NCJ Number
145730
Date Published
1993
Length
295 pages
Annotation
This autobiography of Tom Tripodi traces his career and experiences as a Federal drug law enforcement officer and a CIA agent from 1960 to his retirement in 1985.
Abstract
In the realm of drug law enforcement, Tripodi's career spanned the days of the Treasury Department's old Federal Bureau of Narcotics to the current Drug Enforcement Administration. His law enforcement experiences have ranged from "hitting flats" in Harlem to make drug arrests to heading a White House task force. His work for the CIA took him to JMWAVE, the secret base in south Florida where Cuban exiles were being prepared to take their island back. He was at the center of the controversy over the authenticity of KGB defector Major Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko. He helped track South American revolutionary Che Guevara. Tripodi questioned Cosa Nostra informant Joe Valachi and challenged the importance of the "Valachi Papers." High-level mafioso Tommaso Buscetta was debriefed by him. He was the first U.S. agent to work on extended assignment against the Mafia in Palermo, Sicily. He worked with many Italian law enforcement specialists who were assassinated by the Mafia. Tripodi also discusses the "turf" battles, bureaucratic infighting, pettiness, self-interest, and corruption that undermined effective law enforcement and his work and career in particular. Subject index