EPISODE 1: Officer Pastillas

Summary

Podcast Summary: Spotlight: Snitch City – Episode 1: Officer Pastillas

Introduction

Spotlight: Snitch City, hosted by The Boston Globe Spotlight Team, delves into the shadowy realm of police informants through the lens of a single police department. In Episode 1, titled "Officer Pastillas" and released on March 11, 2025, investigative reporter Dugan Arnett uncovers alarming misconduct within the New Bedford Police Department. This episode chronicles the troubling actions of Officer George Santos and explores the broader implications of an unregulated informant system in America's ongoing war on drugs.

The 911 Call Incident

The episode opens on a warm summer night in 2018 with a distressing 911 call from the Crystal Ice dock in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A fisherman aboard the scalloping boat Little Tootie reports an intruder on board.

• [00:21] Mark Raposo: "910 language emergency."
• [00:24] Dugan Arnett: "The caller is a fisherman on the Little Tootie, a boat docked for the night along the city's waterfront."

The caller describes a frenzied man dressed in black with bloodshot eyes and a gun, claiming to be a police officer without warrants. The dispatcher's confusion sets the stage for the unfolding drama.

George Santos' Suspicious Behavior

As police scramble to respond, Officer Mark Raposo is dispatched to investigate. Upon arrival, Raposo encounters his colleague, George Santos, acting erratically on the Little Tootie.

• [02:24] Mark Raposo: "I think at that point I'm probably already putting two and two together."
• [03:03] Dugan Arnett: "Raposo's colleague George Santos is off duty."

Santos demands drugs from the fishermen, citing information from a "confidential informant." This demand raises immediate red flags for Raposo, who suspects Santos' true intentions.

• [04:44] Dugan Arnett: "Nothing about the situation makes sense to Raposo. What possible reason could Santos have to be here?"
• [05:01] Mark Raposo: "It looked like a drug rip. Pretty much. Bad guy robbing a drug dealer, that's what it is."

The Informant System and Lack of Oversight

Santos leverages the power of confidential informants (CIs) to justify his actions, a common practice in drug investigations. However, Arnett highlights the lack of regulation and transparency surrounding the use of CIs.

• [06:00] Dugan Arnett: "These words triple wire for Raposo."

The system allows officers to operate with minimal oversight, often leading to abuse of power, as exemplified by Santos' actions.

Mark Raposo's Stand Against Misconduct

Mark Raposo becomes increasingly disturbed by Santos' behavior, recognizing the need to address the misconduct despite internal resistance.

• [16:14] Mark Raposo: "George is a street guy. Reputation is kind of a reckless and wild guy."

Raposo's efforts to report Santos face significant obstacles, including retaliation from the department and a culture that prioritizes arrest statistics over ethical policing.

• [27:47] Mark Raposo: "I'm not gonna be part of this. This is not a secret what this guy does."
• [28:23] Mark Raposo: "No problem, I'll take the hit."

The Investigation and Its Aftermath

Despite Raposo's attempts to expose Santos, the investigation reveals deep-seated issues within the New Bedford Police Department. Internal Affairs (IA) files and testimonies from multiple fishermen indicate a pattern of misconduct, including illegal searches and drug thefts.

• [25:04] Dugan Arnett: "They quickly learn that speaking up against a fellow officer can have consequences."

Santos eventually resigns without facing any disciplinary action, highlighting the department's failure to hold him accountable.

• [34:25] Dugan Arnett: "The investigation unfolds, showing that Santos' account of the CI was fabricated or unsupported."

The lack of repercussions underscores systemic problems in policing practices and the handling of informant-related cases.

Broader Implications and Systemic Problems

Arnett expands the narrative to discuss the widespread reliance on CIs in law enforcement and the potential for abuse inherent in such systems. The episode reveals how the secrecy surrounding informants can facilitate corruption, enabling officers like Santos to exploit the system for personal gain.

• [07:18] Dugan Arnett: "In a nation addicted to drugs, police across the country have become addicted to informants."

The episode underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of informants to prevent misuse and protect vulnerable communities.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Spotlight: Snitch City concludes by emphasizing the ongoing struggle for justice faced by whistleblowers like Mark Raposo. Despite his brave attempts to expose wrongdoing, Raposo faces ostracization and a lack of support from both the police department and federal agencies.

• [41:53] Mark Raposo: "You can't manipulate this as a grand jury now. This can't be manipulated now."

The episode sets the stage for future installments, promising to delve deeper into the corrupt informant system and its far-reaching consequences on drug enforcement and community trust.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [05:22] George Santos: "If there's a level playing field, there'd be no war on drugs because they wouldn't succeed."
• [19:48] Mark Raposo: "They give him the coke and heroin. No arrests, no charges."
• [41:42] Mark Raposo: "You can't manipulate this as a grand jury now. This can't be manipulated now."
• [50:42] Dugan Arnett: "Would just be shocked that we permit this kind of thing to happen."

Key Takeaways

1. Abuse of Informant Systems: The episode exposes how unregulated informant systems can be exploited by law enforcement, leading to misconduct and corruption.

2. Lack of Accountability: Despite clear evidence of wrongdoing, officers like George Santos often evade punishment due to systemic failures within police departments.

3. Culture of Retaliation: Whistleblowers like Mark Raposo face significant backlash, highlighting the need for protective measures and cultural shifts within law enforcement agencies.

4. Impact on Communities: The misuse of informants undermines trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, particularly affecting vulnerable populations such as immigrant fishermen in New Bedford.

Final Thoughts

Episode 1 of Spotlight: Snitch City provides a compelling and detailed examination of the dark side of police informant systems. Through the story of Officer George Santos and the courageous efforts of Mark Raposo, Dugan Arnett sheds light on the urgent need for reform to ensure justice, transparency, and accountability in law enforcement.

Transcript

[Dugan Arnett]

Before we begin, this story includes strong language. Please take care when listening. It's a warm summer night in 2018 and there's a strange situation unfolding aboard a scalloping boat docked in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

[Mark Raposo]

910 language emergency.

[Dugan Arnett]

Yes, but you know that no problem if you're on the boat. The caller says there's an intruder on board. And you said that someone's on your boat and that not supposed to be on the boat. Where at sir? The Crystal Ice dock in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The caller is a fisherman on the Little Tootie, a boat docked for the night along the city's waterfront. And you said it's by the docks? Yes, sir. The call comes in at about 9:30. Some crew members are sleeping, others are making final preparations for the next day's fishing trip down the Atlantic coast when suddenly there's a loud banging on the door and a frenzied man pushes his way inside.

[George Santos]

Does he have many weapons on him?

[Dugan Arnett]

Yeah, he has a. He's dressed in all black, his eyes are bloodshot and he has a gun. Is the person still there?

[Mark Raposo]

I don't know what's going on.

[Dugan Arnett]

The scene is chaotic moment and the dispatchers trying to figure out what's going on. He says he's cop, but he doesn't have no warrants. The fisherman is telling the dispatcher that the guy on his boat claims he's a police officer.

[Mark Raposo]

So you think he's lying?

[Dugan Arnett]

He's not an officer, no sir, but he does have a badge. He said he's a security or something. Around this time a call goes out to police radios across town. Do I have anybody out at the Crystal Ice dock? We have a mail calling stating that he's speaking with somebody who's claiming to be a police officer, but he thinks.

[Mark Raposo]

That this person is lying. Consult unit 10.

[Dugan Arnett]

Unit 1010, could you make your way.

[Mark Raposo]

Down to the crystalized warehouse just to.

[George Santos]

See exactly what's going on?

[Mark Raposo]

104 room.

[Dugan Arnett]

As police try to figure out exactly what's going on, the message reaches an officer in a nearby patrol car.

[Mark Raposo]

A male identifying himself as a police officer breaking into a boat.

[Dugan Arnett]

Here's Mark Raposo.

[Mark Raposo]

I think at that point I'm probably already putting two and two together.

[Dugan Arnett]

Immediately he has a bad feeling because he suspects he knows who might be causing the trouble. A colleague he's spent the past year trying to avoid, a young officer named George Santos. The waterfront is quiet when Raposo arrives. He parks his cruiser, makes his way down to the dock, cautiously steps aboard the boat and into A scene that defies explanation.

[Mark Raposo]

It's George wearing a black Marine SRT shirt, sweatpants. He's there in his own car. He's got a gun.

[Dugan Arnett]

Raposo's colleague George Santos is off duty.

[Mark Raposo]

And I don't even think he has a radio. What are you. What is going on here? And I'm already going, oh, man, give me a break. Like, why did I. Why did I have to be working right now? You know?

[Dugan Arnett]

Dispatch lets the caller know, okay, sir, that is an officer.

[George Santos]

We checked.

[Dugan Arnett]

You said it is an officer. Yes, it is an officer. When Raposo boards the boat, he finds a bunch of angry fishermen shouting over each other. They're convinced that this officer with bloodshot eyes is here to rob them.

[Mark Raposo]

He just shows up and he just says, I'm looking for drugs. I know there's drugs on the boat.

[Dugan Arnett]

Nothing about the situation makes sense to Raposo. What possible reason could Santos have to be here?

[Mark Raposo]

Judge, what the fuck are you doing? What is this? Well, they got drugs. My CI says there's drugs on the boat.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos tells Raposo he's got a confidential informant who told him that there were drugs aboard the little tootie. These two words, confidential informant, are like magic. As soon as they're uttered, a cloak of secrecy takes over. What's exchanged between a cop and a CI is known only to them and can open doors that are otherwise closed shut. These words triple wire for Raposo.

[Mark Raposo]

I'm like, whoa. And I immediately start to back out, back out of the boat. And I think I told George, hey, George, get out of the boat, get out of the boat. And I tell one of the crewmen, lock the boat, close these doors. Don't let anybody in here.

[Dugan Arnett]

This whole situation looks really bad to Raposo. He thinks it's a crime scene. It looks like Jorge Santos is here using his power as a cop and the supposed word of a confidential informant to force his way onto a boat and steal drugs.

[Mark Raposo]

You know, is this really what's. Is this really happening? What did it look like? It looked like a drug rip. It looked like a drug rip. It looked like something out of a fucking movie.

[Dugan Arnett]

A drug rip?

[Mark Raposo]

Pretty much. Bad guy robbing a drug dealer, that's what it is. Except in this instance, the bad guy is a cop.

[Dugan Arnett]

The cop who showed up on the little tootie that night, wild eyed, flashing a gun and demanding drugs, says he was tipped off by a confidential informant, a claim he knew would grant him, a police officer, certain liberties. You see, informants are the backbone of nearly every drug investigation in America. With little more than the word of a CI cops can launch investigations, break down doors, and upend lives. Today, police are allowed to direct and oversee this vast, anonymous army with no oversight, no regulation, and no transparency. Until relatively recently, many departments didn't even have rules in place about using informants. Surprisingly, some still don't. How it works is all up to police, and it's nearly all done in secret. It is shadowy, it is underground. And it's a game to a lot of these police officers. And to win, they have to think like the criminal, and they start acting like the criminal. I'm Dugan Arnett, an investigative reporter with the Boston Globe Spotlight Team. I've spent the last two years inside this secret world of police informants, where the stakes can be life and death. And no one wants you to know how it really works. Not prosecutors, not judges, not police, and certainly not the informants themselves, who can pay dearly for cooperating with cops. Trying to get to the bottom of all this has taken me to the heart of one small city at the forefront of America's drug war. New Bedford, Massachusetts.

[Mark Raposo]

Snitch, informant, CI. You didn't want to be labeled a rat, not around here.

[Dugan Arnett]

In a nation addicted to drugs, police across the country have become addicted to informants. And nowhere is that more apparent than in this historic port city, the backdrop of Moby Dick, where police have been empowered to use informants to take down dealers by almost any means necessary.

[George Santos]

If there's a level playing field, there'd be no war on drugs because they wouldn't succeed.

[Mark Raposo]

You live and die in this business on informants and information.

[Dugan Arnett]

Did I lie?

[George Santos]

Yes.

[Dugan Arnett]

Do your officers lie?

[Mark Raposo]

Yes.

[Dugan Arnett]

Everybody lies. My investigation has taken me from the docks of New Bedford to the homes of drug traffickers, to remote parking lots where skittish cops will only meet at night. I'm going to tell you about several cases of police misconduct, all involving informants, and you'll hear from the people on all sides of this, including informants themselves. Reluctant to snitch and yet still caught up. I've reviewed thousands of pages of court records and internal police documents going back more than three decades. And what I've found in case after case is officers who've exploited this informant system in almost every way imaginable to enrich themselves, break laws, protect kingpins, and attack perceived enemies. And they've done it all with impunity. This podcast is an unvarnished, behind the scenes look at this clandestine world where total secrecy has allowed corruption and misconduct to fester from The Boston Globe Spotlight Team this is snitch City Episode 1, Officer Pastillas.

[Mark Raposo]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs, meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need. Have coverage options to protect the things you value most. File a claim right on the State Farm mobile app, and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Dugan Arnett]

It's almost Mother's Day and you can now get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything. So, no, you can't order a relaxing shower, but some beautiful flowers? You bet we deliver those.

[Mark Raposo]

A bird bath?

[Dugan Arnett]

No. A bath bomb. Absolute no to a chocolate lab, but yes to some chocolate truffles. So whether it's a last minute gift for Mother's Day, fresh groceries or food from your favorite restaurants, get it delivered today with Uber Eats. Order now. Product availability varies by Regency app for details. All right, Duke, kind of busy today, but looks like construction types. I'm at New Bedford's waterfront with my editor Brendan, walking the docks where the Fisherman made that 911 call. This story begins at the site of the Little Tootie, because what happened here is a glaring example of abuse within the confidential informant system. All right, give me a little walkie talk here. We're heading back to the docks, hoping to run into some fishermen throughout the day today and see what we can find out. In many ways, the waterfront is the heart of New Bedford. And Officer George Santos was detailed to the city's marine unit. This was his territory. His job was to check boat licenses, patrol the harbor, that sort of thing. Beautiful morning, clear sky. I've been told that the fishing community here is tight knit and that if I want to learn more about Santos, this is the place to start.

[George Santos]

No, go ahead. He can follow me.

[Dugan Arnett]

Brendan and I approach a couple of grizzled fishermen throwing lobster traps. So for those who don't understand or know New Bedford, how important is the industry? How important are folks like you to.

[Mark Raposo]

The city, to the state, to the country?

[George Santos]

Well, New Bedford is the largest producing fishing port in the entire world.

[Dugan Arnett]

He tells us he's been fishing here for 50 years. What are you piling in today, Eric?

[George Santos]

A boat named Maxine Emma, a 90.

[Dugan Arnett]

Foot steel offshore lobster and crab boat. New Bedford's fortunes have always been tied to the Ocean. If you know anything about the place, it's probably that it was once the hub of the whaling industry, and in the 19th century, that made it one of the richest cities in the world. This is where Herman Melville set off on the whaling voyage that inspired Moby Dick. Today, New Bedford still has an old world feel, with cobblestone streets running through the city center. There are fish houses lining the waterfront, and the scent of briny ocean air is hard to escape. The city's fishing port still brings in the most valuable haul in the country, but few people here actually perceive that, and the city can feel a little down on its luck. Drugs are a big problem.

[George Santos]

How many clinics they got in the city?

[Dugan Arnett]

You've noticed that? You've seen that play out of the dock?

[George Santos]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dugan Arnett]

The reason I sold my boat, I.

[George Santos]

Was in Westport Point.

[Dugan Arnett]

We couldn't get no help.

[George Santos]

I had to get rid of at least five or six different American kids because of drugs. They can't show up.

[Dugan Arnett]

They don't show up on time. If they show up, they're screwed up. In this city of 100,000, overdoses are routine. The local drug court is one of the busiest in the city state. It seems like there's a bit of a pill problem in New Bedford. I mean, a little bit, yeah, A little bit Epidemic. Yeah, epidemic, yeah, Bad.

[George Santos]

Real bad.

[Dugan Arnett]

Everywhere you go, the search for drugs and especially pills draws a lot of folks to the docks, Santos included.

[George Santos]

I don't know, I don't know the officer name, but the nickname is the people. He said Pastillas because he also looking for drugs, you know, he has told me like two times. He said, hey, I'm looking for drugs. For drugs, man. I'm here for jobs, you know.

[Dugan Arnett]

This fisherman, Tony, says he's had multiple run ins with Santos and that everyone down here knew the officer by a nickname, Pastillas pills in Spanish. He stopped you every.

[George Santos]

Everywhere, everywhere. When they stop, when the cop stop, you know, he said, hey, Jimmy's driver lands nothing. No, just put the window down and looking for Pastilla. What the. Man, what are you doing? You know, he looking for Pastilla, you know, like, just like that, you know, it's incredible, man. Everybody is scared, you know.

[Dugan Arnett]

Tony says Santos would pull people over and immediately begin searching their cars, squeezing them for information.

[George Santos]

And he push. Oh, you go to the jail, you got a lot of drugs. Let me know who move drug. Let me know who do it.

[Dugan Arnett]

He wants people to be informants. Yeah, to tell him, give him information.

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah, that's what he Wants?

[George Santos]

Yeah, I gotta come.

[Dugan Arnett]

What Tony's describing is wild Santos stopping people without cause, searching them for drugs, and then pressuring them to become informants. But he wasn't a drug cop, and cultivating informants wasn't part of his job description. When I first came to the story, I had the same sense of how police use informants that you might. They build relationships with people who are supposedly in or close to the drug trade and offer them a pass, a plea bargain, occasionally a few bucks in exchange for information. Now, more than 50 years into America's war on drugs, law enforcement's reliance upon confidential informants has become nearly absolute. Still, it's not supposed to look anything like what Santos was doing. George Santos was a local kid. He attended the city's vocational high school. He's short. In photos I've seen, he's got round cheeks, a bit of dark stubble and a sweet smile. People who know him say he's friendly, hard working, if a little unpolished. One story I heard sticks out to me, that as a police cadet, he sometimes had to be told not to wear sweatpants to work. But as an officer, Santos quickly got a reputation. Other cops were wary of him. Some kept their distance, including Mark Raposo.

[Mark Raposo]

You know, George is a street guy. Reputation is kind of a reckless and wild guy. He made a lot of contacts on the street, made a lot of brazen, bold moves on the street. Chased people into houses searches, extraordinary amount of vehicle searches.

[Dugan Arnett]

Before his life collided with Santos, Raposa was part of New Bedford's police marine unit, a dream job.

[Mark Raposo]

When I got the job, I was ecstatic. I loved being on the water. I loved everything about the job. The boats, the waterfront, the people, the fishermen. The best job in the department in my opinion.

[Dugan Arnett]

Working on the marine unit was pretty straightforward. Maintain relationships with fishermen and boat owners and provide security on the docks.

[Mark Raposo]

You get to ride around on boats in the summer, you get a take home car. You're diving, you're not dealing with, you know, you're dealing with some fishermen, but you're not dealing with very difficult people. That job was a prize, but it.

[Dugan Arnett]

Also required a lot of training. Diving certifications, Coast Guard licenses, years of experience, qualifications that George Santos didn't have.

[Mark Raposo]

So to my surprise, when I start hearing George's name being floated around, I can't even really believe it. He doesn't know how to run the boats. He doesn't dive. He doesn't know anything we do down there at all.

[Dugan Arnett]

Nonetheless, Santos gets the job, and almost immediately there's Fireworks. One night after a training exercise on Martha's Vineyard, a bunch of cops go out for drinks. Raposo says he watches Santos try to pick a fight with one of the police instructors.

[Mark Raposo]

And the worst of it all is we're wearing shirts that say New Bedford Police. Like, what the fuck are you doing? We're not even in our city. Hey, we're guests over here. What are you doing?

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos gets sent back to his hotel room, and from there he calls Raposo, screaming and threatening to tear the hotel room apart.

[Mark Raposo]

Now, I'm nervous now because he's in there, my gun's in there, and he's hanging out of our hotel room window, screaming, suck my dick. Loud. Like, loud.

[Dugan Arnett]

Their boss, the Marine unit supervisor, is there too. So Raposo expects some kind of fallout the next day.

[Mark Raposo]

I thought that was it. I said, hey, he's done. After this, there's no way, you know, he's not going to be able to stay here.

[Dugan Arnett]

But there are no consequences. And this wouldn't be the last time police higher ups let things slide. When it came to Santos, Raposo says that's because the department valued one thing above all stats. Car stops, citations, arrests. These numbers are the lifeblood of modern policing. They make for good headlines, lead to promotions. Bosses can point to them to show they're getting results. And in New Bedford, nobody could fill a stat sheet like George Santos. He was constantly among the department's most active officers. Supervisors raved about his work ethic. His numbers were written up in the local news.

[Mark Raposo]

The only reason George was there is because they look at a piece of paper and if those numbers are high, that's it. It doesn't matter the baggage that you bring. Nobody cares about what you did or what rules you bent to get him. At that point in time, that would put you on the top. Bringing numbers, numbers, numbers.

[Dugan Arnett]

Many officers told me what Santos really wanted was to be a drug cop. And he tried to turn his cushy Marine Unit gig into just that. Searching for pills, squeezing people, and trying to build up a stable of informants.

[Mark Raposo]

He would mention that he was always working to cultivate informants because his real goal was to get into Narcotics, but they would never take him there.

[Dugan Arnett]

Drug cops are encouraged to develop informants, and they do this by finding people who are on the outs and forming a relationship. Of course, it's largely one sided and fraught in a lot of ways, but still a partnership, one that's shrouded in secrecy. In theory, this protects informants and their identities because it's Dangerous to snitch. But the secrecy has another effect. It leaves the role of police and the rules they play by completely unknowable and opaque to anyone else. Trust me. I tried. The Globe requested information about informants from every law enforcement agency in the state. We weren't asking for names or identifying information, but basic things. How many do you have? How much do you pay them, if at all? And a number of the 400 or so agencies just didn't respond. New Bedford was especially resistant to my questions. For over a year, I requested records that are supposed to be available to the public. Time and again, the department delayed or didn't respond at all. New Bedford city attorney got involved. Then the Globe's attorney got involved. We're still battling with the city over the records, but we're using some of the ones we did receive to tell this story. All told, this secrecy makes accountability almost impossible. Raposo says it was this lack of transparency that enabled Santos to get away with everything.

[Mark Raposo]

There were cis who were even reporting this stuff back to certain people, and still nothing was getting done. CIs that were telling guys in the drug unit that this kid is doing stuff that he ain't supposed to. And it just carried on and on and on.

[Dugan Arnett]

Around this time, another person was watching George Santos become increasingly erratic. A fisherman named Freddy Loya, who's been coming into New Bedford's port for nearly 35 years.

[George Santos]

I was born in Texas, raised in Mexico. 91 I got here into Massachusetts.

[Dugan Arnett]

Freddy's a jovial guy with long salt and pepper hair. He's also captain of the Little Tootie. Tell me about the first time you encountered Pastillas.

[George Santos]

Honestly, he was polite, and he didn't have no reason to pull us over, you know, so he explained to me, I'm kind of on a task force to combat all these opioids and pills, smuggling and dealing, you know, like he was a good thing.

[Dugan Arnett]

At first, Freddy was glad to hear that someone might actually be doing something about the pill problem, plaguing the docs. But then Santos pulled him over again and again and again.

[George Santos]

So it got to the point where if we be here for a week, we get pulled over for four times in a week, you know, trying to search for drugs and drugs and pills.

[Dugan Arnett]

And one afternoon, it all comes to a head.

[George Santos]

He pulls me over. Oh, you know the drill. We gotta check the car, you know, so. So he still checked the car. He said, you're okay. You can go.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos doesn't find anything and sends Freddy on his way. But soon after Freddy's son in law, who was in the truck with him, notices something. There'd been a bottle of prescription pills, Adderall in the truck. Medicine that Freddy's wife had legally. And now it's missing.

[George Santos]

I said, what? No, he didn't. Yes, he did, Freddie. I saw him. So I opened the middle compartment and checked for the pills. The pills weren't there.

[Dugan Arnett]

Freddy speeds back to the waterfront and finds Santos parked near the docks.

[George Santos]

I mean, I was pissed. I ain't gonna lie. I was pissed. So I go immediately up to him and he's sitting inside his car. He doesn't send any butter. He's just like sitting over here. What you want? Talking to me like he's the big boss or something. I said, I want my pills back. I said, those are not your pills. Those are my wife's pills. And she's gonna be pissed on me if I don't got those pills when I get back.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos says he'll give Freddie the pills back, but he wants something in return.

[George Santos]

So he's like, well, you're gonna help me out. He wanted to know what people is bringing drugs in the new airport. I said, I don't know nothing about it, you know?

[Dugan Arnett]

So he steals your pills and then when you go to get them back, tries to basically turn you into an informant for him.

[George Santos]

Yeah, that's kind of what he wanted. Yeah, like an exchange.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos wants Freddy to snitch to Freddy. It seems more like extortion than a police tactic. Either way, he has no intention of working with Santos. Eventually, he gets his wife's pills and they go their separate ways.

[George Santos]

What can you do? Put a complaint on the police to the captain of the police. Nothing's going to happen.

[Dugan Arnett]

Freddy's lack of faith in the New Bedford police would turn out to be pretty well founded. I examined countless police reports, internal affairs files, and department disciplinary records. And I can say Freddy and the other fishermen I talk to are just the tip of the iceberg. I've identified half a dozen people who say they had drugs taken from them by Santos. Not seized as part of a drug arrest, but stolen. Many of their stories are remarkably similar. A questionable car stop, an illegal search, and then a robbery.

[Mark Raposo]

George picked his people he would deal with specifically due to their immigration status.

[Dugan Arnett]

Officer Mark Raposo.

[Mark Raposo]

They don't speak English. You know, I think in his mind, I believe, less likely to complain, less likely to understand that they're being subjected to an illegal search.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos cast a pall over the waterfront. For decades, the docks had served as A gathering place for immigrant fishermen, a kind of safe haven where they could swap stories or blow off steam. But as his behavior escalated, even those who never touched drugs grew increasingly uneasy. Some began avoiding the waterfront altogether. And Freddie says fishermen began to whisper about taking matters into their own hands.

[George Santos]

It starts getting the frustration out. They start getting mad, you know, like, yeah, we should do something about him. Fuck him. He's just a poor cop. He's only, you know, we're loving this and that. You know, people was thinking, you know, about really getting rid of him.

[Dugan Arnett]

You know, it could have just been some alcohol infused bravado, but to hear him tell it, there were honest conversations about violent revenge. And around this time, early One morning in September 2017, there was a suspicious fire at Santos home.

[Mark Raposo]

His Crown Vic, the front of it just caught on fire. It was early, early, early in the morning. 4, 5, 6 in the morning, George.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos take home cruiser was on fire. Authorities said the blaze was likely caused by an electrical issue or equipment failure. But Raposo and a bunch of current and former officers I spoke with don't believe the official version.

[Mark Raposo]

He, he ruffles so many feathers that someone lights his well. His cruiser catches itself on fire in front of his house.

[Dugan Arnett]

A mysterious fire, threats, illegal search and seizures, it was all getting to be too much for Raposo. At one point, he tells his supervisor he no longer wants anything to do with George Santos.

[Mark Raposo]

And I said, you know, I'm not gonna be part of this. This is not a secret what this guy does. I flat out telling him, I'm not backing that kid up. I'm not, I'm not doing it.

[Dugan Arnett]

But Raposo is complaining about a guy who is a rock star in the department. And he quickly learns that speaking up against a fellow officer can have consequences. Raposo says it happens fast. The schedule he's had for years suddenly changes. He loses his take home cruiser. His supervisor starts to target him for minor infractions. It's clear to him that this is the price of sticking his neck out.

[Mark Raposo]

Okay, no problem, I'll take the hit.

[Dugan Arnett]

Rapose as a veteran cop, he's seen a lot in his 20 years on the job. But his problems with Santos were far from over. And even he couldn't foresee what was coming.

[Mark Raposo]

I was thinking, I can't be around this stuff. This guy's gonna get in big trouble. And in the end, I get in trouble.

[Dugan Arnett]

Cancer is sadly very common in America. It's rare that someone has not been impacted by the disease, whether they endured it themselves or witnessed a loved one. Which is why I want to tell you about my Boston Globe colleague's brand new five part series the Stories of Cancer on the say More podcast. In the series, award winning columnist and host Shirley Leung shares her own journey with breast cancer for the first time. While telling her story, Shirley explores the science, history and real life impact of the disease, bringing together experts, survivors and groundbreaking research. Follow say More from the Boston Globe. Wherever you get your podcasts, this episode is brought to you by Greenlight. Get this Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to enrich our kids lives. But are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing. And this investment costs less than that. After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free trial at greenlight.com Spotify greenlight.com Spotify Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone Paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint.

[Mark Raposo]

You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying.

[Dugan Arnett]

No judgments.

[Mark Raposo]

But that's weird.

[Dugan Arnett]

Okay, one judgment anyway, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] the night of the 911 call aboard the Little Tutti in summer 2018, that's when the stories of George Santos, Mark Raposo and Freddy Loya converge. So tell us, tell us about that that night. So you're, you're docked?

[George Santos]

Well, that night it was the end of a long day for me.

[Dugan Arnett]

Freddie was exhausted after a day aboard the Little Tutti captaining a crew of a half dozen. He hopped into his truck to run an errand before bed.

[George Santos]

I think I was like minutes away when I got the call.

[Dugan Arnett]

It was a member of his crew and the guy sounded panicked.

[George Santos]

He calls me and he tells me there's a cop in here and now he's searching. I asked him how do you how this cop looks? So he tried describing me, the cop I knew exactly the description of Santos. And then he tells me, but he's not wearing a uniform.

[Dugan Arnett]

What, what's, what's going through your head at when you get this call?

[George Santos]

First of all, I'm upset. I started getting upset and mad immediately, you know. Second of all, as I am on the call, you know, I realized that he's doing this illegally and that he's not on duty, you know. So that's when I asked to call 91191 call.

[Dugan Arnett]

Language emergency. Yes, we got it.

[Mark Raposo]

But he don't got no punger to be on the front.

[Dugan Arnett]

Within minutes, Mark Raposo steps aboard the Little Tootie and tries to make sense of what he's seeing.

[Mark Raposo]

I mean, he's a cop, but he's not working as a cop. He's not really dressed as a cop. He tells us, hey, I have information that there's drugs on this boat. But he doesn't call anybody about it. I'm gonna see what I can grab and I'm gonna make my way home.

[Dugan Arnett]

It's yet another of Santos questionable searches, another push for drugs. Vague talk about informants. But this time, Freddy's certain that Santos has taken it too far. As he races back to the boat, he slams the steering wheel. He's elated.

[George Santos]

Oh, I finally got you, motherfucker. Yeah, I'm never gonna forget that. Never. Yeah, finally he made that mistake that I was kind of waiting, you know.

[Dugan Arnett]

Despite all the chaos and tension aboard the boat the encounter on the little Tutti ends pretty anticlimactically. Reposo coaxes Santos from the boat. A supervisor arrives. They tell the fisherman to lock up. Everyone goes their separate ways. Raposo returns to the station and tries to tell a sergeant what he just witnessed.

[Mark Raposo]

I even get a fucking piece of paper and I. We're back at the station after everybody leaves and I write drug rip and I fold it and I put it.

[Dugan Arnett]

On his desk in the most blunt terms possible. Raposo advises the sergeant that another officer just tried to rob some fishermen of drugs. In his words, a drug rip like Freddy. Raposo is sure that the little Tutti has to be the final straw. Both of these guys, each terrorized by Santos in their own way, think this time police can't ignore Santos anymore. And they were right. This is an administrative interview taking place at the Office of Professional Standards of the new Betro Police Department. Subject of this interview is Officer George Santos and he is accompanied by representation. Mr. Andrew Gambosini. Could you state your name for the record, please?

[George Santos]

George Santos.

[Dugan Arnett]

I got my hands on the Internal affairs file as well as recordings of some of the interviews, including this one with Santos, where he struggles to recall even basic details.

[George Santos]

I can't recall now. I've been under a lot of stress.

[Dugan Arnett]

Understandable financially.

[George Santos]

Everything going on at home, I mean.

[Dugan Arnett]

To expect me to remember every detail. That's why we're just asking. Okay. I've read a lot of internal affairs reports from many different police departments, and they all tend to follow a similar pattern. But the 230 pages dedicated to George Santos and the little Tutti are unlike anything I've ever seen. And what quickly becomes clear with each new interview is that the department's Jorge Santos problem extends far beyond a single night aboard a scalloping boat. I'm familiar with Santos outside of work, so I kind of know his behaviors. So I kind of figured that it was something that I would suspect for him to do. Caitlin, Sylvia was working 911 dispatch when the call from the little tootie came in. I mean, it's not a call we get every day. It's never happened before. So I would say I hope to never come across it again. At first, it was frightening. She tells police she immediately had an inkling that Santos might be involved, because by then, she'd already had some troubling experiences with him. Just coming over the radio, screaming. And then when you try to raise him, you can't get him, and you have no idea where he is. She's not the only one who tells police about his misconduct. A half dozen fishermen also come forward saying that Santos took their drugs. Some said they were harassed, searched illegally. And almost all say there are other victims, people who are too nervous to speak up. State your name for the record, please.

[Mark Raposo]

Michael Roussel.

[Dugan Arnett]

And Michael, you all. Investigators also interview a former police officer who now works security at a hotel where a lot of fishermen stay. Michael Roussel tells police that Santos was illegally searching hotel guests.

[Mark Raposo]

They told him he could not be bothering our customers like that.

[Dugan Arnett]

Roussel says he repeatedly heard stories from fishermen about a rogue cop obsessed with pills.

[Mark Raposo]

What I was told by the guys was that he would stop them, asked them if they had drugs, if they had pills. Do you have pills on you? And if they had pills on them, he would take the pills, give them back a couple, keep the pills even.

[Dugan Arnett]

A couple of them had coke and heroin.

[Mark Raposo]

He gave him the coke and heroin.

[Dugan Arnett]

Back, and he kept the pills. No arrests, no charges.

[Mark Raposo]

I said, look, you guys are gonna come forward.

[Dugan Arnett]

I says, he can't do this. But they're afraid to come forward because.

[Mark Raposo]

He says, listen.

[Dugan Arnett]

I don't know why Santos was stealing pills. After the little tutti, he was ordered to take a drug test, and the results came back negative. That surprised some of his colleagues, who told me they believed he had a drug addiction. Either way, it's clear that Santos behavior was an open secret to almost anyone working on or near the waterfront. That's why when Raposo got that call from dispatch, right away he figured it was Santos on the boat acting erratically. And he suspected Santos had no good reason for being there, that it wasn't police work. Here's what Santos told investigators about what happened that night. He's home that evening when an informant calls with a tip. It's big. 100 grams of opiates aboard a scalloping boat docked in the harbor. Santos says he tells a supervisor, hurries over, boards the boat, and you've heard the rest. But as the investigation unfolds, police records show significant problems with that story. After reviewing all these police files, listening to the tapes and talking to dozens of sources, I can tell you his account doesn't really hold water. Crew members say they never gave Santos permission to board the boat. Phone records suggest he lied about notifying a supervisor. But the biggest, most glaring issue is the supposed confidential informant. At some point during the June 21, were you contacted by.

[George Santos]

Yes, sir.

[Dugan Arnett]

The audio from the police department is heavily redacted. And what time was that?

[George Santos]

I don't recall the exact time.

[Dugan Arnett]

How do you contact him when you call him? How do you contact him?

[George Santos]

He calls me. We talk often.

[Dugan Arnett]

Do you have his cell phone number on you?

[George Santos]

He has different numbers.

[Dugan Arnett]

Would you be able. Would you be willing to share your call records with the department? Santos attorney jumps in. No.

[Mark Raposo]

No, sir.

[Dugan Arnett]

Santos repeatedly tells investigators that his story about the CI is true. But when they try to drill down on details, he's evasive and Cagey.

[George Santos]

I'm not 100% certain if I called him that that night or he called me. I'm not 100% certain.

[Dugan Arnett]

Let me rephrase that. When they try to push him further about his justification for boarding the boat, his answer is pretty telling.

[George Santos]

Based upon the advice of my attorneys, I invoke my federal and state constitutional rights to remain silent and decline to answer that question.

[Dugan Arnett]

George Santos said an informant told him there were drugs on the little Tutti. But after months of investigating the story, I can tell you there was no informant that night. At least not by any reasonable definition of the word. In fact, it doesn't appear Santos ever had any registered informants. I wish I could tell you for sure, but the department refused to hand over that information. So either Santos invented a CI out of thin air or he took the Word of an off the book source. And remember, Santos isn't a drug cop. He's in the Marine unit. So no, Santos story doesn't hold up. And Mark Raposo, well, he's blunt about what he saw. A drug rip.

[Mark Raposo]

Even if he did say, in a perfect world, he does have this person as a CIA. They tell him, hey, we got this stuff on the boat. The last thing anybody's gonna do is put their sweatpants on, throw a radio in their back pocket, drive their car down there, not tell anybody what they're doing, and start ransacking a boat with four or five guys in it.

[Dugan Arnett]

In New Bedford, as internal investigators work the Santos case, officer Mark Raposo gets a letter, a subpoena. Prosecutors are considering potential criminal charges against Santos and a grand jury has been convened. Raposo is asked to testify.

[Mark Raposo]

So I get the grand jury summons and I go there, I want to say I go there to testify that day and I walk in and I said, hey, let's have a little sit down, let's talk.

[Dugan Arnett]

He's leery. For months he'd been sounding the alarm on Santos, having his complaints ignored. Now he's being asked to breach policing's most fundamental code, to testify against another officer, to break the blue wall of silence. In a way, he's being asked to snitch. Think about it. Prosecutors are asking Raposo to work with them. It's a big step and he wants reassurances.

[Mark Raposo]

Well, I says it depends what you're gonna do. Are you gonna follow this through? And his words to me is, I'm gonna take this wherever the evidence takes me. He tells me this.

[Dugan Arnett]

So Raposo agrees.

[Mark Raposo]

You know, you can't manipulate this as a grand jury now. You can't. This can't be manipulated now. This is just, this is gonna go, this has wheels now. This is it. These guys are gonna have to answer now.

[Dugan Arnett]

Still, a number of anxiety inducing scenarios play out in his head. Will he be targeted or scapegoated? Is he a whistleblower? Most importantly, Raposo wonders whether he and his family are safe.

[Mark Raposo]

George, at the time was, was erratic as can be. And this is a guy who's proficient with firearms, not only on patrol level. This guy worked on SWAT for a little while. You know, he was off the wall at this time. You know, he was really upset with his former co workers, and I can't imagine he was upset with any of them more than he was with me.

[Dugan Arnett]

Expecting an indictment, Raposo even makes plans to send his wife and kids to stay with his in laws.

[Mark Raposo]

My wife knew, you know, I confided in her and told her a lot about what was going on and she was very nervous.

[Dugan Arnett]

Eventually, the grand jury wraps and Raposo's worst case scenario plays out. There are no charges, no arrests, and no one gives Raposo a heads up. He only finds out when he calls the prosecutor for an update. And this is when Mark Raposo, police officer for nearly two decades, seemingly loses faith in the criminal justice system.

[Mark Raposo]

You can be a police officer asked to testify at a grand jury, stick your neck out there, go in there, tell the truth. If I knew this was gonna happen, I would have refused to testify. I took a lot of grief over this. It is not, it's not a great place to be. We have to testify against another police officer. Culturally, you keep your mouth shut and that's it. And at this point I kind of throw my hands up as I can't do anything else.

[Dugan Arnett]

While the criminal case peters out, the internal affairs case is much more definitive. Investigators don't ignore the evidence they gathered. The findings are scathing. They show that Santos essentially turned a mile long stretch of the waterfront into his own personal pharmacy, systematically targeting and preying upon some of the city's most vulnerable. And it makes clear that people in the department knew about it. I found at least four complaints that went directly to the deputy chief. So when it comes time to hand down punishment, it looks like there could be some accountability, something that would send a message. Nope, not here. 19 months after being put on paid leave, the department took initial steps to fire him and the mayor set a hearing date on the matter. But then Santos resigned before any discipline was handed out. He was free to go on his way. No penalty, no problem. Today he lives on a quiet street in a small Florida town not far from the Gulf Coast. Shortly before wrapping this podcast, I knocked on Santos's door. Hi, George. My name is Dugan Arnett. I'm a writer at the Boston Globe newspaper. He answered the door in sweatpants and a T shirt. He was soft spoken and polite. He invited me in and we chatted for a few minutes. I told him what would be in the story and he made clear that he didn't want to comment at all. The New Bedford Police Department wouldn't make anyone available for an interview. In response to my written questions, they emailed a statement. It said that these allegations have been investigated to resolution and made public or lacked a credible basis to pursue further investigation. The department also pointed to a 2023 audit with roughly 90 recommendations, including two generic ones related to the use of CIs. One recommends that officers be aware of the informant policy. As for Mark Raposo, after the Santos court case collapsed, things get complicated.

[Mark Raposo]

I'll tell you, they made my life pretty hard over this. They took years off my life with this.

[Dugan Arnett]

He feels ostracized by other officers. The bosses change his job duties and his work schedule, and it's impossible for him to see it as anything other than retaliation.

[Mark Raposo]

The most upsetting thing was the people who were our leaders during this that let this all ride. I mean, George is one thing, but to have my supervisor have the deputy chief of police brushed these concerns off. A DA's office brushed them off. And then on top of it, I get removed from my position. It was pretty disheartening.

[Dugan Arnett]

Not long after the grand jury and IA cases peter out, it occurs to Raposo there's one last option, one more call he can make. Did you have to sort of talk yourself into making that call? Like, build yourself up to it?

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah. Cause what I figured was, hey, I'm now gonna have to go on the record with a federal agency and I'm gonna get fucking fried.

[Dugan Arnett]

The FBI is his last hope. He's on a side job at a shipyard. He finds a quiet spot, pulls out his cell phone and dials.

[Mark Raposo]

I make a call to the Lakeville FBI office. I talked to a female FBI agent. Give him my info. It's some issues in New Bedford. I'm a police officer.

[Dugan Arnett]

My editor, Brendan, is with me for the interview. Did you say exactly what the issues were?

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah, I told her, listen, there's a police officer who was involved in criminal activity. I think it's going to get covered up. I'd like somebody to talk to. And that was it.

[Dugan Arnett]

FBI. That's a big deal.

[Mark Raposo]

You would think. You would think.

[Dugan Arnett]

After making the call, he waits and.

[Mark Raposo]

Waits, and I never heard back. Ever. I mean, even I call the FBI and they don't fucking call me back. It's. It's fucking mind numbing.

[George Santos]

I mean, you could have been an.

[Dugan Arnett]

Informant for the FBI.

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah, right?

[Dugan Arnett]

I mean, you were like, hey, I'm willing.

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah, they, yeah, they weren't interested, I guess.

[Dugan Arnett]

I reached out to the FBI for comment. They said, quote, as a matter of long standing policy, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of investigations. Mark Raposo took a huge risk talking to me, going on the record with his name, to speak out against the police department where he's still employed today.

[Mark Raposo]

It's in the interest of the leadership to keep it quiet. They don't want that brought to light because it casts the negative light on the department.

[Dugan Arnett]

I don't know. He doesn't know what kind of consequences he'll face when this comes out.

[Mark Raposo]

Because I know that these guys always. They always pay you back, you know, and they're not known for this, you know, the upper echelon that are involved in this, they're not known for letting things go.

[Dugan Arnett]

If the saga of Jorge Santos sparked even a hint of departmental soul searching, I haven't found any evidence of it. In fact, I found a lot of other cases like this in New Bedford involving many of the same players. And it goes all the way to the top of the department. Mark Raposo is not the only one who's tried to get the attention of the FBI. The feds know a lot about the police department's problems and alleged misconduct. And you're going to hear all about it. But first I'm going to tell you about an informant whose life is in danger right now. We heard you.

[George Santos]

You was working with the police and shit. Now you got to get the up out of here.

[Dugan Arnett]

You're gonna get stabbed. He trusted New Bedford police and they burned him. Now he's cowering in a prison cell. I'm so stressed out, dude.

[Mark Raposo]

I mean, you're the only number I can call.

[Dugan Arnett]

I'm so stressed out. I'm gonna tell you his story next. Through the course of this podcast, you'll hear how America's informant system has been corrupted. My investigation has uncovered numerous cases of informant misconduct, lies, corruption, cover ups of coverups, misdeeds that could cast doubt on countless drug cases with consequences for drug enforcement everywhere.

[George Santos]

Regular people who do not spend a lot of time around the criminal system.

[Dugan Arnett]

Would just be shocked that we permit this kind of thing to happen in.

[George Santos]

A modern constitutional democracy.

[Dugan Arnett]

Did he try to turn you?

[Mark Raposo]

Yeah. Yeah, he tried to turn all of us.

[George Santos]

This is a very serious allegation.

[Mark Raposo]

We can't have offices involved in anything like what's being alleged here. Sir, you're a drug dealer who has the advocacy of one of the top police detectives. We used to call it a license to deal.

[George Santos]

There's absolutely no way that they're telling the truth. I am 100,000% sure I am the informant. You motherfuckers don't rat on each other.

[Dugan Arnett]

So don't start telling my client what d he or she should do. Now shut the up and leave me alone. That's coming up on Snitch City. Spotlight. Snitch City is reported and hosted by me Dugan Arnett. Additional reporting by Andrew ryan and Brendan McCarthy. The podcast is written by Max Green and Kristen Nelson. Along with me and Brendan McCarthy. Max Green is senior producer. Executive producers are Spotlight editor Brendan McCarthy and Kristen Nelson, the Globe's head of audio. Additional editing and support from Gordon Russell and Kathleen Goldar. Thanks also to Taylor Dalvin for her help translating on the docs. Nancy Barnes is the Boston Globe's executive editor. Sound design and mix by Steven Jackson Episode artwork by Julian D. Paulson Art direction by Ryan Huddle Podcast visualization by Olivia Jarvis and Anoush Elbakian. Heather Cyrus is the audience editor. Tim Rasmussen is visuals editor. Legal review by John Albano Fact checking by Matt Mahoney Marketing support for this podcast comes from the podglomerate.