Ep 5 - I'm the one signing the checks around here

Summary

Podcast Summary: Cocaine Air - Ep 5: "I'm the One Signing the Checks Around Here"

Introduction

In Episode 5 of Cocaine Air, host Jonathan Walton delves deeper into the clandestine operations of TJ Dominguez, a former Lamborghini dealership mogul who transformed into one of the most formidable cocaine smugglers working for the infamous Pablo Escobar. Titled "I'm the One Signing the Checks Around Here," this episode unveils the intricate web of corruption, loyalty, and the high-stakes world of drug trafficking in the mid-1980s South Florida and the Bahamas.

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Rise to Power and Partnership with Pablo Escobar

The episode opens with TJ Dominguez recounting his transition from dealing marijuana to becoming a key player in the cocaine business. By the mid-1980s, TJ was earning a staggering million dollars weekly by flying cocaine from Colombia to Luis's secret landing strip in the Bahamas.

[00:23] TJ Dominguez: "I started developing a pretty good reputation doing these. One a week trip, one a week trip, getting a million."

TJ's growing reputation caught the attention of Pablo Escobar, who recognized TJ's professionalism and reliability. Escobar extended a lucrative offer to TJ, proposing payment of five million dollars per planeload.

[00:40] TJ Dominguez: "They're always looking for guys that are like stand-up guys, guys that are not getting high without an airplane, guys that are pros."

This partnership promised to boost TJ's earnings to at least five million dollars a week. However, it introduced complications, especially concerning the use of the secret runway in the Bahamas previously controlled by Luis.

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Navigating Corruption in the Bahamas

To secure a new landing strip for Escobar's cocaine, TJ orchestrated an audacious move by bribing the head of the Bahamian FAA. Using his connections, he identified the FAA official, a bespectacled, lanky Caribbean man in his 50s, resembling a renegade Eagle Scout.

[02:44] TJ Dominguez: "He's always... going to this watering hole... after he gets out of work for drinks."

After multiple attempts to engage the FAA head, TJ resorted to offering substantial bribes to secure his operations.

[05:04] TJ Dominguez: "I want to talk about making you rich. He's making me rich."

Eventually, the official agreed to TJ's terms, accepting half a million dollars upfront and half upon departure for each landing. However, as greed set in, the bribe amounts escalated from $500,000 to a million dollars, forcing TJ to seek alternative solutions.

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Establishing a Secure Base: Acquisition of Hawk's Nest

Faced with rising bribe demands, TJ purchased Hawk's Nest, a dilapidated hotel in the Bahamas, as a more cost-effective solution. Priced at five million dollars, the property featured a private landing strip—26 Lima—fortifying TJ's smuggling operations.

[11:19] TJ Dominguez: "If it's 5 million, it's 5 landings. It pays for itself right away."

During renovations, TJ cleverly camouflaged the cocaine storage by painting the rooms with powdered cocaine, serving both as a cover and a logistical delay tactic. This strategic move allowed TJ to operate multiple planeloads weekly without detection.

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Expansion and Empire Building

By 1987, TJ's operations had expanded exponentially. Transitioning from sole smuggling, TJ began selling cocaine, thereby increasing his revenue streams. He meticulously managed his logistics, adjusting smuggling routes based on law enforcement trends to avoid detection—a strategy that kept his shipments largely undisturbed.

[15:47] TJ Dominguez: "I made the right calls. I didn't lose a trip of cocaine."

Contrary to typical operations plagued by losses, TJ's well-oiled machine remained effective, thanks in part to his unique approach to staffing. He preferred recruiting inexperienced individuals, avoiding seasoned smugglers who might bring complications or dissent.

[16:36] TJ Dominguez: "I'm the guy signing the checks around here, so it's my way, the highway."

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Cultivating Loyalty and Enforcing Discipline

TJ fostered a loyal and motivated team by offering lucrative incentives. He enticed American Airlines pilots with substantial weekend pay, encouraging them to moonlight for his smuggling operations. This strategy not only increased his workforce but also solidified trust within his ranks.

In maintaining order, TJ was both generous and ruthless. He hosted extravagant parties to reward his team, but swift discipline was enforced when trust was breached. A notable incident involved a subordinate stealing a hundred thousand dollars from a cocaine sale. Rather than resorting to lethal force, TJ employed psychological tactics to instill fear and ensure unwavering loyalty.

[25:37] TJ Dominguez: "I said... I'm gonna let you live, but... I gotta put a little backbone into you."

This blend of benevolence and intimidation cultivated a formidable team that remained dedicated to TJ's empire.

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A Brush with Law Enforcement

Amidst his thriving operations, TJ's double life began to intersect with his personal life. His family's ignorance of his illicit activities led to a precarious situation when they planned a family trip to his Bahamas property, unaware of its true purpose.

During the visit, TJ accidentally exposed his cocaine stash to his family, resulting in a near-fatal encounter with pure cocaine. This incident underscored the constant dangers TJ faced in maintaining the secrecy of his operations.

[23:20] TJ Dominguez: "I'm thinking, I'm gonna die here."

In another critical moment, TJ faced a raid by federal agents at his Fort Lauderdale mansion—a primary cocaine storage location. The tension escalated as TJ and his team grappled with the presence of law enforcement directly outside their safe house.

[32:43] TJ Dominguez: "Holy, we have problems, man."

Despite the imminent threat, TJ's calm demeanor and strategic thinking were put to the test as he attempted to assess and manage the unfolding crisis. The episode leaves listeners on a cliffhanger, highlighting the unpredictable nature of TJ's dangerous lifestyle.

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Conclusion

Episode 5 of Cocaine Air offers a gripping narrative of TJ Dominguez's ascent in the cocaine smuggling world, his strategic maneuvers to navigate corruption, and the personal and professional challenges he faced. Through engaging storytelling and vivid recounting of events, Jonathan Walton paints a detailed picture of a man living on the edge, balancing wealth and power with the constant threat of exposure and law enforcement.

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Notable Quotes

• TJ Dominguez [00:23]: "I started developing a pretty good reputation doing these. One a week trip, one a week trip, getting a million."

• TJ Dominguez [05:04]: "I want to talk about making you rich. He's making me rich."

• TJ Dominguez [16:36]: "I'm the guy signing the checks around here, so it's my way, the highway."

• TJ Dominguez [25:37]: "I said... I'm gonna let you live, but... I gotta put a little backbone into you."

• TJ Dominguez [32:43]: "Holy, we have problems, man."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 5 serves as a pivotal chapter in TJ Dominguez's story, showcasing his ingenuity, leadership, and the lengths he would go to protect and expand his empire. Cocaine Air continues to unravel the complexities of the drug trade, offering listeners an immersive experience into the shadowy underbelly of the 1980s South Florida cocaine scene.

For more captivating stories and exclusive photographs from Cocaine Air, visit cocainair.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and family, and consider leaving a five-star review to help others discover this gripping narrative.

Transcript

[Jonathan Walton]

Previously on Cocaine Air.

[TJ Dominguez]

I'm in the cocaine business, man. Not marijuana anymore.

[Jonathan Walton]

And TJ is now making a million dollars a week in the mid-1980s, flying a planeload of cocaine from Columbia to Luis's secret landing strip in the Bahamas.

[TJ Dominguez]

Well, I started developing a pretty good reputation doing these. One a week trip, one a week trip, getting a million.

[Jonathan Walton]

And eventually, cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar gets wind of TJ's stellar reputation. Pablo, heard of you?

[TJ Dominguez]

Heard of me Through a couple of people, because they were always looking for guys that are like stand up guys, guys that are not getting high without an airplane, guys that are pros.

[Jonathan Walton]

So Pablo Escobar offers to pay TJ 5 million million a planeload to fly cocaine for him. That's at least $5 million a week in TJ's pocket. There's just one problem. Since TJ is flying for Pablo Escobar now, he can't land on that secret Runway in the Bahamas anymore, because that Runway is owned by Luis, the previous cocaine guy he was flying for. So TJ scrambles to find a new Runway he can land Pablo Escobar's planelo coke on. And in a bold and ballsy move, TJ ambushes the head of the Bahamian FAA at a local bar and offers to hire him to look the other way.

[TJ Dominguez]

He says, how much is this paid?

[Jonathan Walton]

I'm Jonathan Walton, and this is cocaine air. The T.J. dominguez Story Episode 5. I'm the guy signing the checks around here.

[TJ Dominguez]

So if you remember, I was buying wheat from the government of the Bahamas, right? So I had some good contacts in the government.

[Jonathan Walton]

And one of those contacts tells TJ where he can casually run into the head of the Bahamian version of the FAA, a bespectacled and lanky Caribbean man in his 50s, wearing a navy blue uniform with a government badge and numerous military patches. He kind of looks like a renegade Eagle Scout.

[TJ Dominguez]

Well, he's always. Every Friday, he goes to this watering hall and after he gets out of work for drinks. So he says, we'll go over there and talk to him today. He'll be there. So I said, okay, fine. So we go over there, we go by the poolside. We're hanging around by the poolside the way we are now. And he says, there he is. He's walking up to a little tiki bar with nobody in the tiki bar. It was around 3 o' clock in the afternoon. The guy walks up, he comes up to stalls, sits down, orders a drink. So I tell my buddy Hunter okay, go over there and talk to him. Break the ice and then call me over, you know. He said, no, you could talk to him. I said, no, man. The guy's dressed in a God darn custom outfit, you know, with the bars and all that. I don't know this guy. You go talk to him. He goes, it's cool, man. You can go talk to him. We're arguing back and forth, you know, I'm having a couple of absolutes on the rocks. A couple of absolutes later, I said, okay, fine, I'll go talk to him. So I walk up to the bar with this guy sitting three stools away, and I clear my throat, thinking and hoping that he'd turn around and look at me. I never even looks at me, right? He ignores me, right? The bartender comes up. I said, give me an absolute on the rocks with a twist of lime, okay? So I get my absolute, I turn around looking at the guy. The guy won't even turn around and look at me, right? So I drink this drink, I order another one, all right? The guy still like I'm not even there. Finally, on the third episode, I walk up, I stand up and I push the chair over and I say to the guy, hey, listen, I have a mutual friend that said that I could talk to you about something sensitive. He said, what's your friend's name? I said, frankie. He said, frankie. Frankie what? I said, Frankie. Just Frankie. He said, I don't know no Frankie, man.

[Jonathan Walton]

The Frankie TJ Is referring to here is Benjamin Frankie or Franklin, the US President on the hundred dollar bill. This Bahamian airport official just isn't getting it, but he's about to.

[TJ Dominguez]

I said, well, I got a picture of Frankie. Maybe you might recognize his picture. He says, okay, man. So I reach in my back pocket and I pulled. I had 20 grand in hundreds. I peel out one Frankie and I put it on top of the counter. I put another one on top of that one. I'm $10,000 almost into this stack. And the guy says to me, okay, man, what is it that you want to talk about that's sensitive? What do I have to do for this? I take the stack and I push it in front of him. What is it that's so sensitive? I said, I want to talk about making you rich. He's making me rich. I said, yeah, I want to talk about making you rich. He said, what? What do I have to do for making me rich? I said, nothing. I want you to do nothing. He says, you're gonna make me rich. And I have to do nothing. I said, yeah, that's right. So I bend over and I said, I want you to do nothing. When I land my airplane full of cocaine in your airport, I want you to go get a cup of coffee and not do a goddamn thing. Nothing. He says, how much is this pay? I said, 500,000. Half up front, half when I leave. He says, how many times a month can you do this, man?

[Jonathan Walton]

That Bahamian airport official goes on to become very, very wealthy, making half a million dollars to look the other way each time TJ Lands his cocaine filled airplane in the Bahamas. And how would you get the cocaine from the Bahamas to South Florida?

[TJ Dominguez]

So once we landed in the Bahamas, what we would do is that cocaine would go to a secure safe house and that was guarded also by guns all the way around. And I'm paying a million dollars to the government to land the plane because.

[Jonathan Walton]

Those payments started out at 500,000.

[TJ Dominguez]

500,000.

[Jonathan Walton]

How do they then pop up to a million?

[TJ Dominguez]

It's called greed. It's called greed. He told me last time, he said to me, unless you give me a million dollars, your boys are getting locked up.

[Jonathan Walton]

You know, the actor Jack Palance once said, the only two things you can truly depend on are gravity and greed. And in the Bahamas, a third World nation, you can't exactly crack open a coconut and become an instant millionaire. And TJ knows that better than most. So he goes on to find multiple airports on multiple islands in the Bahamas to land his cocaine filled airplanes on. And all these shady airport officials on the take start getting insanely jealous of one another.

[TJ Dominguez]

I get a phone call from Jack, my number one guy. He says, hey, T. He said, yeah, Jack, what's going on? He said, you need to get your ass down here right away. I'm in jail. He said, why are you in jail? He said, they got me locked up over here in the Bahamas. I said, why? He goes, get down here right now. I said, all right. So I jump on my plane, I fly down to the Bahamas. I go see the officer that's got him locked up. His name is Brown. And I say, what's going on here, Officer Brown? How come you got my guy locked up? He says, we haven't broken the law here. We haven't done anything wrong. I haven't smuggled or anything like that. Why you got my guy locked up? You know what he says to me? I hear you've been working the outer islands. You need to start spreading that money around. So the irony of the whole thing is so you're locking up my guy because we're not breaking the law. Not because we broke the law, because we're not breaking the law in your backyard. He wanted to get paid. And if I'm working, there's 700 islands in the Bahamas. So I'm out there working some other island. I'm neglecting him. He doesn't get a paycheck. So now he's pissed off because I'm not bringing money to his island, or really better to him.

[Jonathan Walton]

You see, while TJ is in fact operating on that particular island in the Bahamas, he isn't landing cocaine there anymore.

[TJ Dominguez]

And I was a base. I was a home base that I had. I had towers there. I had backup engines from my speedboats. So it was like a base. I'm not doing stuff there. I'm keeping that in the event that something was to go wrong. I have a spare boat that I could run here and run there. If I need another engine. I don't have to come to the United States. I can go there and, and get something taken care of. So I'm not breaking the law there. So this guy says, you better start bringing some money over here or I'm going to harass every time that I see one of you guys. I'm going to lock them up. So I said, all right, listen, Brown, I. I'll make it happen, man. So I called a couple of friends of mine and I said, hey, guys, I got a great island you guys could work at. And I got this guy, turn. I say, brown, I got some people here. They're going to take care of you. Now leave my guys alone.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eventually, though, that greedy airport official really gets under TJ's skin. So TJ cuts him off.

[TJ Dominguez]

I stopped paying him because I didn't like to be hustled. I didn't like to be painted into a corner. And I didn't like his attitude of just kept pushing. I started with 500, went to 650, went to 750, and then he made the big jump to a million. And that's when he said to me, unless you take care of me, I'm gonna lock up your boys. It's a million dollar fee from now on. That's when I said, okay, okay, fine, I'll give you a million. Well, I picked up all my pieces and I went to scout other islands, and then I came across a hotel that was not in good shape. And it was 3, 4, 5 million dollars at the time.

[Jonathan Walton]

So now that that Bahamian airport official wants a military million every time TJ lands a plane, buying that hotel for $5 million actually turns out to be a way cheaper option.

[TJ Dominguez]

If it's 5 million, it's 5 landings. It pays for itself right away. When I got the hotel, it was called Hawk's Nest. It was. There were bungalows, a lot of bungalows in a clubhouse. But it had everything I needed. It had a marina, and it had his own private landing strip. 26 Lima cleared for touch and go. And now what I did was when I acquired the. The hotel, I under renovation, you know, nowhere right now, or not open. We're renovating the rooms. Yeah, I'm painting them all with powder cocaine. I didn't want people in there, you know, the best paying customers.

[Jonathan Walton]

And that's a great cover, too, because renovation could take forever.

[TJ Dominguez]

Right.

[Jonathan Walton]

Who can say when it's over?

[TJ Dominguez]

Exactly. And these are people that are drifting. These are boat people. It's not like going to Nassau. This is what they call an outer island. Outer islands got very little traffic. What you see in the outer islands are your millionaires, your movie stars, people that can afford a choice chartered airplane because there's no scheduled airline going there. Unless you have a boat or you're on your own airplane or you charter a plane, you're not going to the outer islands.

[Jonathan Walton]

And what are the names? What are they named?

[TJ Dominguez]

Oh, my gosh. There's 700 of them. There's Cat Island, Long Island, Cat Key, Great Harbor, Siskin, the Abaco, Bimini, Bimini south, and Bimini North.

[Jonathan Walton]

This is the closest, as the months tick by, till TJ is flying multiple planeloads of cocaine every week for Pablo Escobar and making tens of millions of dollars doing it. At one point, Pablo actually stops paying TJ in cash and starts paying him in cocaine. So now TJ is not only smuggling cocaine, but. But he starts selling it, too, making many millions more. And TJ starts building his own cocaine empire.

[TJ Dominguez]

I did what no other smuggler had ever done in the history of smuggling, and that is fly my own plane, drive my own boat, bring it in, transport it on the land, sell it, collect the money, take the money, send it to Europe, bring it back, laundered and invested it. I was. That's why they actually called me Cyclone, which is Cyclone, because I was everywhere. I was on the boat, I'm on the plane, I'm on the ground moving it.

[Jonathan Walton]

So just so I understand, you got the cocaine, you landed in one of the islands in the Bahamas. You eventually were storing it in the hotel that you bought and was on renovation and then you would put it on boats from the hotel.

[TJ Dominguez]

What we do then is we want to time what vehicles I'm using to bring it into the United States. So when I say time, if it's a sports fishing vessel, going to take longer. Are we going to Cocoa beach or are we going to the Keys or are we coming into Miami? Fort Lauderdale area not change according to how the government was concentrating their task force. I stayed on top of the papers, buddy. Here's what happens if I wake up in the morning and I see a bust in Miami. Speedboat. The coast guard offloaded nearly 14,000 pounds of cocaine confiscated in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Well, the mine, the way the mind works, if I'm an agent, oh man, I want to concentrate on Speedboat. These guys are coming into Miami. So now their eyes, their subconscious is geared for Speedboat in Miami. So I'm going to come in now with a sports fishing vessel and I'm not coming in Miami. I'm going to come up cocoa or I'm going to go down to the Keys. And so I do some decisions that I made based on, call it instinct, call it my crystal ball, call it intuition, call it whatever you want to call it. But I made the right calls. I didn't lose a trip of cocaine.

[Jonathan Walton]

Which is an incredible feat because any South Florida local will tell you smugglers lose tons of cocaine every day. I mean, it's literally washing up on the beach and on the 6 o' clock news every single day.

[TJ Dominguez]

Officials say packages with 146 pounds of cocaine washed up over the weekend.

[Jonathan Walton]

But none of that washed up cocaine belongs to tj. His operation runs like a well oiled.

[TJ Dominguez]

Machine.

[Jonathan Walton]

Because he surrounds himself with the most talented people that he personally trains. And paradoxically, TJ doesn't hire experienced drug smugglers at all. He likes newbies.

[TJ Dominguez]

Why? Simple. First of all, if you're coming to me with a history, then you're bringing me your troubles. Second of all, now you're coming to me and at some time or another, you're gonna try to dictate to me what you think is right. And no, it's not what you think is right. It's what I think is right. I'm the guy signing the checks around here, so it's my way, the highway. And I had that attitude. I'm the one sitting here while everybody else is swinging on chandeliers and opening up bottles of champagne. I'm brainstorming how to make this thing a little bit better and safer. For all of us. So I stayed away from those experts, all those experts. They scared me. Who I recruit American Airline, something special in the air. I went and, you know, pal around a couple of my guys. We became friends with a couple of those guys, you know, and eventually, when we get to know you a little bit better and get to find out how you are a little bit better, American airlines is paying $200,000 a year, you know, and you're working your butt off. And I got a better plan. I got a better plan. I'll give you 200,000 a weekend. I can guarantee you a trip a month if you want. You do two trips a month, that's $400,000. Now what are you making again in American Airline? 200,000 a year. So, you know, you get quicker to retire with me so I can.

[Jonathan Walton]

So they would moonlight then, right? They'd be flying by day for American Airlines and then flying runs for you.

[TJ Dominguez]

Yeah, yeah. And eventually they would quit American Airline because when they put enough money together, these guys are, you know, they're. They're smart guys. They're investing their money wisely. They're buying a home in the Bahamas, real estate here or there.

[Jonathan Walton]

And in 1987, TJ very quickly becomes the boss we all wish we had. He's got dozens and dozens of employees now who are not only making a lot of money, but they're having a blast doing it. And TJ rewards his team by throwing them parties. Crazy fraternity type sex, drugs, and rock and roll parties.

[TJ Dominguez]

And whenever we party and God knows we party, and I don't even want to go into that because that's really triple X rated. So these parties consisted in the Bahamas, where I control everything. So we fly an airplane over there full of chicks, and then we take a kilo of cocaine, open it up, put it on top of the table, you know, cut a window, put it on a silver platter and have at it. Party for the weekend. We all made money, so now we party. I would leave those guys alone while they're partying. I would go to my other house. I had another house at the end of the island because it was just too bizarre. Those guys were. It's just stuff that, you know, triple X rated stuff. I just wasn't into all that. But they earned it, though.

[Jonathan Walton]

TJ is living a double life at this point. His family thinks all this money and all these properties in the Bahamas come from proceeds TJ's making with his Lamborghini dealership or with his housing development or his cell phone. Company or his charter airplane business.

[TJ Dominguez]

You know, my family didn't have any idea, right, Because I hid it really well.

[Jonathan Walton]

But every now and then, TJ's separate worlds collide.

[TJ Dominguez]

So my mom says to me one day, she goes, I would like to do something really nice for your Aunt Esperanza. And I said, yeah, what do you want to do for her? She goes, do you think we can go to your beach house in the Bahamas and spend, like, a weekend over there and have, like, a birthday party over there and everything? I said, sure, Mom. That would be a problem. Need to let me know how many people are going to go. So I know what airplane to use, whether it's going to be 14 people or six people. So I could, you know, choose the airplane to take everybody over there, because this island, again, there's no airlines going there. It's. It's all chartered. She goes, okay, that'd be great. And I just realized that we had just done a trip there a day before. They're going to go over there. So I call up Jack, and I said, hey, Jack, remember when we were. When we just finished this trip and you guys were partying in the house? Yeah. What about it, T? I said, what you do with a kilo of cocaine? He goes, oh, I put it on the cupboard. I put it on top of the cupboard. You know, the drop ceiling? Back in those days, it was drop ceiling. You kind of lift, you know. He said, put it on top of the cupboards up there on a. On the plate. So I said, okay, fire up the plane. I'm on my way over there to the airport right now. We got to go to the island. He goes, why? I. I said, because I got my aunt, my mom and them. I got one of those aunts that likes to open up every drawer and see what's going on. Curious George type thing.

[Jonathan Walton]

And TJ is infinitely more scared of his family finding out that he's a cocaine kingpin than the authorities finding out.

[TJ Dominguez]

I said, my God, if they found any cocaine there, I would be dead. I'd rather get arrested, you know? So we go over there, and we land at the airport. And I have my. My state guy that takes care of my property. He's picking me up. So he's there with his car. I get off the airplane, I jump in the car, and I drive over to the house. I say to Jack, wait for me here. I'll be right back. Where'd you say it? Kitchen top. I said, okay. So I go over there and I lift the ceiling And I'm feeling for this thing, right? And I feel, okay, I got the plate. As I'm sliding the plate out from underneath or on top of the cabinet, the darn thing slides. It's a paper plate, and ate the kilo of cocaine, hits me on the head. Now I'm covered with cocaine. It's pure cocaine. I'm freaking out, Jonathan. I don't do drugs, right? So I'm thinking, I'm gonna die here. I know this stuff goes through your skin.

[Jonathan Walton]

TJ's right. Cocaine can easily be absorbed through the skin, especially if there's a lot of it. And in this case, there is.

[TJ Dominguez]

So I'm thinking, oh my God, a kilo of cocaine on my hair, on my arms, it's going through me now I start thinking that I'm gonna have a heart attack from all this tremendous amount of cocaine hitting me on the head. You know, I'm feeling this thing. The more I thought about it, the more my heart started to race. So what do I do? I run into the shower with my shoes and everything. I lean up against the wall, turn on the faucet. Now I got the shower hitting me. I got cocaine dripping off my body. The more I thought about it, the harder my heart beat. And I'm sitting there, I can't believe I'm going to die like this.

[Jonathan Walton]

So TJ frantically rinses that kilo of coke out of his hair, off his face, off his arms and hands, and spends a few minutes under the shower spray, catching his breath, waiting for his heart to stop racing. And eventually it does.

[TJ Dominguez]

So I turn off the water. I look over, I got a trailer cocaine from the kitchen to the shower, powdered cocaine all over the place. Powdered, you know, little nuggets and stuff. So now I grab a broom and I grab a dustpan. I shovel everything in there, I flush it down the toilet. I'm soaking wet, I don't have any extra clothes there. So I come out dripping wet. I get in the car and the guy goes, what happened here? It's a long story.

[Jonathan Walton]

And that guy, that driver, really loves TJ because he pays him well and he treats him like family. TJ surrounds himself with really hard working, really trustworthy people. But one day, TJ discovers one of his underlings is stealing from him. This guy pocketed a hundred thousand dollars from a multi million dollar cocaine sale because he figured no one would notice. But TJ did and he confronts the thief in question. And this guy starts shaking with fear because he's certain TJ is Going to kill him. But TJ actually has other plans.

[TJ Dominguez]

I said, I'm gonna let you live, but. I said, but I can't let you walk out of the house like this because you're a snake. You got no backbone. You robbed me. You robbed me when all you had to do was ask me for a million dollars and I would have given it to you. And you robbed me for a hundred thousand dollars. You're a real piece of shit. I said, I'm gonna let you live. You're gonna walk out that door. You're gonna move from the state of Florida. I don't want to see you again, ever. I want people to think you're actually dead, okay? It'll help you and it'll help my image. I said, but before I could do that, since you're such a snake, I gotta put a little backbone into you. That guy had the guy kneeling down for a week, okay? I wouldn't let him stand up. He had to be on his knees. So I said, look up to me. So I took a bottle of champagne. I busted the bottle of champagne in the kitchen, took the bottle, that was the part. That was the bottle that broken. And I slit my own thumb here. And I said, now drink the blood of a man so I can put a little backbone in you.

[Jonathan Walton]

So that terrified thief is now on his knees. And a dozen of TJ's other employees are in the room watching this crazy scene unfold with their eyes wide open and jaws dropped. All of a sudden, that thief on his knees actually starts drinking the blood of trickling from TJ's thumb.

[TJ Dominguez]

My guys are looking at this thing. Theatrics are off the scale. They're like, God darn. T's really gross. I'm rubbing my blood all over the guy's face. Guy's drinking my blood. He's on his knees. You see this stuff in a movie, you're like, going down. That's really gross, man. But it does send a message. He let you live. This is what happens. Don't steal from him. I'm the kind of guy that will spend a million dollars to go chase one penny if you rob me. And I made it clear like that because you have to let these people know whether I do and I don't. I'm setting presence.

[Jonathan Walton]

And the guy who drank your blood.

[TJ Dominguez]

Yeah. Never saw him again. He moved out of the state.

[Jonathan Walton]

Needless to say, that was the last time anyone stole anything from TJ Dominguez.

[TJ Dominguez]

That story spread among my guy. And it was like, what do you do you don't want to steal from Tito, man. He's like, nut.

[Jonathan Walton]

So it's 1987 now, and TJ is making millions of dollars every week. He's got planes flying cocaine from Colombia to his hotel that's perpetually under renovation in the Bahamas. And he's got boats smuggling all that cocaine from the Bahamas into South Florida. At this point, TJ has a giant mansion in an affluent suburb of Fort Lauderdale that he uses to store his tons and tons of cocaine.

[TJ Dominguez]

I got this badass house, right? In a country club, multimillion dollar house and just hay house. And nobody knows where that house is at. Nobody knows where that house. There's only three people that knew that house. It would be me, one of my guys, Flash, and my other guy, Yayo. It's a house that we store cocaine in. Now, when you're my buyer and you're picking up 300 kilos or 200 kilos, I take your car, I tell you to drop off the car, say a shopping center or Burger King. Leave the keys in the sun visor. I don't meet anybody. I don't want to see anybody. So he drops off the car. Oh, and by the way, I get paid ahead of time. Never put the money and the cocaine in the same location. Never, never. So I get the key now, right? And I tell you, listen, it's going to take me an hour or two, okay? So I got to drive away. All right, so just hang out. Actually, the house is right around the corner. So you don't have any idea where the house is at? I do not want anybody to know where the house is at.

[Jonathan Walton]

So TJ leaves his cocaine customer at a nearby shopping center or Burger King, drives his customer's car to the safe house, fills the trunk with a few hundred kilos of coke and drives the car back, leaves the keys in the visor and walks away. TJ has already been paid, and now that customer has his cocaine. It's a system that works flawlessly until one day, TJ and his crew, Flash and Yayo, are at the safe house dividing up tons of cocaine, getting it ready for sale.

[TJ Dominguez]

So I'm separating my stuff, as I'm separating my stuff, and I got a room full of cocaine over there. One of my guys, Yayo, comes up to me just like, really, really tense. And he goes, man, we got problems. And I'm like, why? You know? He says, we're surrounded. I said, surrounded? What are you talking about, man? He goes, they're here, man. The feds are here. I said, man, I don't joke like that. I don't like those kind of jokes. They're not funny. He goes, I'm not joking, God damn it. I've done time in Cuba and. Because this guy was a little bit like Scarface. Right, Right. A real one, though. And he says, I'm not going back. They're not taking me alive. If they want me, they're gonna have to come shoot me. And I said, he's got the machine gun in his hand, right? This guy is, like, going bonkers. I'm. Calm down, man. Let me see what's going on. Let me, you know, assess the situation. Don't do anything, all right? All right. But I'm not going out that door in handcuffs. All right? So I run up to the balcony in the house. Big house. 8, 000 square feet or more. I look out the balcony. Damn if he wasn't wrong, man. The feds were there. They got the town cars out there, you know, and they got the trunks open. They got punk guns, shotgun. They're putting on their jackets, gave marshalls yellow things on the back and all. Holy, we have problems, man.

[Jonathan Walton]

At that very moment, there are dozens and dozens of uniformed federal agents with guns drawn lining the street in front of TJ's safe house.

[TJ Dominguez]

But they're not doing anything. They're all talking. They're on their radios. They're right directly from my house, right directly in front of the house. The hell's going on, man? And you know, well, maybe they're waiting for more backup so they could surround us, you know, in the. And it was escalating. The tension inside the house was escalating to the point that I said, all right, this is simple, man. I know it wasn't me. So it's one of you two guys who's the right here and I'm pointing fingers who dropped the ball here? It's your buyer. Okay, Explain to me how long you've known this. God darn fire. What do you know this guy from? I know it's not him because he's not in this thing. Yeah. Yo, you're the guy that had the buyer. Yeah. You explained to me how this shit's going. What happened here, man? I'm telling you, I know my guy might, not my guy. So we're arguing amongst each other. I go back out to the left. Yayo is like, you know, you're taking the gun and ramming it back and forth and pacing. Tensions really has come. I said, listen, man, I can't take this anymore. I'm gonna go out there and find out what the hell's going on. I'm gonna get arrested. I'll find out what the hell's going on. You're not going out there. Say, I'm gonna go out there. So the house had a garage with a wind wall, so you didn't see the garage from the street. The garage opened up to the side of the house, a big house, and it had hedges all over the place. So I said, I'm just gonna go out there and test the water. I'm gonna act like I don't know what the hell's going on. If they say anything me, I'll speak speak Spanish. And I'll say, I'm just the lawn guy. So I grab a broom, right? And I just open the garage door and I grab this push broom and I'm kind of like inching my way out past the wing wall. I look over and I see all the cars out there. And I'm not really looking over there, but I'm looking from the corner of my eye and I'm pull push brooming all the pavers.

[Jonathan Walton]

And when those federal agents spot TJ sweeping the driveway.

[TJ Dominguez]

You over there with a broom. He yells at me really loud.

[Jonathan Walton]

If I gave you a million dollars, you'd never be able to guess what happens next.

[TJ Dominguez]

I don't know what the hell's going on.

[Jonathan Walton]

To see some incredible photographs documenting TJ's life, go to cocainair.com and if you're enjoying Cocaine Air, please hit that share button and text it to your friends and family right now. And if you feel comfortable, leave us a five star review. Reviews really help other listeners find us. Cocaine Air was created, written and executive produced by me, Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Media. Executive producers Evan Goldstein and the inimitable TJ Dominguez. Audio engineering by me, Jonathan Walton. All sound design and editing was done by the super talented Puneeth Chinoy from Podcast Pundits. And the Cocaine Air cover art is by Bobby Animation. We've got a lot of fascinating untold stories like Cocaine Air coming down the pike at Jonathan Walton Media. So subscribe and keep an ear out.