 The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, long cigarettes brings you drag met. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to narcotics detail. A gang of veteran dope peddlers moves into your city. They offer a hundred thousand dollars worth of heroin for sale. They make their contacts. They're ready to do business. Your job. Stop them. You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima with other long cigarettes. Buy a pack of Fatimas. You'll find they now cost the same. Light a Fatima. Your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different. Yes, what a difference. In Fatima, the difference is quality. You see, Fatima is the quality king-size cigarette because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild with a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. Because of its quality, its extra mildness, its better flavor and aroma, Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast to coast. Try comparing Fatima yourself. Fatima's now cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima, the quality king-size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow. Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Wednesday, June 24th. It was sultry in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out in narcotics. My partner's Ben Romero, the boss's thad brown chief of detectives. My name's Friday. It was 9.27 a.m. when I got to the cheering cross apartments on 12th Street. The side entrance. Better. One of the fellas in the crime lab came out and faced it last night, went next to her and replaced the microphone. I'm getting real sour on this detail, Joe. Well, here, let me take over for a while. Yeah, you betcha. Come here. My ears feel like a couple of baked cauliflower. Two solid weeks hold up in this place with a pair of earphones on. What do we got the show for? That woman next door hasn't even mentioned narcotics in two weeks. All she does is eat, sleep and play solitaire. She goes out for groceries once in a while. Hold it. Somebody ring in the buzzer next door. First visit in a week. Yeah. What is it? I talked to a friend of yours, George. I thought it might be a good idea if I looked you in. What do you want to see me about? Miss Miss Washburn, could we talk inside? All right, come on in. May I plug in these earphones, Joe? Yeah, go ahead. I'd like to introduce myself, Miss Washburn. My name's Howard Scully. You and George were former associates, I understand. We worked together a little. What can I do for you? Well, George and I are old friends. We were in business in Hong Kong before the war. It's a nice fellow, George. Now, I have a date down town in half an hour. I don't have much time to talk. Sorry, I didn't realize you're in such a hurry. I'll get my two coins. Yeah. My business partners and I just came up from Mexicali a few days ago and we have some merchandise that's ready for the market. That's good quality. That's what I hear. I contacted George thinking he might introduce me to some prospective buyers. Said he didn't want to handle any merchandise at this time. Why not? Oh, it's something about the police. They seem to be watching him. Just didn't want to take any part in any business ventures. I'm just kidding. George gave you a bum steer sending it to me. I can't help it. Well, you haven't heard my proposition. I don't have to hear it. Count me out. I don't fool around with junk. Any of it. It's a tough rap out here. Well, if you would just listen to my proposition before I'm done. No, please, I'm not asking you to be involved. I'm perfectly safe and legitimate transaction in mind. You'll be well paid for your time and effort with no risk whatsoever. Yeah, I know. All you big connections make it sound good. George tells me you're acquainted with the right kind of people. People with money hands. The kind of people with my partners. And I want to meet them. All I'm asking you to do is interview a few such persons for our mutual benefit and then you just leave the rest to me. Yeah, it's still too much. If I gave you an office to a buyer and you were caught they'd get me for conspiracies. No, I've seen too much of it's no sale. Well, you just have to believe me, Miss Forestman. No one's going to be caught. Now we work in an entirely different manner. The police haven't any idea of our method of operation. We've tested it in six big cities in the Orient. And not once did it fail us, and I tell you it's not going to fail us here. It's your story. I'm not chanting a rap to prove you're wrong. What? Here, do you want a cigarette? Yes, thank you. Now I'm only asking one thing, Miss Forestman, an introduction to the right party and that sort of thing. Now you know my reputation. I'll make it well with your wife. If the connection is right you can live on your take for the rest of the year. I don't have many friends, just a few and I guarantee for my pay off. Well, I can deposit the money with George. He'll hold it until the deal is made. Be real rich, Miss Forestman. Come on, what do you say? An introduction, that's all. That's all we'll need. Now, the product speaks for itself. I know a fellow out in Hollywood. His name's Mick Millen. I can call him telling me to meet you. I'll be fine, how so? I'm not going to introduce you. No, that will be fine. I'll set up a meet for you, that's all. All right, that's all we ask. Do you have this, Mr. Mick Millen? Mick Millen. You have him meet me tonight? I think so, yes. That's fine. Now tonight, 11.30, I'll be at the corner of 7th and Alameda. Now, remember this now. Yeah, hurry. Corner of 7th and Alameda at 11.30, exactly. I'll have on a gray coat and I'll be carrying a book. I don't think Millen shouldn't have any trouble wrecking out of me. You just tell him to walk right up to me, put out his hand and say, my name's Mick Millen. That's all. I'll know if he's the right party. My name's Mick Millen. That's all he has to say. All right, I've got it. I'll pass it on. You're fine. Well, I'll make arrangements with George as soon as possible. Take care of your fee. Thank you very much, Miss Washburn. Not at all. Just don't be too sure of yourself. The fuzz in this town could smell by three miles away. You'll take care of the police, Miss Washburn. An assistant should teach him a few lessons. Well, goodbye, Miss Washburn. Thanks very much. Yeah, a doctor. Don't come here after this. Call me on the phone. Sir. No, wait a minute. She's going for the phone. Come on, try the door. It's locked. What do you want? Police officer. All right, what's the pitch? I'd like to talk to you downtown. About what? Howard Scully. What about him? We know why he was here. Get your coat, please. I haven't done anything. Come on, lady, let's go. I told Scully I didn't want any. He made the proposition, but I didn't buy it. You know that. I didn't buy a word of it. We did. Before the suspect was taken downtown, we informed her landlady to tell anyone that she'd be out of town for a week. That information was to be passed on any of her friends or business acquaintances who might try to contact her. After that, we took May Washburn back to the office. After being questioned thoroughly, she was detained for further investigation. At 2 p.m., Ben and I met with Captain Kearney, Central Narcotics, and Inspector Virgil Beckner, State Narcotics Bureau's Southern Division. $100,000 buy, is that what they have in mind? That's the word around Times Gipper. Washburn girl told us the same thing. Washburn woman was approached from the office, huh? Yes, that's right, Beck. She was ready to go when we picked her up. Pushers Howard Scully, you remember him? About nine years ago, wasn't it? The T-1 idea? Eight or nine years, yeah. That big heroine buy, they tagged everyone of the gang but Scully. Yeah, he's no Amazon. He's got every narcotic law in the book memorized. He sets the deals, takes the gravy, but he never gets tagged. How about the federal narcotics men in Romero? They've been briefed on this deal? I called Harry Stono that this morning. They've been following it, too. He'd be over this afternoon. The setup of this big millen guy. What do you think, Captain? Clear sail in there, Beck, as far as I can see. Scully set up the meet with May Washburn. Ben and Joe grabbed her before she could contact with Millen. Unless Scully's got a Ouija board, he still must figure everything's Jake. Then we could have a man meet with Scully tonight and pass himself off as McMillan. Well, it shouldn't be too much trouble from the way he talks. Scully's never seen McMillan. Has no idea what he looks like. It's just a guess. Neither one of you are known to Scully, are you? I never met him or his friends. I worked at Case last February when we grabbed Ray Mordek. He used to be a mule for Scully. That's the closest I've been. I'm afraid that's too close. You know how many hype friends Murdock has in this town? If any of them spot you and pass the word to Scully, the whole deal's choked off. Joe, I think you could pass yourself off as McMillan for a couple of days. I'd like to give it a try. Back, what do you think? Good as me. We can help with the tailing. Only one possible hitch I can see. Yeah. But not positive that this guy McMillan's a total stranger to Scully. I'm sure it sounded like it, didn't it, Joe? Waste Scully and the washpin girl were talking. It's possible Scully might have seen a picture of McMillan. Maybe he knows something on his background, his habits, how he does business. Well, it's possible, yeah. Suppose Scully starts asking the questions, Joe. How are you going to cover it? Well, we can talk to the washpin girl again. She might brief us. Now, if we need the guy's life history, let's pick it up firsthand. How do you mean? Get McMillan. Late that afternoon, Stanley McMillan was located at a small restaurant out in the valley and quietly placed under arrest. He was booked at one of the outlying stations on suspicion of violating the State Narcotics Act. We questioned him and got all the necessary information on his background that we needed. He told us that he had never seen or had any dealings before with Howard Scully. 7.30 p.m. I went home, changed my clothes, put away my gun, ID card, and the rest of my identification. An hour later, I checked in at a small hotel near 5th and Main Streets. 11.15 p.m. I left the hotel and started for 7th and Alameda Streets where the scheduled meet with Howard Scully was to take place. As in most cases, there was one all-important rule that I had to work by. If the suspects were to be arrested and successfully prosecuted, we had to get them with narcotics in their possession or under their control. And one of the first things that the working detective learns is that dealers such as Scully rarely do the actual handling of narcotics except at the actual moment of sale. If the officer fails to make an arrest at that moment, the odds are stacked heavily against the conviction of the narcotics criminal. 11.30 p.m. I got to the corner of 7th and Alameda Streets. I walked up to a man standing by a lamp post. With short, heavily built dark hair, dark eyes, and a small scar on his chin. He had on a gray coat and he carried a book under one arm. I put out my hand. Yes? My name's Macmillan. Oh, glad to know you, Mr. Macmillan. My name's Scully. Why are you? I understand we have mutual friends. Is that correct? That's what I'm told, yeah. You're from Louisiana originally, New Orleans? No. Oh, so? I thought you were from Louisiana. Well, Missouri, St. Louis. Oh, I see. I suppose we go for a drive, huh? My hotel's down on 5th. We could talk there. Oh, I think my car would be better. I can't afford to waste time. I've got customers waiting. Oh, you can believe me, this won't be a waste of time. I'm prepared to do business. All right, let's go. Fine. Oh, great, Macmillan. All right, thanks. Oh, will you raise that handle on the other side so I can get in? Yeah, sure. Fine, thank you. You can't be too careful in that way out here. Yeah, that's right. There's a lot of heat. Oh. I hope none of it's on you. Don't worry, I'm clean. No, it's on books. But I'd be here if there were. I've got customers to protect good customers. Fine. You know, maybe we can do business. How much can you handle? How much you got? How about $10,000 worth? Standard rate for a measure. I'll have to cut it off. Sounds fair. We drove three more blocks and then Scully pulled the car to a stop underneath a row of spreading palm trees on a deserted street. He pulled the emergency brake on, then he turned to me, clamped my arms to my sides and shook me down. What's the pitch here? What's the idea? No offense, Mr. Pillen. Symbol precaution in case you had a gun. What do you take me for, mister? I'm not used to doing business this way. That might go real great in the east, but it's nothing out here. I said no offense. This is a hot town. You could be a fuzz. You can't be too careful. You know that. Yeah. You don't have to pull that careful stuff with me. Who set up this meet anyway? I may wash. All right. If you can't trust her, you can't trust me. Or maybe I'm not in the mood for business. Oh, come on. Take it easy, Mac. We're not this right, and we've both got a good deal. Well, let's get to the point. Where's this stuff? You bring the money, we'll bring the merchandise. Wait a minute. The car that pulled up behind us. Let's get out of here. If you're nervous, Mac, relax. That's my partner. Come on, I'll introduce you. All right. Jim, this is Mac Miller. Mac. My partner, Jim Rhodes. Roy. Yeah. Do we do business, Howard? The guy's all right, Jim. He's ready to score. How much does he want? Whole bundle. 10 Gs worth. Can you handle that, Mac Miller? I'd say so if I couldn't. I don't give it away. You get the money, you get the stuff. When? 10 Gs worth tonight. Rest next week. Well, midnight now. What do you expect me to do? Bring the money with me? Howard will pick you up at 3 a.m. Same corner. Sure. Well, that doesn't give me much time, does it? It's enough time. If you're really looking, if you're just shopping, we'll forget about it right now. A lot of my customers live out of town. That's interesting. 10 grand is no geezer. I suppose I can't get all the money together. Then don't show up. All or nothing. You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police force in action. Ah, that's different. Yes, what a difference. There's a difference you can hear. There's a difference you can see. But the difference in Fatima is quality. Yes, friends, when you compare long cigarettes, you'll find that in Fatima, the difference is quality. Quality of tobaccos. The finest Turkish and domestic varieties extra mild and superbly blended to give you a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. Quality of manufacture. Smooth plump cigarettes rolled in the finest paper money can buy. Quality even to the appearance of the bright clean yellow package. Carefully wrapped and sealed to bring you Fatima's rich, fresh, extra mild flavor. Fatima's cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima, the quality king-size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow. June 25th, Thursday, 12.30 a.m. I had two and a half hours to raise $10,000. The narcotics dealers, Howard Scully and his partner Jim Rhodes had laid it out for me. Either I had the money by 3 a.m. or there was no deal. If it failed to come off, our plan to trap the narcotics gang would be worth nothing. Rhodes and Scully could possibly find another buyer without our knowledge, make a deal and flood the market with their store of narcotics. I knew it would be impossible to get the $10,000 together. We had only one alternative. Fake our way as best we could. I went back to the hotel, put a call through to Captain Kearney at the office and told him what had happened. He went to work on it. The narcotic details emergency funds set up for such purposes. We got together $600. From Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, Deputy Chief White, State Narcotics Bureau and anyone else available by phone, we succeeded in rounding up another $350. 2.30 a.m. The money was tied in two small bundles with hundreds, fifties and twenties on top. $1 bills were sandwiched in between. The two bundles were placed in a briefcase and delivered to me at the hotel on Fifth Street. The gun was also in the briefcase. I took it out, put it in my pocket, closed the briefcase. 2.45 a.m. I left the hotel with the money and started for the big meet. 3 a.m., 7th and Alameda. Like Mellon, how are you? Scully. We're down this way. You got the money? Your pal said all or nothing. I got it. Let's have a look. How about the merchandise? We can check at the cards right down here. The money? Yeah, that's right. I got the money. Now, how about a look at the stuff? I'd like to know what I'm buying. You can stop on the way for a sample. Okay, Howard. Care for something, McMullen? What do you got? Cashew nuts. Have some. Thank you. There's lots of heat in this town. The cops are thick as flies. Yeah, that's right. It's a rough time, I gotta be careful. What's the reason, anyway? When to start? About six weeks ago. Those tagged some high school kids after them. Huh? Or four? Well, they were regular hypes. Just punks, 18-year-olds, a couple of them were 17. Young squirts. Again, the heat's gonna get worse. One of the punks cast in yesterday, redded in the paper, overdosed. Not gonna help this one. Well, I'll tell you one thing. I'm playing close. I got good customers, and I'm not gonna risk my neck. How much stuff do you think you can handle a month, McMullen? No thanks no more. Oh, I got about 30 mainliners. They're regular and they're sure. Eight, ten ounces a week, but they like good stuff. No alley hype, Jim. Hard must have told you. It's all we handle, good stuff. If it goes right, we could make it a permanent connection, will ya? We'll like to see what you're offering first. You'll have a good look. All right, Howard, you know where to pull up. Yeah. You're staying at Karmic Mountain. All right. All right, Mac, you can get out. Some of the best white stuff you've seen in a long time. Satisfy yourself? Hmm, okay, it's standard. It's all good, not just that sample. Okay, I'll go. Okay, now how about the money? All right, have a look. There you are. One stack. Two stacks, 100s, 20s, 10s. A few fives in there. It's 10 grand. Satisfying? Okay. Jim? Right. Excuse me, Mac, just a minute. I'm just checking. What do you think you're doing? Get your lousy hands off of me. No offense, McMullen needs a simple precaution. Precaution's nothing. We're doing business, aren't we? You shook me down once tonight. Now how many times are gonna take you? No offense, Mac. You just check them, that's all. All right then, suppose I fan you two down. I got the dough. How do I know this isn't a hijack deal? Now come on, this business works both ways. Either we have a deal or we don't. We play ball on both sides or not at all. I'm getting second tired of taking second place. Okay, Mac, okay, take it easy. Forget it, Howard. Let's all go back to the car. Sure. I'm sorry, Mac. No offense. Okay, let's close the deal. Where are we gonna go? Don't worry, it's a safe place. Okay, Howard. 3.35 a.m. In another hour, it had started getting light. I knew they'd planned to have the buy take place before then. According to our plan, Ben and Sergeant Hunt, along with the other team of men from the state narcotics bureau, they were to tail us to the place of the meat and move in on a signal from me when the buy was actually in progress. 3.45 a.m. Scully drove out North Figaro on to Pasadena Avenue and turned right onto Avenue 43. We headed up Montecito Drive. The area became more deserted. There were no homes around, no buildings of any kind to provide cover for anybody that might be following. Somewhere below, we could hear the rattle of a freight train on its way to the Southern Pacific Yards. Off in the distance, I could see the lights of the city. They looked pretty far away. Scully finally pulled the car to a stop on the crest of the highest hill in the area. We got out. What do you think, Mac? It's a nice view. Yeah. Spent a long time finding this spot. We'll prove. Yeah? Bring him over here, gentlemen. Let's show him. You see there? A clear view of everything down below. At least half a mile in every direction. No chance of getting trapped up here. Pretty smart. That's the way I like to deal. There's any cops following us. We can see the lights before they get here. Plenty of time to cover up any evidence. Cops ask questions while we tell them we're just looking at real estate up here. It's pretty good, huh? Well, I got to hand it to you. You can't be too careful. What do you do for lookouts? Let me show you. Swede? Oh, Swede? Who's that? A friend. Yeah, Jim? What's the pitch? Who is this guy? Business pal of Howard and me. Swede, this is Mr. McMillan. What do you say? I do. Look how many people do you need to make a buy, Rhodes, huh? Swede's a lookout. It's a big fella, isn't it? We got enough people here for a Sunday picnic. We need a lookout. You just got finished saying it. We can't be too careful. Well, come on, let's wrap it up. Where's the stuff? Swede. You want to go? Okay, huh? How far does he have to go? Close by. Stuff was put away down the tall grass. Nobody ever found it. That's a good idea. I like the way you operate. Swede'll have the stuff for you in a minute. How about the money? Shall we count it? Rather wait until Swede gets back. Okay. Swede put it caught. Can't beat this spot, can you, McMillan? No, it's good. You had no idea how much time we spent looking for it. You did real good. He ain't. He ain't, though. Okay, thanks. Not the money, huh? Well, how about counting it out here? I'd feel better keeping an eye on that road down below. Okay, good idea. Well, it looks kind of mac, huh? Yeah, all right. There you go. There's one bundle, and there's the other. I'll count it, Jim. Yeah, snap it up. We've been here long enough already. And there's quite a few $1 bills here. Huh? Well, there's a few of them, but it's all there, Tim. Well, that's how it could be with all these ones. Yeah, let me see. Don't bother, Rhodes. Yeah, what are you trying to pull? I'd get away from the car, Scully. You too, Swede. Put the gun down, Mac. You won't get away with it. Get your hands behind your head. That means you too, Rhodes. Nobody's hijacked us, McMillan. You're not going to be the first one. It's no hijack, mister. This is a pinch. He's a fuzz. He's a lousy fuzz. I knew I should have found him again. Shut up, Howard. You know we can square this with you, Mac. Five grand cold cash. No questions. You're talking to yourself, Rhodes. I'll make it ten. Ten grand cash. Now you can't afford to pass that up. Come on. How about it, Mac? You're human just like we are. You can use the double. You keep your hands behind your head, mister. Use some sense, copper. Swede's as strong as a horse. I could put him on you. He'd break every bone in your body. You're going to have to get past this gun first. You're not going to stop all three of us. How do you think you're going to get back to town? Don't worry. He won't have to walk. Don't ever get us downtown. Swede will break you in half here. I'll kill you. You just gave me an idea, Rhodes. Huh? You're pretty tough. I shouldn't bother you. I'll kill the Swede right now. You and Scully can carry his body in front of me. We'll start walking down that road. We'll get the nearest place with a phone. I think that'll take care of it, won't it? He hasn't got the guts, Jim. Turn around, Swede. Look, don't kill me, mister. I'll go away. Don't shoot. Turn around. Stay where you are, Scully. Don't kill him, copper. Don't kill Swede. We'll do anything you say. Somebody coming. Look, Mac. We'll give you every dime we own. 50,000 bucks. And tell him nothing's happened. Ben. Over here. 50 grand, Mac. You can't lose. All right, Joe. Back. Back over this way. The three of them, Ben. Okay. All right. Behind you, Mac. Come on. Couldn't get here any sooner, Joe. I had to park at the bottom of the hill. They'd have seen us. Stand still, mister. We circled around on foot. Climbed up through the grass. That's beginning to think I lost you. All right, you two. Get him behind you, Mac. Back. All right, Joe. There's the junk right here. These two packages. Good. I thought I'd sew it up. Look, talk it over with your partners. I'm 50,000 bucks. You do the right thing. It's all yours. How about at 50 grand? You can't lose. What they talking about, Joe? Well, they got a big deal. They'll give us 50,000 if we let them go. How about it, Tex? You could use the dough, new car, new house. Just forget you ever saw us. He's his at 50,000 cash. What do you say, Tex, huh? Sorry, you got the wrong name. What? My name ain't Tex. I just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. In a moment, the results of their trial. Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you. In his training, the working detective has taught the importance of thoroughness. He has learned never to overlook even the smallest detail. What may seem unimportant to the novice may well be the one thing to help the working detective successfully culminate his case. So with a cigarette. The people who make Fatima are well trained and thorough in the manufacture of their cigarette. Fatimas contain the finest Turkish and domestic tobacco superbly blended. And pack after pack Fatima is extra mild. If you're a long cigarette smoker like I am, smoke Fatima. They cost the same. But in Fatima, the difference is quality. Smoke Fatima. May Washburn, Howard Lewis Scully, James Henry Rhodes and John Swede Nelson were tried and convicted. They received their sentences as prescribed by law and are now serving their term in the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases portions transcribed from official files. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.