 Ladies and gentlemen, 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 net. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to narcotics bureau. A vicious criminal has resumed operations in your city. His profession, dealer in narcotics. You know his name. You know he's guilty. Your job, prove it. If you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos, superbly blended to make Fatima extra mild. And that's why Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. That's why Fatima has more than doubled its smokers, coast to coast. So, if you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. 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 from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Thursday, January 21st. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of narcotics bureau. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, chief of detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way back in to work and it was 3.49 p.m. when I got to the main lobby of the city hall. Public phone booth. Hello, ma. This is Joe. I couldn't help but, ma, they changed the schedule. I got my stuff all right. Thanks for packing it. Yeah, I got them. All right. Listen, ma, I'll call you whenever I get the chance. Now, don't worry. How long are you going to be gone? I haven't any idea. Maybe a month. All depends. You can't. Call Ben. He'll get the message to me somehow. Well, I'm not going any place, ma. I'll be right here in the city, but I just won't be able to come home for a little while. It's a special job. No, like the last time. Well, we'll rest, but then get your rest. Okay, ma. I'll be all right. Why don't you invite the neighbors over? The Newtons? That'd be good coming for you. Maybe I'll ask your hand, Elizabeth, over. Now, don't worry. If you want to get in touch with me, you deliver the message to Ben, okay? Yes, sirs. Oh, it's just another job, ma. I'll work out. I'll call you when I can. Yeah, you too. Goodbye, ma. I left the phone booth and started down the corridor. I went up a short flight of stairs and turned left. The afternoon crowd in the city hall seemed heavier than usual. I walked past the elevators and turned right down another corridor. It was 3.58 p.m. and I got to room 24, Narcotics Bureau. Captain White? Hi, Joe. You want to take these? Yeah, sure. It's my badge. Okay. It's all my identification and my gun. Right. I'll take care of them for you. These clothes, look, are they? Just a minute. Now, let's see. Yeah. I don't like that tie. Romero? Yes, Gibber? Let's see your tie. Yeah, swap with Friday, will you, Ben? Christmas tie. It's pretty loud. Mine's not. That's the idea. Here. Here's some stuff to carry in your pocket. Social Security card, ID card, all made out to Joe Kiber. Some book matches from St. Louis, a couple from Reno, Nevada. Okay. You pick up another gun? I loaned him my 25-oh-to-man. It's small. It's easy to carry. Suit yourself. I don't have to tell you to be careful. No. It's a chance we've been waiting for, Joe. A lot depends on you. Do what I can. Just one thing I want to tell you. Take your time. Take all the time you need. Don't push it. I understand. No time limit. Your time's up when they find out who you are. Captain Lynn White and I left the narcotics bureau together with Ben and Johnny Bingham. We went down the hall to the office of Chief of Detectives Thad Brown. As in most major narcotic cases, the plan involved the coordinated work of all three offices, the federal, state, and our own local bureau. The operation involved a great many men and a lot of time. When we got to the Chief of Detectives office, two men were with him. Bill Craig, the agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics for the Southern California area, and Inspector Virgil Beckner, head of the State Narcotics Bureau for our district. All of us had one common goal, the apprehension and conviction of two men. Arthur Belmont and Ralph Costello. The first man on the list, Ralph Costello. Chief Brown outlined the overall plan. Craig, your federal men have been tracking Costello off and on for three years now. Beck's of your state agents. Same for our men. This time we can't afford to miss. You figure an undercover man working locally, right Chief? Yeah, Craig, you'll start right from the bottom, work up the line until he gets to Costello if he gets there. Beck, where are you going to start? Kevin Weiberjul laid out for Beck and Craig. Yeah, Friday here is going to handle the job. He's got his full instructions. Joe, you want to film me? All right. I'll make my first contact tonight. I'll meet in a bar down on South Pico with another one of our undercover men, Beni Arradondo. He'll introduce me as Joe Kiber to one of his informants. The informant is supposed to help get me into the Flats gang. The same bunch running on the south end of town? Yeah, small-time peddlers. Precurious little bit of everything. Go on Friday. When I get in the gang, I run with them until I find out where and how they make their buys. If you get a contact, you make buys all the way up the line and get as close as you can to the town. Yeah, that's right. You worked out your contact with us? He knows that under no conditions will he be seen around the department here. It's been set up that I have a hotel room lined up down on the east side. Romero here and Captain White will be my only contact with the office. I'll be using the name Joe Kiber. Sounds all right to me. How about you, Craig? How about that informant Friday? Can you count on him? Arradondo thinks a lot of him. He says he's a good man. He's the first rung on the ladder. He's got to be solid. If he's not, we won't have far to fall. It depends on how you look at it. You can kill yourself in the bathtub. 8 p.m. Thursday, January 21st. I checked in at the Casino Hotel on Terminal Street. I registered as Joe Kiber, Omaha, Nebraska. I was given the key for Room 5. The rent was $7 a week. I unpacked a few things I had in my bag and went down the hall and took a shower. I went down to the lunch room on the corner. I had an egg sandwich and a cup of coffee. It was 11.18 p.m. when I walked into Blue Wright's Bar and Grill. I ordered a beer and sat down. I watched the missing persons program on the television set above the bar. Blue somebody, Kiber? Hello, Benny. Been here long? I just got here. Where's your boy? Sitting over there with that fella in the blue suit. Name's Gene. Who is the guy in the blue suit? One of the flat's gang. Gene's lining up your introduction now. Guy's name is Ludwig. I call him Lud. He knows me as Steve. Right. What do we do? Sit tight till Gene gives us the word. Tie yours. Looks like it's on fire. Looks all right. I wouldn't wear it. Ludwig. You got an hotel, okay? You're all set. Room five. Gene wants us. Let's go. Hi, Steve. See, your boy got here. Yeah. Gene, meet Joe Kiber. Hi. This is Lud. Joe Kiber? Lud. Sit down. You like the fights, Kiber? Yeah. I got nothing out here in that line. I used to go to the garden when I was east. I got some fine cards to the legion. Where? Hollywood legion. Friday nights. Some classy-looking fighters out there. Where is that? Out in Hollywood. Nice little stadium. I'd like to go with you sometime. Tomorrow? I got a date. Maybe next week. Bring her along. A lot of women go. Not this one. Okay. Hey, you guys hungry? I could eat. Yeah. Joe? Sure. How about here? Nobody eats shit. Steamed table over there. The stuff smells pretty good. It's not as garbage if the wind's blowing the other way. Let's get a French tip sandwich. How about Galbra, serve one satelon? Okay. How about you guys? Sure. Let's go. All right. You from the east, Kiber? Omaha, Memphis. All around. Yeah. You don't talk very much. You do. You talk tough. Are you tough? Sometimes. This place we're going to go eat, sometimes a meat's tough too. Yeah. Just like a piece of tough meat, you can always cut it down to size. The following week at the fights, I met some of the other members of the Flats gang. They were a typical group of hoodlums. Unlike fiction writers have portrayed them, generally gangs of this type do not operate under a gang leader. Each member considers himself the best of the lot. For all practical purposes, they didn't need a leader. But as in any group, some men are more dominant than others. Lud was one of these. Because of his tough manner, I observed that the gang members placed confidence in Lud. It was then that I decided that I had to be tougher than he was if the gang was going to accept me. Five weeks went by, March 7th. There was still no mention by any of them that they were either using or dealing in narcotics. Come on in, Kiber, sit down. Lud. Kiber, me Jerry, Phil. Hi. I picked up the tickets for the basketball game tonight. Good seats? Yeah, they look okay. Got an extra doggy? Maybe I'll tag along. Yeah, we got four. You look kind of sad, Kiber. He always looks that way. First, he was tough, now he's sad with you in that mouth. You know it all, don't you? No offense, you look a little low. I don't know about you, Kiber, but I'm a little on the par. I'm gonna have myself a pop. You interested? No, I don't use it. Why don't you try it? You might get a kick out of it. I have. It's all right going up, but it's nothing coming down. That's where you make a mistake. Stay up. Don't come down. I love it. You heard what he said, Jerry. You don't like it. How does he know? He never stayed up long enough? Take your pop and shut up. You talk about Kiber trying to be tough. You think you're the big wheel around here? That's enough. You ought to quit giving orders, Lud. You know better than the rest. Look, little man, knock off. I kind of talk and keep us both happy. You, you. The boss, man. You know, I got one positive way to shut you. Why don't you two quit it? This concerns me and felt you keep your mouth shut. Well, don't get mad at me. I only wanted to save an argument. Canada, I say. Now, look, big mouth. You can push fella around, but not me. Now you're playing the tough guy again, ain't you? Why don't you go over there and sit down, huh? You set me down, punk. All right, now listen to me, both of you. I'm tired of being talked down to like a junior member of the firm. You either treat me equal or leave me alone. You understand? You had it coming, Lud. Yeah. I'll put that bottle down, Lud. Well, you get the gun. We carry that thing right along. Right along. Put it down, Lud. Okay. I'm long on memory, Cabba, remember that. Yeah, and I'm real short on patience with you. Well, I still hadn't had my pup. Better hurry. I don't want to miss the game. You got good seats, eh, Cabba? They're not too low. I can't see nothing if they're too low. Don't worry. You'll be high enough. Two months went by. By playing the tough guy, I gained a great deal of prestige in the eyes of the other gang members. Jerry Fell made sure that all the members heard about that episode up in Lud's Room. Dealers and users of narcotics rarely carry guns. The members of the Flats gang were small-time peddlers and users. They're referred to as mules or small fry. When they found that I carried a gun at all times, they were impressed. They considered me one of them. Since the very beginning of my undercover work, I met weekly with Ben Romero and Captain Lynn White of the Narcotics Bureau. I would be picked up at a different location each time, making sure that I wasn't followed and would remain in the car and drive around in a remote section of the city, discussing my progress with the gang. During this first three-month period, under the pretext that I had clients to furnish, I made two small narcotics buys. One for $13 and one for $8. As soon as the purchases were made, I would mark them for identification, contact Ben, and then turn the narcotics over to him to be booked as evidence by the property clerk at Central Division. Another month went by. We had just returned from the Midget Auto races and we were sitting around in Led's room. You mentioned something out at the races, carbon. I was on your mind. I told you, Ludd, I need a half a dozen caps right away. I got people putting a bite on me. Old customers. How old can they be? You've only been out here five months, remember? When they're hooked, they get to be old customers in a month. I fixed up two buys with moors for you. Tony says he can't handle anymore. I hasn't got enough around. You got on board late, you know. Tony can get more. Who's his source? I know him. How about an officer want him? He'll deal with Tony. You said he hasn't got enough. That's right, I did. Okay. How much do you want? Are your customers worth? They'll pay. What's the guy's name? Costello's one of them. He'll have enough for you. Who's the other guy? He'll deal with Costello for now. Where can I meet him? Marshall set it up for you. I gotta meet him now, huh? Come in. Police officers. Shake it down down a hole. What's the trouble? Checking for a robbery suspect. Find anything, George? Room's clean. We don't know anything about a heist. You'll have to come downtown and answer a few questions. It's a matter with you, fellow. You look like we spoiled your party. Yeah, you spoiled it. You are listening to DRAG NITS. Authentic stories of your police force in action. Now, here's an authentic report from Fatima Cigarettes. In 1940, they doubled its smokers from coast to coast. In 1950, enjoy Fatima yourself. You'll find Fatima extra mild. Because Fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make Fatima extra mild. You'll find Fatima tastes much better. Fatima's superb blend gives you a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. You'll find Fatima best in cigarette quality. Fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality. For a new year of greater smoking enjoyment, buy Fatima in the appealing golden yellow package. You'll agree, Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. The chance of my being picked up while working on an undercover assignment was one which all of us had considered. Since only a handful of men out of some 5,000 working police officers in the department knew anything about our narcotics investigation, we knew that such an occurrence was not impossible. It's one of the chances we had to take. In this instance, we lost and the critical meeting with one of the men we were after was forestall. How long our detention at police headquarters would delay my meeting with Ralph Costello was anybody's guess. Could mean weeks or maybe months. I was booked on suspicion of 211 PC, Robert. So was Lud. The next afternoon, I was taken from cell block 10D2 to the interrogation room. Come on in and sit down, Kiber. How are you, Friday? I was a tight squeeze. Book and numbers been canceled, Joe. Prints been stopped. Those two men from robbery who pulled me in the wind and down a hole. I thought I was in trouble for a minute. They had no idea you were in that room. Once they got up there, they had to follow through. Well, they played it right. They remembered their etiquette. If either one of them had said hello before you did, you might have been in big trouble. Well, I'm in big trouble anyway. I had a meet all set with Costello. Almost set, anyway. Just a case of bad timing in that pickup, huh? I don't think they'd get there two hours later. It might have been different. Well, how do you stand now? How close are you to Costello? I need some more money. I got to pay off Lud. He'll take you to Costello if you pay the right price? Yeah. Lud's working through a morse. You know about him. Remember, Friday, if there's any questions, when you get back to that gang, you were booked for CCW. You're out on bail. Yeah. I got you now the guns, Joe. 32 automatic, okay? Yeah, thanks. I couldn't go back with the same one. What about the federal and state men? How are they doing? Pretty good. The federal man picked up Costello and Fresno. He was connected with a sale of six cans of H. Mm-hmm. Not much heroin up there, and I wonder, Lud can afford to hold me up. He knows there's a shortage down here. Case isn't too strong against him. When it looked definite that we had him, they were going to call you off. He's out on bail. Costello's back down here now. Yeah. Seems like we get our hands on the guy, but we can't hold him. Narcotics in their possession are under their control. That's what the book says. That's the way we got to get him. We'll get him that way. It's up to you now, Friday. Stay with it and keep your chin covered. Well, if you need anything, Joe, call. My mother's been over at the house for dinner a few times. She's okay. Thanks. Tell her I'm all right, will you? Sure. She worries a lot about you, Joe. Anything happened to you and just about killed her. That makes two of us. I'll see you. Before I left the city hall, Captain White drew out some more money from the Secret Service Fund. This fund is for the sole purpose of undercover work. This latest amount was for the narcotics buy that I hoped to make with Ralph Costello. An hour before I left, Lud was released on a rift that he'd arranged for. Saturday, June 7th, 9 a.m., I checked back into my room at the Casino Hotel. During the three weeks that followed, I kept asking Lud to arrange a meeting for me with Tony Morse, the next man on the ladder, on the way up to Costello. Lud kept stalling me. Another week went by. Captain Lin White, Ben and I held our regular weekly meetings. On July 6th, Lud told me that a meeting with Morse had finally been arranged for 8 p.m. that night. I called Ben and told him I'd meet him and the captain immediately after I talked with Morse. At 8 p.m., following the instructions Lud had given me, I was in the downstairs waiting room at the subway terminal at Fifth and Hill. I was told to wait for the Apple vending machine. Excuse me, mister. Oh, yeah, sure. Khyber? Yeah, you're Morse? That's right. Want an apple? No, no thanks. Well, sit down. Now, what do you have in mind? I got a couple hundred bucks to spend. Can you handle it? Who sent you? You know who sent me. Sure I do. I just want to hear you say it. Lud. We can handle it. What do you have in mind? I said $200 worth. That's 40 caps. We got it. No, no, that Mexican junk. I want European stuff. You bought before. You'll take what we got. That last buy I made through Lud, the junk was cut to nothing. It can only use so much milk as sugar, you know? By the time it got to you, it was probably cut pretty thin. So was the price you paid for it. I'm not looking for bargains. I pushed to good people. I want good stuff. You'll do better this time. You're not dealing with Lud. Sure, we cut it. No more than anybody else. Not as much as Lud. When can I get it? You got some sick people? A couple. Have it for you in an hour. Where's the meat? You gotta watch? Yeah. What time you got? 12 minutes after 8. Add a minute. Make a 13 after. Okay. An hour from now. 9.13. Meet Lud at Macy and Brooklyn on the corner. He'll tell you what to do. Will Lud have it? Meet Lud at 9.13. See you later, Kyber. Wait a minute. How do I know you're leveling? How do I know you are? I went out the front of the subway terminal building. I took a cab down to 7th and Main. I got off and walked into Pop Sherman's bar. I called the office and set up a meeting with Ben and the captain. I ordered a beer, paid for it, left my change in the bar, asked the bartender to watch it, told him I'd be right back. I went out the back way, crossed the alley and got down to Los Angeles Street. I walked up to 9th and picked up a cab to take me to Fulton and Covina Avenue. I got out and walked two blocks. It was 8.41. Sir. Hi. You meet Morris? Yeah. Sure nobody killed you? I took all the precautions. What's your setup? I'm not sure and I don't have much time. I'm going to make the buy tonight. When? 9.13. You don't have much time. Kind of rushing it, aren't they? I figured I'd better play along. Who's the meet with? Morris told me to meet Lud at Macy and Brooklyn. Said that he'd carry it from there. Costello in on it? I don't know. You've got it all. All right. We'll start picking up the flats gang. Everyone but Lud. What do you think? Well, the way I got it figured. Morris is Costello's runner. I don't know if he's going to check me out as far as I could tell. He thinks I'm okay. Yeah. I got to hunt some Luds going to take me to either Morris again or Costello or possibly both. I don't know where the actual meet's going to be. That means a tail job. We'll have to pick you up at Macy and Brooklyn and stick with you until after Lud leaves if he does and follow through with you. Figure it wide, Skipper. Don't worry. I know we're close. What time you got from there, huh? 10 minutes to 9. Turn down the next block. Right. Pull up here, Ben. Here you go, Friday. Keep your chin covered. Yep. Hey. Hello, Phil. Friends of yours in the car? Why? I know them. They ain't friends of mine. I didn't say I knew them. I don't know the guy driving, but the other guy, I've seen him lots. Just about four weeks ago, we all seen him. That fuzz white, a Caddox man. Oh, yeah. Well, they've been ridin' me since they picked me up with a gun. Won't do, cop. The Caddox man ain't got nothin' on you. That was robbery, remember? They got a make on me from Nebraska. They've been on me ever since I got here. That figures. You're one of them. All right, look, Jerry. I'll argue with you later. I'm in a hurry. I gotta meet Lud. I take alone. I wanna see Lud, too. You're gonna spill the lead about what you think? Maybe. I figure I owe it to him. I know him a lot longer than you. I know he ain't no cop. You're sure that I am. I know you are. Let's see what Lud thinks. Yeah. All right, come on. On your feet. Get out. I looked at my watch. It was two minutes to nine. In 15 minutes, I had to meet Lud. I had to hit Jerry Fell. I couldn't take the chance of him getting to Lud before I did. I couldn't leave him. I couldn't take him with me. I pulled him to his feet and half dragged and half carried him two blocks before I spotted a patrolman. Hey, officer. Officer, over here. Yeah, what's the trouble? I'm Friday, Central Narcotics. Yeah. Take this man and get him downtown. Contact Chief Brown. He'll identify me. Serial number 2288. Friday, Narcotics. Suspect's name here is Jerry Fell. You got it? Yeah, you got some kind of identification? No, I haven't. Not a thing. It's a special duty. I'm sorry. I don't know you. You have to hold you until I call in. All right, but hurry, huh? Call box right here. This is Carlson box 117. Check on a matter with the Chief of Detective Brown, will you? Yeah, that's right. I have a man here who identifies himself as Friday. What's your first name? Joe, Joe Friday. Tell him to hurry. Yeah. Joe Friday, Central Narcotics. Serial number 2288. Says he's in a hurry. Holding a suspect, Jerry Fell. I'll hold on. You might watch this five after nine. What time you got? I got six minutes after. Might be a little fast. Any cab stands around here? Four blocks up the street. Which way? That way. Yeah. Okay, I will. Thank you. Okay, Sergeant. Sorry to hold you up. Need any help? No, you just hang on to this guy. Don't let him go. I started to run. Macy in Brooklyn. Six blocks away and I had eight minutes to make it. A narcotics buy is one date you're not late for. Either you're there at the specified time or there's no deal. The veteran narcotics peddler knows that that's the only safe way for him to operate. A minute, one way or the other, could mean an arrest. I ran. You're out of breath, Kiber. Anything wrong? No, the cab broke down. I didn't want to be late. All right, you got 40 seconds. That's cutting it pretty thin, but it'll do. Come on. Right here. By this lamppost. I had said right in front of it, don't move to the left or right. Stay put. They'll handle the rest so long. 200. Here's your package. Okay. That's it. Hi, Kiber. Meet Ralph Costello. Hi. Out this side, Kiber. Okay. I'll see you. Did you make the buy Friday? Yeah, take them. All right, Joe. Ben. Thought you were with the captain. They don't need me. That intersection's blocked off up there. They're pulling them over right now. Yeah. They got them. Costello in the car? Yeah. And that's half of the team. Now what? We'll go after the big man, Arthur Belmont. Took us seven months and four days to get to Costello. That's time. Yeah. It always seems to work out that way, doesn't it? What's that? They always run out of time before we do. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On July 6th at 10.45 p.m., Ralph Costello was taken to the Narcotics Bureau, the interrogation room. In a moment, the results of that interrogation. It's amazing how many long cigarette smokers are changing to Fatima. Here is the actual report. From coast to coast, Fatima has more than doubled its smokers. Yes, more and more smokers every day are discovering that Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. Smokers find Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. They find that Fatima is extra mild because it's the long cigarette which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make it extra mild. Enjoy extra mild Fatima yourself. Best of all long cigarettes. With the promise of the United States District Attorney that his prison terms for the possession and sale of narcotics would run concurrently rather than consecutively, Ralph Costello agreed to furnish us vital information concerning the number one narcotics dealer on the Pacific Coast, Arthur Belmont. Next week, The Big Man. Arthur Belmont. You have just heard Dragnet, a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the Office of Chief of Police W.A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima Cigarettes. Best of all long cigarettes has brought you Dragnet from Los Angeles. Here, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Coleman in the halls of Ivy. Tomorrow evening on NBC.