FULL SEND PODCAST: Owen Hanson | Ep. 177

Date: December 10, 2025
Host: Shots Podcast Network
Guest: Owen Hanson ("Cocaine Quarterback")

Episode Overview

This episode welcomes Owen Hanson, former USC athlete whose wild life journey went from collegiate sports to international drug kingpin to federal prison—and now, entrepreneur and speaker. The conversation, at once jaw-dropping and darkly humorous, traces his transformation through college athletics, organized crime, dealing with Mexican cartels, money laundering, life in prison, and his reinvention post-release. Owen’s story inspired the documentary “Cocaine Quarterback.”

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Owen’s Start: Smuggling and College Hustle

• First Drug Smuggling Experience
  • Owen shares how he went to Tijuana after being cut from the USC volleyball team to get steroids to boost his athletic performance ([02:15]).
    • "I got this list from this bodybuilder at Gold's Gym... I was like, how am I gonna get this back, right? I'm freaking out." (Hanson, [03:10])
    • He describes nervously smuggling steroids in his underwear (“the banana”) across the border ([04:47]).
    • "Just imagine a hot dog just holding it... I crossed the border and I just literally smuggled $500 worth of performance enhancing steroids underneath my balls." ([06:03])
• Rise to the USC Football Team
  • With the help of steroids, Owen bulks up, walks on as a tight end at USC, and witnesses the high-rolling world of college athletics ([06:12]).
    • "I walk on to the USC football team... Coach Carroll's looking at me like, who the f*** is this?" ([07:01])

2. The Party Culture and the Gray Market

• Drug and Pill Dealing in College
  • Owen operates a side business supplying Adderall, Xanax, and other pharmaceuticals to students ([10:03]).
    • "I'd buy them for, like, 50 cents and then sell them for $5. Everything was a thousand percent markup." ([11:00])
  • He employs female students to smuggle drugs ("the banana" method got risky).
• Transition to Cocaine
  • Owen's business expands as demand increases: "If you have the bag, you got the girl, right? Like, there's no—you're the man if you got the bag." ([12:31])

3. Entry into Organized Crime

• Bookmaking and the Cartel Connection
  • Post-2007 real estate crash, Owen turns to illegal bookmaking, taking bets from athletes and NFL friends ([13:06]).
  • He is soon recruited by a cartel lieutenant to do money drops and laundering, receiving 10% commissions ([18:05]).
  • "I'm getting paid 10% a day... that's do the math, 300% a month. Like, who does that?" ([19:11])

4. International Drug Trafficking

• Operations in Australia
  • Owen is tasked with moving cocaine into Australia, where the price was $300 a gram—hence, "a million dollars a day" ([22:44]).
  • He details making cartel connections, elaborate smuggling by converting cocaine to liquid in wine bottles and even embedding it in chocolate ([37:14]).
  • "I put all this liquid cocaine in the Napa Valley wine bottles...shipped it from Napa Valley into Australia." ([37:14])
• Mob Connections in Italy
  • Attempted partnership with Italian mafia (Lucchese family) to move product; initial skepticism, then big profits once he proves access to real Colombian supply ([26:00]-[28:26]).

5. Downfall and Betrayal

• Massive Losses and Cartel Reckoning
  • Owen loses $3.2 million of cartel money after a laundering scheme fails. He recounts a terrifying meeting:
    • "The good news is you're going to be alive. But the bad news, if you don't pay me back, I'm going to kill you." ([34:59])
• Final Arrest and FBI Sting
  • After paying his debts, Owen starts working for himself but gets infiltrated by undercover FBI agents posing as money launderers ([38:53]).
  • He describes the surreal moment of his arrest:
    • "I turn it around, and 15 agents come out of the bushes. FBI helicopter in the sky. I'm like, oh f***." ([44:08])
  • Ultimately indicted under RICO, sentenced to 21 years in the US (served ~9), life sentence in Australia ([45:12]).

6. Prison Life and Redemption

• Locked Up with Notorious Figures
  • Inmates included Big Meech, Harry O, and Jared Fogle ([46:15]).
  • "I started at United States Penitentiary in Lompoc... I remember I was with Big Meech, Harry O, who started Death Row Records." ([46:15])
• Entrepreneurial Spirit
  • Owen started a prison hustle creating “protein ice cream,” selling it for $15 a jar:
    • "I literally made these peanut butter jars full of protein and their ice cream, and I'm selling them for 15 a jar, right?" ([49:24])
  • Used his time to educate fellow inmates, get a master's degree, and plan his business comeback ([47:26]).

7. Life After Release

• New Hustle: Protein Ice Cream Brand
  • Now runs California Ice, a high-protein, low-carb ice cream, aiming for “clean money”.
  • "When I land a pallet of ice cream into New York, it feels like landing a pallet of cocaine into Australia. Because it's the same rush." ([52:05])
• Motivational Speaking
  • Focused on sharing his story with college athletes and law enforcement, warning about the slippery slope from gambling to crime:
    • "Just be responsible because if you don't be responsible, you're going to go down the path I went down, and that's something you guys don't want to face." ([61:32])

8. Most Intense Experiences

• Cartel Violence
  • Vivid recounting of witnessing a beheading with a chainsaw as punishment for botched cartel jobs ([58:03]).
  • "He says... if you don't go fix this, you're going to be dead...he had to take his head off and cut his head off with a saw. And I saw it with my own eyes." ([58:42])
• Surviving Prison
  • Saw murders by the Mexican Mafia, deaths by overdose, but made alliances and was respected for keeping his code ([52:47], [53:28]-[53:31]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I chased that rush, man. Eventually working for the cartel, smuggling, getting tons of cocaine into Australia, Italy, Canada. And that's where it all begun right there.” – Owen Hanson ([05:59])
• "If you have the bag, you got the girl, right? Like, there's no—you're the man if you got the bag. But now I realize, I say, f***, I get out of prison, right?... So now it's like protein ice cream, right?" – Owen Hanson ([12:31])
• “He says, the good news is you're going to be alive. But the bad news, if you don't pay me back, I'm going to kill you.” – Owen Hanson ([34:59])
• “I turn it around, and 15 agents come out of the bushes. FBI helicopter in the sky. I'm like, oh f***. Dude, that's how my, my life ended.” – Owen Hanson ([44:08])
• "I literally made these peanut butter jars full of protein and their ice cream, and I'm selling them for 15 a jar, right?" – Owen Hanson ([49:24])
• "From going, you know, putting bad things on the streets to now putting healthy things, you know…now, healthy treats." – Owen Hanson ([51:50])
• "Would you like to look over your shoulder the rest of your life?...I'm going to go into this meeting and if he's going to kill me, at least I know I'm getting killed." – Owen Hanson ([35:31])
• "That's why they call it cocaine quarterback...The signal caller is the guy that holds up the signs and calls the shots, calls the plays. So I was calling the plays from the United States." – Owen Hanson ([60:03])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:15] – Owen’s first smuggling run: steroids from Tijuana
• [06:12] – Walk-on to USC football, the impact of PEDs
• [10:03] – Beginning of his drug hustle at college
• [12:31] – Transition to cocaine dealing
• [13:06] – Entering bookmaking, connections to NFL, cartel ties begin
• [18:05] – Cartel money drops: 10% a day commissions
• [22:44] – The Australia connection, million-dollar days
• [26:00]-[28:26] – Italian mafia, first major Australia deal
• [34:59] – Meeting with the cartel after $3.2M loss: “you owe me $4M or you die”
• [37:14] – Smuggling methods: wine bottles, liquid cocaine, chocolate
• [38:53] – FBI infiltration, money laundering sting
• [44:08] – Moment of arrest: FBI bust at golf club
• [45:12] – Charges, sentence (RICO, money laundering, etc.)
• [46:15] – Prison stories: notorious inmates
• [49:24] – Prison hustle: protein ice cream
• [52:05] – Returning home, building a new (legal) business
• [53:28] – Cartel interactions in prison
• [58:03] – Witnessing extreme cartel violence (beheading)
• [60:03] – Why “Cocaine Quarterback”—Owen as cartel signal-caller
• [61:32] – Present day: speaking to college athletes, message on gambling

Final Thoughts

Owen Hanson's story is a cautionary epic, blending dark humor with moments of genuine insight and high tension. He’s honest about adrenaline addiction, the glamour and destruction of the underworld, and the depth of regret for choices made. From smuggling pills in college to running million-dollar operations and facing the reality of cartel violence and prison, Owen urges listeners—especially college athletes and young adults—to heed the risks in the “snowball effect” of gambling and party drug culture. Now, with his protein ice cream business and motivational speaking career, he finds a new purpose and chases a different kind of "rush."

For deeper context, listeners are encouraged to check out the documentary “Cocaine Quarterback” and Owen’s book, "The California Kid."