All language subtitles for The.Godfather.of.Fentanyl.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE[EZTVx.to]

(audience applauding)

(soft music)

(tense music)

(liquid sloshing)

- It was my belief that the
dea was not going to stop

Until they found out
who had done this

And how they had gone about it

Because of the simple fact

That they would have to face
this problem in the future.

(tense music)

- [reporter] fentanyl
usage is skyrocketing

Across the country.

More than 77,000
overdoses last year alone.

(sirens blaring)

- There's a lot of gold
at the end of this rainbow

And I knew that
if indeed we stop,

Someone else would pursue it.

(bomb booms)
- a vast fentanyl

Distribution network,
part of an unnamed

International drug cartel.

Many of the chemicals
coming from china.

- They're manufacturing
fentanyl 24/7.

- It's gonna
continue to get worse

As long as the demand is there.

- [george erik] so,

We might as well make
hay while the sun shines.

(tense upbeat music)

(car door thuds)

(tense music)

- I'm john roberts

And this is,

"the godfather of fentanyl."

(liquid sloshing)

(tense music)

(numbers rolling)

(liquid sloshing)

- [george] towards
the fall of '92,

Not too long after we moved
into the industrial park

And set up prairie lab,

We saturated the market.

(tense music)

Moscatiello and martier
were actually uncertain

That they could
sell more fentanyl.

Moscatiello was distraught,

Apparently under quite
a lot of pressure

And claimed to be of course,
running way low on money.

I was pissed off.

Shit, you know.

It requires a continuous
investment of funds

To keep an operation
like this going.

(tense music)

- By late November 1992,
more than a year and a half

Since fentanyl first hit the
streets of new york city,

Law enforcement has
finally identified

The three key players
in the drug operation.

Boston mobster, christopher
moscatiello, joseph martier,

And george erik
marquardt, aka, squeak.

They flipped another boston
mobster, michael murray,

As an informant

And they're using his
friendship with moscatiello

To try to find the location

Of the fentanyl lab.

(tense music)

- These guys were dangerous.

We know moscatiello's
motivation was greed.

Remember, this is
the same individual

Who callously calculated

That he made $6,000 on each
of the overdose deaths.

- [reporter] emergency rooms
are seeing more overdoses

Than ever before.

- [reporter] officials fear
an epidemic of drug overdoses.

- So with money being the
primary motivating factor,

The opportunity presented itself

To introduce an undercover
agent to moscatiello,

To pretend to help
them distribute

Whatever product
they had on hand

Or would they be
interested in a swap,

Maybe some fentanyl for cocaine.

(intense music)

So we get an undercover agent

For the sole purpose
of meeting moscatiello.

(intense music)

- My name is german blanco.

I was a special agent

With the drug enforcement
administration

And I was the undercover
agent in the investigation

Of christopher moscatiello.

I grew up in the city
of medellin in columbia

At the time when pablo
escobar came to power

With the medellin cartel.

- [reporter] colombia's
drug lords declared war

On the government.

- [reporter] with medellin,
judges who rule against

The drug cartel
usually turn up dead.

- Just growing up
in that atmosphere,

It made me sick how the
drug affected the community.

- [reporter] a bomb
attack on a police bus

In medellin killed five
officers and wounded 16 others.

- Luckily, my mother
who's able to get a visa

And brought us into new york
city and that's where I landed.

I landed in new york
city in brooklyn.

(intense music)

I was the first colombian-born
agent to be hired by dea

And my primary role
was to investigate

Cartels coming out of colombia.

(guns firing)

So I was working with
dea about two years.

One day I get a call
from my supervisor

And he said, "there's
a case in boston

That I want you to go out,
fly up there and go help out."

I asked him, "what type of
drug am I dealing with?"

And he said, "fentanyl."

And I said, "let's do it."

(tense music)

- We've had 18 months

Of distributing
fentanyl successfully,

But after a while I
really wanted to phase out

The fentanyl business.

I was just dissatisfied
by the difficulties

In getting paid.

But, by that time,

I also thought it was
the least of my concerns.

(tense music)

(liquid sloshing)

I found out martier had been
using fentanyl recreationally.

I thought it was none of my
business whether he did or not,

But I guess I should
have known better.

(tense music)

Anyway, martier had come down

To pick up another
batch of fentanyl.

I found him in the bathroom
of the prairie lab.

He was sitting upright
right next to the bowl,

Eyes wide open, nobody home.

Goddamn dirty, fucking
low-life sub-human

Shit-eating dog junkie.

(tense music)

I could have let him just die.

Those thoughts all
went through my mind,

But his family knew
where he was...

And he doesn't come back?

Policemen are not stupid.

Homicide investigators
are very determined

And you know, of course,
I've got this big laboratory.

(tense music)

I tried to revive him,

That wasn't working,

So I called the
emergency medical people.

(sirens blaring)

Later, he asked me, "what do
you think's gonna happen?"

And I said, "I think
we're gonna get busted."

(sirens blaring)

I think that this incident will
be noted by the authorities

And they'll come for us,

But it really doesn't
make any difference now,

It's all out of our hands,

So we might as well make
hay while the sun shines

And prepare for your own
funeral because it's coming.

(tense music)

- When I got to boston,

They brought me into the
boston field division,

My first time there,

And then I was introduced
to gerry graves.

- [john] agent graves fills
agent blanco in on the details

Of the fentanyl case.

He explains that they
have an informant,

Mafioso, michael murray,

Who will take agent
blanco to meet

With fentanyl distributor,
christopher moscatiello.

For this meeting,

Blanco will pose as a
colombian cocaine trafficker.

His goal is to win
moscatiello's trust

And set up further meetings

So agents can hopefully find
the location of the lab.

- Before an
undercover operation,

Like half an hour before the
time that we were gonna go.

I always just basically
walked away from everybody.

(tense music)

I just try to meditate.

(tense music)

You just gotta stop thinking

That you work for
the government.

You gotta really believe

That you are a drug
trafficker, a criminal.

And so with that mindset,

I went with the informant to
the meeting with moscatiello.

The meeting was
arranged in a bar

Near the water by the seaport.

(tense music)

When we got there,

Mike made the introduction
to moscatiello.

When I started doing undercover,

I decided to take out on a name

That obviously is
easy to remember

And I used to enjoy
watching the sitcom,

"I love lucy," ricky ricardo.

So for my undercover name,

I called myself
ricardo rodriguez.

(intense music)

The instructions that were
given to the informant was that

He would make the introduction
and then he would leave.

- That's because what I always
had in my back of my mind is

How much was murray implicated

In the fentanyl
laboratory case overall?

Did he provide any money
that he is not admitted to?

Was he part of the
financing with moscatiello?

- After mike left the bar,

We just started having
like a normal conversation.

Like, okay, how you
doing, where you from.

I had a boston chowder,

Then moscatiello
order something.

And then we did some
more small talk.

It's funny because
when I met moscatiello,

I was taken back because he
just looked like a yuppie

And not necessarily a criminal,

But you never know how the
mind of a sociopath works.

(tense music)

- The initial meeting
between an undercover agent

And a suspect of the caliber

Of moscatiello is
extremely delicate

And extremely sensitive.

- In the past, we had
issues and incidents

Where agents brought an
informant into a negotiation

And then something went
bad, something went wrong,

And then somebody
would take out a gun.

(fist thuds)
(glass shattering)

(gun fires)

- [john] to provide
backup for agent blanco,

Additional undercover agents
are stationed around the bar.

- Anything out of the ordinary

Would raise agent's attention.

- But then,

Before we actually started
talking about fentanyl,

Moscatiello got up and he said,

"come and follow me."

And I said, "where
are we going?"

He said, "don't worry,
just follow me."

So I had to make
a split decision.

My gut feeling said I needed
to accomplish the mission.

So I got up and then I
started following him.

(intense music)

We went into the kitchen

And then we went down the stairs

Like going towards the basement.

Now my heart starts
racing, okay, what,

What's in the basement?

My mind started going off.

Red flags, red flags.

Everything is kind of
like in slow motion.

It was the unknown, it was
like the twilight zone.

I didn't have a cellular
phone like we have nowadays.

(tense music)

If this guy wanted to kidnap
me or wanted to shoot me

Or whatever he wanted to do,
nobody's gonna back me up.

So him trying to slow down
my breath, trying to calm,

And then he starts
walking through a tunnel

And then he keeps walking
and he keeps walking

And all of a sudden,

He came out the other
side of another building.

Then we went upstairs.

It was like coming
up for fresh air.

I can see windows,
I can see the bay.

And we ended up in a
different restaurant.

(intense music)

The place was almost empty.

There was hardly anybody there.

I felt like this guy has
definitely got some power.

This guy is somebody

That can control his
surroundings around here.

It was just moscatiello,
me, and his goons

And there was nobody else,

But thank god nothing happened.

And you know, we sit
down and we talk.

(intense music)

Moscatiello was very eager

And I could tell that
he was very happy.

He mentioned that he had a
partner who was a chemist

And that they were
producing this new drug

That it was like heroin
and it was very pure.

And then we talked
about the deal

That I was gonna give
him kilograms of cocaine

In exchanged for the fentanyl.

And he said, "can you
move it? Can you sell it?"

I said, "sure,
sure, I can sell it,

But I, first, I have
to test it out."

I told him, "give
me a sample of drugs

And I'll put it on the street

And I'll come back and
I'll let you know."

So he gave me a sample.

Then we parted.

I make sure that I
wasn't being followed.

And then I called somebody
to come and pick me up.

I came back to the office
and then I met with gerry.

- They ultimately agreed to
swap cocaine for fentanyl.

And with that, we felt that
the meeting went very well.

(tense music)

- [george] at one point,

Moscatiello offered 50
kilograms of cocaine

For a kilogram of fentanyl.

I didn't give a
shit, just sell it,

Get us some money, you know?

But, because of the
strangeness of the situation,

I wasn't 100% convinced he
was being entirely candid.

I thought he was playing
some kind of a bullshit game.

At that point, I decided
I was gonna make about

Another 10 or 15 pounds
of fentanyl and shut down.

You know, I could disappear.

(tense music)

Go somewhere else.

- He knew sooner or
later he was going down,

But you're a criminal.

Squeak would say,

"and that's part of the
deal, it's part the deal."

And so he started getting
all his ducks in a row

'cause he knew ultimately
you're gonna get caught

Or you're going to
die in the process.

(tense music)

- [george] I wanted
to make sure I did it,

If I did get caught,

When I got out, I'd make
my life as comfortable

And as convenient as possible.

(tense music)

Because, you know,
I'm a criminal.

- Back in boston,

Dea agents prepared a close in

On fentanyl distributor,
christopher moscatiello,

But they must be careful
not to raise his suspicions.

- Moscatiello is waiting
for me to get back to him

To let him know if what he
gave me was a good quality.

But as a drug dealer,
you're not pressed for time.

It's not like you have to
meet deadlines or demands

Or quotas or anything like that.

So it wasn't like I was
gonna call him next day.

- [john] and so they are
carefully biding their time,

Unaware that they are now
in a race against the clock

To find the location of the lab

And marquardt before
he disappears.

- Probably a week or two later,
I called moscatiello back

And I say, "hey listen,
we're good to go.

Let's set up the next meeting."

(intense music)

We went back to the seaport

And we went through
the same routine.

But what was interesting
was this time I did notice

That he was carrying a long tube

Like that you put in the posters

And then when we sat down,

He just laid the
tube against the bar.

(intense music)

During that second
meeting, he was more open,

Obviously, he felt more
comfortable with me.

We started to talk
and I told him,

"this would turn out to be good.

My only concern was that this
was very strong, very potent.

So how do I deal with this?"

That's when he opened up.

He said, "we had an
incident in the lab,

One of the assistants
to the chemist overdosed

From the product."

I said, "wow, really?

Where was this?"

And that's when he
mentioned wichita.

(tense music)

When he mentioned wichita,

Inside of me I just wanted
to jump up and down with joy

Because the objective that
I was given was to try

To figure out
where this lab was.

And he just told me the city.

But of course, I
just ignore like

This doesn't mean
anything to me.

I don't even know, what
do I care about somebody

Who's overdosing because
I don't wanna seem

Like I'm asking
too many questions.

So I just basically
let him talk.

(tense music)

And then at the
end I said, "okay,

I'll have my people
move some packages,"

Meaning some kilos of cocaine,

"and then I'll give it to you."

And he said, "okay,
there's your product.

Go ahead and take it."

I just saw the tube there.

I just picked it up and
then I left the bar.

I went back to the
payphone in another corner

And called one of the guys
to come and pick me up.

(intense music)

- [john] agent blanco brings
the fentanyl-filled tube

Back to the dea office

And meets with agent graves

To deliver the stunning
piece of information

He's just gleaned
from moscatiello.

- Gerry graves goes,
"so what happened?"

And I said, "he did mention that

One of the guys
overdose in wichita."

And when I said wichita,

There was silence.

Everybody was like, "huh?"

And nobody said anything
for a couple seconds.

(intense music)

And then somebody said,
"what did you just said?"

I said, "yeah, that somebody
overdosed in wichita."

"you're kidding me?"

I go, "no, that's
exactly what he said."

- So off to the races,
we go to wichita.

(intense music)

- Wichita is more
than a thousand miles

From the east coast city's
plagued by street fentanyl.

Not a single fentanyl related
death has been reported

In the state of kansas,

But now it seems it could be
ground zero for the crisis.

(car engine revving)

- This was a
fast-moving game, right?

Because everything
could be alright

And the next thing you know,

Somebody did
something over here,

And sooner or later you're hot.

Especially with doing
something like this,

The enormous risk involved,

But, doing what you want
to do comes with some risk.

There's no aspect of life
that's not fraught with risk.

And I enjoyed playing the game.

(tense music)

You know?

(airplane engine buzzing)

- I flew down
literally the next day

And arrived at the
wichita office.

The wichita office is
a very small office.

They're in a private office park

Because that's a local
task force office

In which there are
local police officers

Along with a couple
of dea agents

Who do drug operations.

So I go up and I
meet barry jamison.

(intense music)

- My name is barry jamison.

I was the agent in charge

Of the drug enforcement
administration's office

In wichita, kansas.

(intense music)

- Immediately he says,

"I don't know what the heck
you guys are doing here,

But there's no way there's a
laboratory here in wichita."

- We were aware

That this was a national
priority drug investigation,

But fentanyl certainly
wasn't a problem in wichita.

We weren't seeing any fentanyl
on the streets at the time.

(soft music)

But then we learned that

Someone had overdosed
in a lab in wichita

While they were making fentanyl.

They had actually been
taken from the lab

To a hospital via ambulance.

- We knew it was recent.

So we got all the drug calls
from the emergency services.

- And we began scouring

Through all the ambulance
records trying to figure out

Who this might have been and
where this might have been.

Sure enough, we found
one of our persons

Of interest had overdosed

At a nondescript building
in a little industrial park.

(tense music)

(sirens blaring)

- According to the report,

Joseph martier was picked
up in what was thought to be

A legitimate chemical
company laboratory.

- It was indeed revived at a
location in goddard, kansas.

- Goddard, kansas
is a little town

That sits 15, 20
miles west of wichita.

That's a sleepy little
town, nice town.

I don't think you
would ever think

Of goddard, kansas
playing a major role

In drug investigation,

Certainly, not a national
priority drug investigation.

- But if you know marquardt's
criminal background,

You know it makes perfect sense.

Marquardt's made a career
out of hiding in plain sight,

Using small town america
is the perfect cover

For his crimes.

(tense music)

First, heroin in
waukesha, wisconsin,

Then methamphetamine
in beggs, oklahoma,

And now, fentanyl
in goddard, kansas.

- I went out and I
checked out the address

For prairie lab.

I was able to peek
through the windows

And see the laboratory
equipment for processing drugs.

And we saw the waste left behind

That indicated that
it was being used

For drug manufacturing.

- Investigators
immediately put prairie lab

Under round the
clock surveillance.

- We threw just about every
resource we had at it,

Agents, electronic surveillance.

- [john] within a short time,

The agent spot marquardt.

- He was wearing his
overalls, his flannel shirt,

And he had his
pittsburgh knit cap on.

To me, he looked
like a good old boy

Who was just in
from the country.

I would not recognize marquardt,

And say, "oh yeah, that
guy's a laboratory chemist

Or a drug dealer."

From there, he went to his home,

(car door thuds)

And we kept surveillance
on him at that point on.

(intense music)

- Law enforcement has finally
put eyes on the chemist

And the laboratory
responsible for producing

The deadly street fentanyl
for the past two years.

Incredibly, it is at the
time, the only known source

Of street fentanyl in
the entire united states.

But as this national
investigation now closes in

On small town kansas,

The agent's next moves
will be critical.

- Your first instinct is to
run in and seize the lab,

But the ideal solution
is to get them

When they're
manufacturing the product.

You wanna catch them red handed.

- Based on the last meeting
between fentanyl distributor,

Christopher moscatiello and
undercover agent, german blanco.

The agents believe marquardt
will be cooking a new batch

Of drugs within a few weeks.

- So we wait.

- [george] saying but true
fact about the drug business is

You tend to get mad at people

When they don't
deliver the money

And you're quite forgiving of
their bad habits if they do.

Again, it was all
about paying me.

Martier and moscatiello
came up with the money.

So I began to prepare to make
another batch of fentanyl.

- According to our intelligence,

We thought that we
now reached a point

Where we could finally shut
down the fentanyl laboratory.

(soft music)

But we knew martier and
moscatiello were not

In the wichita area.

It was only marquardt himself.

- [john] to ensure the criminals
cannot alert one another.

Agents formulated a plan to
arrest marquardt in wichita,

Martier in pittsburgh,

And moscatiello in boston,

All at the same time.

- This was gonna be
a coordinated effort.

(tense music)

(car door clangs)

We had to make sure that we
all move forward together.

- There were a lot of balls
in the air, so to speak,

(intense music)

- [john] but ensuring
the arrests unfold

In tandem is only part
of the agent's concerns.

They must also prepare
for how to safely seize

And dismantle the fentanyl lab

While marquardt
is in the process

Of actually cooking
the lethal drug.

(tense music)

- A paramount concern to us
was what are the ramifications

For everyone else involved,

Whether they be
businesses close by

Or people that are just
walking down the streets.

(intense music)

I remember one conference call,

The purpose of that particular
phone call was coordinating

How we would take this lab down

And dea's expert on fentanyl,
jack fasanello weighed in.

Fasanello specifically mentioned

That when they were
cooking this fentanyl,

If it got in the airstream,

It could do serious harm to
people even causing death.

- I said, listen,
dangerous chemicals

And final product were
being produced at this place

That can let vapors
out into the air.

And if the winds go
in the wrong way,

It could be a
recipe for disaster

Because of the
chemicals and the fumes.

- I just remember interrupting

And saying, "jack, you
know, this is kansas.

The wind blows every
single day in kansas.

There's never a day the wind
doesn't blow in kansas."

And jack says, "well, that
could be a huge, huge concern."

And then I interjected
again and said,

"just a couple hundred feet
away is a daycare center."

And when I said that,

There was just dead silence

Despite having six, seven
offices on the conference call,

A word wasn't said for
four or five, six seconds.

It seemed like half an hour,
everyone's priorities changed

Because of that daycare center.

- At that point, it
was necessitated that
we seized the lab

As soon as possible.

(intense music)

- On the morning of
February 3rd, 1993,

The dea agents put
their plan into action.

(intense music)

In wichita, kansas,

Agents close in on prairie
lab and marquardt's home.

Soon they will take down
the only known source

Of illicit fentanyl
in the entire country.

- We all gathered together
very early that morning.

There was a lot of pressure

Because we had a
lot riding on them.

- Well, that effort that
went into this case,

I mean, no one does
these cases alone.

(intense music)

- I was at the home of george
marquardt that morning.

(intense music)

George ended up driving to
right where my car was parked.

So I activated my emergency
lights and I got out

And informed him that
he was under arrest.

George got out of the
car with his hands up

And his first comment was,

"I can't believe it took
you guys this long."

(sirens blaring)

- I was looking at
astonishment at a huge number

Of people out there, all
looking directly at me.

Barry jamison introduced
himself to me and that was it.

And they hold me off
in a big old limousine

To the drug enforcement
administration.

(recorder clicking)

- So it's approximately 3:25 pm,

Wednesday, February
the third, 1993.

Present in the room is
mr. George erik marquardt.

We are interviewing
mr. Marquardt

Relative to the
fentanyl trafficking.

(tense music)

Mr. Marquardt, you're waiving
your rights to talk to us,

Is that correct?

- [george] I am
indeed waiving them.

- Okay.

- After we arrested him,

He just sat there and had
a conversation with us.

He's very matter of fact.

He's just, "well,
I'm under arrest.

Okay, what do you wanna know?"

- [agent] what was your role?

- [george] to
manufacture the drug.

- [agent] okay, and what
was moscatiello's role?

- [george] sell drugs.

- [agent] how about martier?

- [george] act as the go-between

Between myself and moscatiello.

It didn't really matter
if I cooperated or not.

I was going to get a ton
of time, I knew that.

Have you ever seen a drug dealer

That will tell all the truth?

You might be seeing
one right now,

But this might be your
last time. (laughs)

- What really surprised us was

He's got this
infectious personality.

He's very charismatic.

- I imagine you guys
are gonna find me,

A crossbar room at the
crossbar hotel. (laughs)

- You gotta keep
reminding yourself.

Wait a minute, this
guy's a death merchant.

Death and destruction, follow
him everywhere he goes.

He knows he's killing people

And he has no problem with that.

- [agent] what was the total
price for the pure fentanyl?

- [george] I managed to bring in

Slightly over $100,000 a year.

(tense music)

- George made a lot of money,

But I don't think george was
ever in this for the money.

I think george was doing this

Because nobody else could do it.

- [agent] who's ed loibl?

- [george] he's my
next-door neighbor.

- [agent] did he know
what was going on?

- [george] no, no, no.

- The morning the dea showed up,

There was more trucks than
you can imagine seeing,

Hazmat, everybody.

- [reporter] federal
agents raided several sites

In sedgwick county,

Including this
warehouse in goddard.

- Hazardous as far as-
- news channel showed up.

And that's when I found out
that he was getting arrested

For making drugs.

(tense music)

Said he's had a real high iq,

Maybe his smarter
than we all know.

- [reporter] the dea
also found another lab

And more chemicals at
this west wichita hole.

The raids have shut down
the only known source

Of the deadly drug, fentanyl.

47-year-old george
marquardt is being charged

With manufacturing the drug.

- People started calling us
on the phone for interviews.

I didn't talk to them
because it was rough.

I remember one of the first
things I thought is, you know,

I'm so glad my parents are gone.

I, that would've
just killed them.

It was really bad.

- As far as the dea's concerned,

I don't know if there's
gonna be a more significant

Investigation that we worked.

- It just goes to show you

That these things are
closer than you think.

(tense music)

- News of the kansas'
fentanyl lab bust is reported

Across the country.

(soft music)

In pittsburgh, the arrest
of fentanyl middleman,

Joseph martier goes
off without a hitch.

But the planned
arrest of boston-based
fentanyl distributor,

Christopher moscatiello
never happens.

(tense music)

- [reporter] all of
this may be connected

To a murder in boston.

(tense music)

- I was in wichita when the
boston office calls me up

Telling me that they went
to arrest moscatiello,

They executed a search
warrant on his house,

But he was not there.

- I was known at
the county jail.

A fellow came by, he said,
"you have a partner in boston?"

"hmm, how would you know?"

And I laughed and he
says, "he's dead."

"he was assassinated."

- Moscatiello was found
dead by a roadway,

Driving a rental car.

He was found shot
twice in the back

And then a closeup shot
to the back of his head.

- After chris was murdered,

I drove up to massachusetts,

(car engine buzzing)

I went to the funeral home

And I walked in and
there were two men.

I didn't know them,
I'd never met them.

One of them was the
funeral director

And the other one
was michael murray.

I only knew him by name.

And only on a couple of
occasions had I heard his name,

Just that he was
chris' best friend.

I looked at michael
murray and we locked eyes,

And immediately, I just had
this overwhelming feeling

That he had killed chris.

(intense music)

- According to the state
troopers at the scene,

The footprints leading up to
moscatiello's body were made

By a particular sneaker,

The saucony brand of sneakers,

(intense music)

Which I happen to know
michael murray wore

(intense music)

All the time.

(soft music)

- I think the organized
crime types up in boston

Got rid of moscatiello
because they felt

That he would be a
future danger to them.

I don't know about bulger,

But he certainly would've
been linked to murray

And moscatiello might retaliate
by supplying information

That would allow
the federal people

To file further indictments.

They decided to terminate

(gun firing)

The problem.

- But there was no
evidence, no witnesses,

Nobody who could

Say that he'd done it.

- Michael murray was
never linked formally

To this, the defensible
investigation.

But I always wondered
whether or not

He indeed might have been
part of the financing

With christopher moscatiello
with regard to the laboratory

And whether he was benefiting
himself financially from that.

(intense music)

But don't know.

We won't know because
murray at that point

Just stopped cooperating.

- But he shouldn't be
out walking the streets.

He shouldn't be free.

He should be behind bars
for the rest of his life.

Well, I know chris
was trafficking drugs,

But he was a human being.

And I would want people to
know the human side of chris

And that he was my
brother and I loved him.

(soft music)

- At the time, 126 deaths
are directly traced

To the street fentanyl, produced
by george erik marquardt.

It is suspected the true
total is closer to a thousand.

If not for the incredible
efforts of law enforcement,

That number would
be even higher.

- Fentanyl is just
really becoming a new or,

Or the ending in,

In the drug community.

It is extremely
hazardous as far-

We seized the first
known fentanyl lab

In the united states.

One day there was fentanyl
popping up in cities

All across the east coast.

There were people dying.

We take the lab down and the
fentanyl problem is solved.

There is no more
fentanyl problem.

- At the time, this lab was
the only lab that was used

To manufacture fentanyl.

- So I think we really
prevented the deaths

Of a lot of people.

- I felt very proud that I was
part of that investigation,

That I was able to contribute
to fighting evil, if you will.

- The shutdown of the
kansas lab keeps fentanyl

Off the streets of america
for the next 20 years.

(intense music)

But marquardt's operation also
proves to be an inspiration

For future fentanyl
manufacturers.

(intense music)

- I think law enforcement did
a great job with this case,

But I think as time has gone by,

The real winner in
this was fentanyl.

Fentanyl being popular,
fentanyl being a money maker.

Fentanyl itself all
came onto the scene

Because of george marquardt.

- It's my opinion that
prairie labs and tango & cash,

Or tx screen, whatever
you want to call it,

Was the forerunner

For these mexican
cartels getting involved

Because it allowed
them to realize

How valuable fentanyl is

And how they wouldn't
have to deal with

Opium-producing countries.

- Only now, newer,
better technology allows

Clandestine chemists around
the world to easily replicate

Marquardt's formula
for street fentanyl.

And so driven by
the immense profits,

The demand created by
the opioid epidemic

And the crackdown on
prescription pills

That began in the 2010s, the
current fentanyl crisis begins.

(intense music)

- It all started with george.

He's the godfather of fentanyl.

(tense music)

- For creating the lethal drug,

George erik marquardt
is sentenced

To 25 years in federal prison.

(intense music)

Middleman, joseph martier
is sentenced to 30 years.

To this day, the murder of
the operations financier,

Christopher moscatiello
remains officially unsolved,

Leaving the question of
the boston mobs association

With the fentanyl lab and their
true intentions unanswered.

(intense music)

- [george] remember
I told him that

Moscatiello wanted me to make
him some 3-methylfentanyl?

(liquid sloshing)

And I thought maybe the
organized crime types up

In boston wanted to
weaponize this stuff.

(tense music)

- When I interviewed him,

He never really understood why
they wanted 3-methylfentanyl.

It was so powerful.

The weight of a fingerprint
is enough to kill two people.

- Well, I did find out ways

That I could crystallize

Enormous amounts of
3-methylfentanyl.

I had to construct a
special piece of equipment,

Which I don't think
we need describe here.

It was a big, big project

That I messed with for
probably close to a year.

- At one point about the
time marquardt was arrested,

I got a call to come to boston

Because in a storage locker

There was something like
30 pounds of fentanyl.

They wanted to
transport it to new york

And have me analyze it.

So back in my lab, I
opened the garbage can

And there are ziploc baggies.

And I read on the top
of one in pen 3-mf.

(tense music)

It was 3-methylfentanyl.

3-methylfentanyl, don't forget,

Could be much more powerful
than fentanyl itself

And could be a terrorist
weapon for sure.

But this 3-methylfentanyl
wasn't pure.

It had byproducts in it.

(tense music)

I was surprised

Because george was the
good clandestine chemist.

I think if george was into it,

He could have
manufactured relatively
pure 3-methylfentanyl.

But I don't think
he was into it.

His heart wasn't in it,

If he had a heart.

(intense music)

- Yeah, I'm a drug manufacturer
and a career criminal,

But I'm not a terrorist.

So I messed with it.

- He told me later that he
was very concerned about

The potential use of this
as a chemical weapon.

He knew that the murray
brothers had these connections

To the irish republican army.

(tense music)

So he made a lower
potency version

That wasn't quite as deadly
as the one they had in mind.

- [george] I just gave the junk

3-methylfentanyl to moscatiello,

Told him to do what
they wanted with it.

What became of it after that,

I knew nothing about.

(intense music)

- He never shared his suspicions

About the chemical weapon
aspect of this thing

With dea or fbi, they
both interviewed him
after his arrest,

Mostly because he didn't want

The boston mob
people doing to him

What they had just done
to chris moscatiello.

But if there was
this terrorist plot,

It was probably at the
impetus of joe murray,

Who was the big ira supporter.

Well, his wife had killed him
in self-defense up in maine

In September of '92,

A few months before the
fentanyl bust in wichita.

If there was that possibility,

I think it died with joe murray.

And I think that
was what happened.

It could be that
we just got lucky.

- [george] his wife shot him.

Good for susan. (laughs)

(intense music)

- I was introduced to george
marquardt's week in 1995.

Some of my friends told me,

"well, there's a
guy you gotta meet.

There's a guy you gotta meet.

He's a chemist like you."

And we became best friends.

He would walk around and
people would complain to him

And he would say,
"I love prison."

'cause you know, he had more
time than almost anybody.

So that was his
thing, "I love prison.

What are you complaining about?"

And they would ask him,
"why did you do it?"

And he would say,
"I'm a criminal."

And he was so smart that you,

You could almost breathe
in his intelligence

When you talk to the man,

It's something
I'll never forget.

(soft music)

- In may of 2015,

After serving 22
years of his sentence,

Marquardt is given compassionate
release from prison,

Following a cancer diagnosis.

- We picked him up from
the halfway house in kansas

And he came to live with
me in waukesha, wisconsin,

Which is the town
where we grew up.

(soft music)

- It's not like he ever
pretended to be a good person.

- [mary] he always
admitted what he did.

- He never said he was
sorry 'cause he wasn't.

- But yet, I think it was
important for him not to think

He was as evil as
some people he'd met.

He always said everybody
made their own decisions.

You know, there are
limitations to that so-

- Yeah.

- [gini] but he had
to live with himself.

(soft music)

- After revealing
his story to retired

Oklahoma bureau of narcotics
agent turned author,

John madinger,

Marquardt passes away from
cancer in August, 2017.

Ironically, he dies with
a fentanyl drip in his arm

And he takes one final
secret with him to the grave.

(tense music)

- [george] my secret laboratory?

I don't really feel
comfortable discussing it.

(keyboard clanking)

- He had one secret
that he took with him.

That's the missing lab.

Where's the lab?

We know in '93, dea got
one lab in goddard, kansas.

And we know they got the lab

That he had at his
house in wichita,

But they never found
any assets in his name.

They never found
where the money went.

And they know there was
a lot of money made.

- Supposedly, they had not
found the majority of his lab

Because according to him,

He was only like
maybe a few days

From being gone
from prairie labs.

And so the majority

Of his stuff he said was
already gone and hidden.

(intense music)

- One of his plans for the
future before he got arrested,

Was to actually take
the whole operation

And put it in one of these
old abandoned missile silos

That are in kansas

'cause it had
everything you needed,

It had the ventilation
systems, it had electricity.

(clock ticking)

- I guess it's not inconceivable

He'd want something
to start life out on

If he ever got out again.

But he never told us, the
location of the secret lab.

(tense music)

- It could be just a story,

But I certainly believed it

And I certainly wouldn't
put it past him.

(intense music)

- I absolutely
think it's possible

Because once a
clandestine chemist,

Always a clandestine chemist.

(tense music)

- If marquardt's secret
lab is still out there,

It's thought to be
hidden somewhere

In the middle of the country,

Protected by deadly booby traps

And filled with his
most valuable equipment,

At least a quarter of a
million dollars in cash

And up to 30 pounds of fentanyl.

One final act of defiance

By the man who is
still to this day,

The deadliest
clandestine chemist

In american history.

(tense upbeat music)

(tense music)

(tense music continues)

(tense upbeat music)

(tense upbeat music continues)

(tense upbeat music continues)