Deep Cover: The Nameless Man

Detroit FBI agent Ned Timmons busts Toby Anderson, a violent criminal who also fancies himself a budding country music star. Ned flips Toby and goes undercover as a biker, but Toby quickly goes out of control. He uses the newfound protection of the FBI to commit robberies and perhaps far worse. Most agents would give up, and send Toby to jail, but Ned has a feeling Toby might be his key to the criminal underworld.

The first ...

As Ned goes deeper undercover with Toby, making busts and infiltrating biker gangs, his wife Kathy begins to worry that things are going too far. But Ned is hooked, hearing chatter about a smuggling syndicate, a massive drug warehouse, and a source nicknamed Shine, who might have intel on the whole operation. Meanwhile, down in Louisiana, an abandoned smuggling barge turns up, and local authorities find a single clue: the name Shin...

Ned makes his move on Shine by baiting him into a chili cook-off. It turns out Shine is also looking for an out, as he’s come under suspicion from his boss, a massive drug distributor named Mike Vogel. Shine runs security for Vogel’s operation, but Vogel comes to suspect that Shine is a traitor. After Shine gets shot, he’s willing to cooperate with Ned.

The first version of Ned’s unpublished novel was written by James Coyne and ...

Shine takes Ned to Beaufort, North Carolina, where an abandoned boat full of marijuana had been discovered years prior. Locally, that case had gone cold, but Shine knows all about it. It was the work of an activist turned marijuana importer named Steven Kalish AKA Skip AKA the Gentleman Smuggler, a nickname earned because of his charismatic personality and distaste for violence.

The kingpin of the smuggling syndicate – Leigh Ritch – is safely out of reach in the Cayman Islands. But he’s worried. One of his partners, the Gentleman Smuggler, is in custody. Leigh’s network may soon be exposed. He grows more paranoid, thinking his house is bugged. The syndicate's security guy, Shine, says he knows a guy who can sweep Leigh’s house. His name is Ed Thomas. (Yep, that’s Ned). So, Ned gets special permission to do...

As Ned is in Grand Cayman working undercover to investigate Leigh Ritch, he hears talk about a “general” sometimes called “Pineapple Face.” That can only be the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who, it turns out, has effectively become the syndicate's launderer and protector. The FBI realizes it’s on to something serious, especially when the CIA comes knocking and starts asking all kinds of suspicious questions. The little inves...

This is the story of Leigh Ritch’s escape. It begins with his friends, Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear, visiting the Cayman Islands on their honeymoon. They start fighting, make a ruckus, and Leigh eventually takes them to Jamaica. From there, Leigh hopes to flee to Portugal, but the FBI has something else in mind. Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Ned helps lead a raid on Mike Vogel’s mansion.

Word gets out that the smugglers have a silent partner who is none other than Manuel Noriega – the ruler of Panama, a close ally, and a top CIA asset. The three kingpins (Leigh Ritch, Mike Vogel, and Steven Kalish) all testify before Congress. Noriega is indicted in federal court. Meanwhile, Ned gets a call from a Colombian woman who says she can give him intel about suppliers. Ned thinks he finally has a shot at the source.

Ned gets too close with a female source, a dangerous move that stands to end his marriage and perhaps even his career at the FBI. Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Noriega ramp up. President Bush calls for an invasion of Panama. The final act in our saga ends with a full blown war.  

The first version of Ned’s unpublished novel was written by James Coyne and edited by Andrea McLaughlin. Voice acting by Walton Goggins.

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Jake delves into one piece of the puzzle that he didn’t quite get into in season one but has continued to intrigue him: the source. In this episode, you’ll meet Tommy Powell, a former smuggler who guides us through the import side of the marijuana industry. Starting out as a small time dealer in Michigan, Tommy winds up in Colombia inspecting marijuana crops and working as a liaison between farmers and other smugglers. Eventually, ...

The launch of Deep Cover Season 2 is just a month away. Until then, we bring you a conversation between host Jake Halpern and screenwriter/author James Coyne about the genesis of Ned’s novel and the role it played in Jake’s writing of season one. Also, in this episode–a sneak peek of Deep Cover season 2: Mob Land.

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May 1977. After a witness decides to speak out, a hitman named Harry Aleman stands trial for the murder of William Logan. Bob Cooley is asked to “handle it.” The case is make-or-break for Cooley’s career, and possibly his life.

This episode comes out for free on January 31st and is available now for Pushkin+ subscribers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...