America, Blood Routes, And Heroism, With Author & DEA Special Agent Wes Tabor (Part One)

On today’s episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, I have with me Author and Retired DEA Agent Wes Tabor.

There was so much to unpack about his incredible career in law enforcement and his accomplishments off duty that this is my first three-part interview. Part two of the interview that will go live next Sunday, and part three with be released the next day on Monday. Honestly, I could have talked to Wes all day. I will definitely have him back on the show in the future.

Here's a quick bio of just some of Wes’s accomplishments. Wes became a Hernando County Sheriff’s Deputy in 1988. As a deputy, Wes served as a S.W.A.T. lead, having completed the FBI S.W.A.T. school in 1995. Wes was a Defensive Tactics Instructor, anti-crime and property Detective, and earned the Florida Medal of Valor in 1996 for his heroism by disregarding his own safety, running into an apartment fire, saving multiple lives, and Mittens the cat. 

In 1998, he was hired by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Wes had a 23-year career with the DEA and has been stationed in Field Divisions such as: St. Louis, Miami, Chicago, D.C., Los Angeles, and internationally in cities such as Guatemala City, Guatemala, Caracas, Venezuela, Cartagena, Colombia, and Bogota, Colombia. During this time, he was representing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in positions such as: supervisory special agent, country attaché, assistant country attaché, Deputy Section Chief, Assistant to the Global Deputy Chief of Operations, and Assistant Special Agent in Charge.

Wes was paralyzed in an auto accident where a drunk driver and career criminal had been at fault. Fortunately, he recovered from his spinal cord injury (C5/6) fracture and went back to being a DEA agent. The suspect later absconded and was on the run for 23 years, only to be captured in 2024.  He was given probation for 6 months by a local judge in Minnesota. 

From 2012-2015, Wes was assigned to the Central Intelligence Agency as an Assignee to various locations in the Western Hemisphere, conducting various classified activities on behalf of the DEA while embedded with the CIA.

He has worked with some of the most prestigious law enforcement and military agencies, conducting operations and training modules, with the FBI, Secret Service, Defense Intelligence Service, US Army Special Forces, and Navy Seals.

As a DEA agent, rising through the ranks to Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Los Angeles, he was the division's Strike Force Commander, where he oversaw global money-laundering investigations, High Value Mexican Cartel Investigation, and led his teams in pursuit of some of the largest cases on the globe.

I told you there’s a lot to Wes’s story! Today’s episode is more focused on his beginnings and his heroism. We will get to more incredible stuff in the next two episodes. 

 

In today’s episode, we discuss:

·      Thank you to Chris Feistl for the intro.

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