9) The Taste of Poison

Summary

Podcast Summary: To Die For – Episode 9: "The Taste of Poison"

Introduction

In Episode 9 of "To Die For," titled "The Taste of Poison," host Neil Strauss delves deeper into the perilous world of Russian intelligence and sexpionage. This episode continues the harrowing journey of Aliia Roza, the first-ever professed sex spy, as she navigates through the complexities and dangers of her clandestine operations. Joined by Robin Dreek, a seasoned FBI agent with over two decades of experience in recruiting Russian spies, the episode unpacks themes of manipulation, institutional abuse, and the psychological toll on those entangled in espionage.

Reflections from Robin Dreek and Aliia Roza

Early in the episode, Robin Dreek shares his perspective after listening to the initial eight episodes:

Robin Dreek [03:08]: "I just finished listening to the first eight episodes and called to share some thoughts from my experience of 22 years recruiting Russian spies for American intelligence."

Aliia Roza echoes similar sentiments, expressing profound empathy for the trauma endured by sex spies:

Aliia Roza [03:57]: "Your heart just breaks for the trauma, that not just she, but, I mean, they take traffic in human beings. They corrupt them. They destroy these women."

Institutional Abuse and the Seduction Program

The conversation shifts to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), formerly the KGB. Robin Dreek provides insights into the institutional mechanisms that enable abuse within such organizations:

Robin Dreek [05:02]: "Was this a real institutional program to train sex spies, or was this a way for the higher-ups at the academy to create a ring of abuse with these women by pretending it's that?"

Aliia responds by highlighting the blurred lines between program objectives and abusive practices:

Aliia Roza [05:25]: "I'm going to say yes to both. Because from their context, from where they come from, it's all the same."

She details her training under a female major who was herself a victim, forced to perpetuate the cycle of abuse:

Aliia Roza [05:38]: "There's no checks and balances whatsoever. Their checks and balances is I'm the colonel. I say what goes."

Aliia’s First Mission and Trauma

Aliia recounts her initial assignment within the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN), where she confronts the grim realities of drug-related human trafficking:

Aliia Roza [08:20]: "I would need to go with my team... It's really tough to go there back."

Her first mission leads her to a house teeming with evidence of human trafficking and the tragic loss of innocent lives, including children:

Aliia Roza [12:15]: "I saw, like, killed, overdose, like, bodies of kids... it was awful. I was crying then the whole evening."

This experience galvanizes her resolve to make a difference, driven by her father's teachings to protect the vulnerable:

Aliia Roza [14:54]: "I promised myself that I'll do everything to help, whatever it takes."

Confrontation with the Lieutenant General

Empowered by her newfound mission, Aliia confronts her manipulative superior, the Lieutenant General, refusing his inappropriate advances:

Aliia Roza [15:39]: "I'm not doing that. I'm not becoming again someone's... If Cornell doesn't want to protect me anymore, I'll do it myself."

The Lieutenant General's veiled threats highlight the deadly stakes of defiance within the FSB:

Lieutenant General [16:18]: "If you think that you can be clever than me, this is not possible. ... you'll be dead."

Escalation of Missions and Ethical Dilemmas

Aliia's missions become increasingly dangerous, culminating in a high-stakes seduction operation targeting a violent criminal. She meticulously plans to incapacitate him using a covert drug:

Aliia Roza [27:44]: "I said, just drink it and I will do massage straight away."

The success of this mission is marred by uncertainty as the target goes missing, leaving Aliia to grapple with the moral ambiguities of her actions:

Aliia Roza [31:56]: "I thought, you know, it could be really bad to me, too, because I was the one who gave him this."

The Predator Strikes Again

Despite initial signs of autonomy, the Lieutenant General reasserts his control by assigning Aliia to a perilous mission in the Chechen war, signaling a new phase of her torment:

Aliia Roza [34:18]: "He is sending me to the Chechen war for me to be killed over there and never come back."

Insights and Analysis by Robin Dreek

Throughout the episode, Robin Dreek provides critical analysis of Aliia's experiences, shedding light on the systemic issues within Russian intelligence:

Robin Dreek [05:25]: "From their context, from where they come from, it's all the same."

He underscores the cyclical nature of abuse and the dehumanization inherent in training sex spies, framing it as both a strategic and morally corrupt practice.

Conclusion and Looking Ahead

Episode 9, "The Taste of Poison," paints a vivid and unsettling picture of the intersection between intelligence operations and personal vendettas within the Russian FSB. As Aliia Roza's story unfolds, the episode highlights the profound psychological and ethical challenges faced by individuals coerced into becoming instruments of state power. The narrative sets the stage for further exploration in Episode 10, promising deeper insights into Aliia's harrowing journey.

Notable Quotes

• Aliia Roza [05:38]: "They are like tools. And, you know, I call them screwdrivers and wrenches... It's totally objectified."

• Lieutenant General [16:18]: "If you think that you can be clever than me, this is not possible. ... you'll be dead."

• Aliia Roza [32:57]: "I never know if they were still straight like that or not. Because, like, it was the job of the cleaners."

Final Thoughts

"The Taste of Poison" intricately weaves personal narratives with broader geopolitical dynamics, offering listeners an immersive experience into the shadowy realms of espionage and the human cost of such operations. Through Aliia's eyes, the podcast sheds light on the often unseen and untold stories of those who serve as the clandestine pawns in the grander schemes of national security.

Listener Advisory

This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault that may be intense or triggering for some listeners. Discretion is advised.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host]

Of To Die for are available now to binge absolutely free, but for ad free listening and exclusive bonuses. Subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts Warning the following contains graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault that may be too intense or triggering to some listeners. Discretion is advised. One of My friend asked me, have you ever been in love? And I said yes of course. Every single time. And he said no. Really? Because of my trainings, I feel that sometimes every single man in my life, even for the romantic relationship or something, I still look at them as my targets. I have different targets in my life at different period of times and manism is the tool to achieve your goal. I know it sounds really bad. Sorry, that's me. Welcome to my world.

[Narrator]

I had to kill you. I'm really sorry. I had to do it. Got to go on my own. You didn't guess that behind I was holding my gun. I got you, I tell you I had to kill you. Was it so much fun?

[Robin Dreek]

Episode 9, Chapter 19 the Story so far.

[Aliyah]

So I just finished listening to the first eight episodes of To Die For. It was the most compelling thing I've listened to in a and this is not my genre I typically listen to because it's what I lived and it was just spot on. Fascinating.

[Robin Dreek]

This is Robin Dreek, the FBI agent whose voice you heard at the beginning of this podcast. He's just finished listening to the first eight episodes and called to share some thoughts from his experience of 22 years recruiting Russian spies for American intelligence.

[Aliyah]

It's completely conceivable and believable. Everything she said, your heart just breaks for the trauma, that not just she, but, I mean, they take traffic in human beings. I mean, that's exactly what they're doing. They corrupt them. They destroy these women.

[Robin Dreek]

Robin is talking about Aliyah's experiences in the fsb, the Russian intelligence agency formed as a successor to the kgb. During her training, Aliyah was selected for a secret program for seduction agents taught by a female major there who Robin sees as a victim of the system, forced to create new victims.

[Aliyah]

And the other thing that struck me, too, is how congruent that behavior has been through time against Russians. My entire time in the FBI, never once did I ever see a Russian female intelligence officer. They don't do it. Nope. It is not their culture. And if someone rose in the ranks, it was because they were doing what her major was doing, training other females just be tools. And, you know, I call them screwdrivers and wrenches, you know, to be thrown away. It's totally objectified.

[Robin Dreek]

I want to ask you something that I've thought about in talking to you is bring that thought to the surface, which is part of me thinks, assuming this all checks out, was this a real institutional program to train sex spies, or was this a way for the higher ups at the academy to create a ring of abuse with these women by pretending it's that?

[Aliyah]

I'm going to say yes to both. And here's why I frame it like that. Because from our context in the west, it looks like it's one or the other. But from their context, from where they come from, it's all the same.

[Robin Dreek]

We talk about the colonel who ran the academy that Aaliyah went to, how he abused her on the first day, and she was put in a position where she had to seduce him and make him think she was his girlfriend in order to protect herself.

[Aliyah]

There's no checks and balances whatsoever. Their checks and balances is I'm the colonel. I say what goes. And unless you're a colonel that's closer to Putin than me. And that's exactly what this entire program to me looks like, is that they got a colonel in there that was, you know, needed his sexual needs fulfilled. So I'm going to create a program that satisfies me, and I'm glad she's getting good counseling and therapy for it, too, because they destroyed her. This is not about nation states. This is about, you know, nation state making excuses for disgusting human behavior and excusing it because it's serving the greater need of our country.

[Robin Dreek]

With FBI agent Robin, Dreek's thoughts here in mind. We return now to Aaliyah's story. There have been some comments questioning Leah, and as mentioned in episode two, we will of course get to that. But for now, let's just listen, because this story takes some unpredictable turns.

[Podcast Host]

Chapter 20 the bait In 2003, President Putin signed and founded a special department, FS Cayenne. And that department was established only for one reason and one mission, to stop drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

[Robin Dreek]

This was the new department that Alia would be working in. Angry that Alia had rejected his marriage proposal, the colonel had handed her off to his friend, a lieutenant general in the fskn, to start working under him and be his next victim.

[Podcast Host]

So next day, I went to the new department. It was two floors building, white walls inside, and it was a really small department, so we had maybe around like 15 agents. No women, only male. So the new department welcomed me, and we had our morning report routine, where we had our tasks, our assignments.

[Robin Dreek]

Aliyah's first task in the fskn, the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation, was to shadow the other agents as they staked out houses where drugs were sold.

[Podcast Host]

I would need to go with my team, who would be like two or three other agents, and we would walk on the streets and find out places where drugs would be sold. It's really tough to go there back.

[Robin Dreek]

Among Alia's many challenges, there was her new commander, the lieutenant general, who repeated a pattern Alia was now tragically familiar with the first time he phrased it as a question.

[Podcast Host]

Less than a week I served in that new department. The lieutenant general called me and he said to me that, all right, so how do you like your new department instead? Yeah, it's pretty nice. Thank you. And he said, well, let's go for a dinner. And I said, oh, my God, like, I can't do it today. I, I, I have, like, some things to do. He noticed that I was bullshitting him, and he noticed that I was lying, but I just didn't, and I just was scared. He gave me this weird feeling, the feeling that I should run away. But then he said, okay, if not today, when is the next time you tell me? So we go out. And then I called to the colonel. I said, you know, he wants to go out with me. And Cornell said that you have to accept his offer. And I understood that I don't really have anywhere to go and anyone to ask anyway. The whole week I was trying not to be seen by my commander, even every morning at the reporting, like, I always look like Dawn.

[Robin Dreek]

At one of those morning meetings, Aaliyah received her first actual assignment. To stake out a decrepit apartment building where drugs were likely being sold and send in an undercover informant to get evidence.

[Podcast Host]

And I remember it was my first mission. I never done anything like this. So we had, like, one man. He was a drug addict. He used to help agents to buy drugs and tell us what kind is it, Is it good or bad? He was like a bait. He's probably dead already. So we would organize this operation where we would give him money, which were marked previously by us.

[Robin Dreek]

Here's how the sting worked. Once their informant bought the drugs, the team would then raid the house, make arrests, and gather evidence, including the marked money. However, when Aaliyah entered the house, she saw more than drugs and weapons. She saw evidence of a human trafficking operation that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Listener discretion is highly advised.

[Podcast Host]

That boy, he bought heroin. A dose. He paid. And then we were waiting, and we saw that he was giving this money. We came to the house myself, three other agents, and another agent. And when we entered the house.

[Colleague]

When we entered the house, I saw, like, killed, overdose, like, bodies of kids, like, many. And it was. The whole floor was, like, full of, like, disused heroin doses. And kids were, like, five years old, and another was just, like, a little baby. And then we checked the rooms, and there was, like, other girls sitting in the rooms. Like, I guess, like, they all were overdosed. And some of them, they wore. They were like metallic bats, and they had, like, bracelets on the wrist. So they couldn't do anything, but they couldn't even. They couldn't even speak. They were completely high and overdose. And we just couldn't even talk to them. And I saw their hands. They had huge bruises in their hands and legs. I don't know how many men these poor girls had to be with. And some of them after, like, the embassy took them, some of them, they just died before they started. Like, they.

[Podcast Host]

Before they went to the hospital. They died in the car. It was awful. I was crying then the whole evening. They also was one guy who was almost like my age. He was actually from Kazakhstan, too. When I was crying, he supported me. He said, I know what you're going through. It's never okay to see dead bodies, especially children's bodies. But he said, you know what? We can change it. Let's make it happen. And every single day, when we find these houses, when we arrest these motherfuckers, we change the world. And when I heard this, my father's words, that I have to protect people, especially children and especially women. And all this learning in the academy, I felt like I really can do something. And I just wanted to change that shit. I was so angry. So that's what made me strong. I promised myself that I'll do everything to help, whatever it takes.

[Robin Dreek]

With this new sense of mission and purpose, Alia decided that she would stop avoiding the Lieutenant General and tell him directly that she would not be going out with him. She was here to work and make a difference.

[Podcast Host]

So I decided to speak with the General. I knocked his door, I came to his room in the office, and I said, sir, I cannot go with you for dinner. I cannot even go out with you because I'm not available. I have commitments in front of a man. And he said, no, I already spoke with him. It's all fine. He passed you over to me, so it's okay. So now it's my turn. And I was like, my God, I just hated that situation. And he said, you don't understand how privileged you are because I am willing to have sex with you. Not relationship, not commitments, not love. And I said, you know what? I'm not doing that. Like, I'm not becoming again someone's. You know, like a hole for, like, whatever. If, like, Cornell doesn't want to protect me anymore, I'll do it myself. So, no. And he said to me, I just want to warn you, young lady, if you think that you can be clever than me, this is not possible. And someone may tell you the story. What really happened with the female employee, his former employee, when she rejected me. And he said, so if you will reject me, you'll be dead. But I thought that moment, he's trying to make it more dramatic. I would never imagine that he really meant it. He did.

[Robin Dreek]

After Alia left the meeting, she asked the colleague she trusted most, the one who is also from Kazakhstan, what had happened to the last female agent who'd rejected the Lieutenant General's advances.

[Podcast Host]

So he said, a few years ago, in that department, there was a female agent, and she was beautiful. And he called her a black swan because she had this beautiful long black hair and beautiful eyes. And she studied in the same department where I did. He said, this Lieutenant general approached her to have with her some sexual relationship, and she rejected him. So he sent her to one mission where she was shot. So she was killed. And he said, like, just be careful, because this dude definitely killed so many people. He's so cruel.

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[Robin Dreek]

Chapter 21 the Banya shortly after her meeting with the Lieutenant General, and likely not by coincidence, Alia's missions became even more dangerous.

[Podcast Host]

My colleagues arrested one criminal, quite young boy. He was so violent he would just kill people around him, just without any reason. For example, if they would loan money from criminal gang and they wouldn't pay on time, he would kill them and their families. He could kill even kids. My colleagues arrested him then they did have any evidences, they couldn't get any confession or whatever from him, so they had to let him leave. And I prayed to God they wouldn't send me to seduce him or whatever because like, I mean I didn't want to deal with this guy. He was completely out of his mind and he was just scary. And they asked me to set him up.

[Robin Dreek]

For the first time, Alia was asked to use her special training. They hoped that where their traditional police tactics, including violence had not worked, seduction would.

[Podcast Host]

When I received that assignment, they said you just need to basically make him to come to the place. It would be sauna. You won't be alone, we will be with you, we will follow you. So it will be fine.

[Robin Dreek]

The sauna, because of its all purpose use as a bathhouse, social club and meeting place in Russia, was the site of many intelligence operations, not all of which ended well for the target.

[Podcast Host]

If they would have a proof that you are the enemy of the country, they would usually like take you to like this sauna, which is banya, Russian banya and they just like give you some drinks with poison. That's it. It's easy.

[Robin Dreek]

With this particular mission, Alia would not be giving her target poison. She would be slipping something else into his drink.

[Podcast Host]

We drove to the nightclub, very kind of like, underground, where everybody can basically took drugs in front of everyone. He had, like, a small little army with him, his gang, people, criminals. And we decided that next night we'll get prepared, and I will come to that club and I will try to make him to go with me to sauna, where I would need to give him a drink. It wasn't a poison, but first of all, it had the indigenous, which makes you talk a lot. You can give answers to any questions. So I supposed to give it to him in the drink. Then I had to open the door to my team to come in, and then they would continue with him to do whatever they needed.

[Robin Dreek]

Sergey, her team leader, gave her an unnamed drug in a small bottle with an eyedropper, and then dropped her off at the club.

[Podcast Host]

I took that bottle, which my colleague gave me in the bag. I took some condoms as well with me, and I was ready. So I arrived there by taxi. And then I knew that my team was waiting in the car. I came in, and I saw him sitting at the table with two other guys, and there were, like, two girls. They looked just perfect, you know, just like clothes, makeup, everything. So I had to attract his attention, and I started to dance.

[Robin Dreek]

One of the most important techniques of sexpionage is to never approach your target directly, because if he suspects you're an undercover agent, it could be a fatal mistake. So instead, once Aaliyah caught her target's eye, she started a conversation with his two female friends about their clothing.

[Podcast Host]

I started to speak with the girl first, and I said, like, oh, my God, like, where did you buy yours? And she said, oh, I bought it, like, in this shop. So we started to talk really enthusiastically. So he looked at me. I noticed, and I remember I did, like, this long look into his eyes, really long, so he could feel it. This girl who was next to me, she's like, oh, sit down with us.

[Robin Dreek]

Aliyah sat there and spoke with the women, ignoring her target except for the occasional seductive glance.

[Podcast Host]

And then they were continuing, like, partying and everything. And I was thinking, like, how can I approach him where? I mean, it would be just simple to say, hey, would you like to fuck? But I had to intrigue him. Just, like, a couple days ago, he was in interrogation room, so he definitely understand that potentially he'd been watched.

[Robin Dreek]

Eventually, an opportunity to lure her target to the sauna came when one of the women she was talking to started mentioning after parties and asking if anyone had cocaine.

[Podcast Host]

So I said, oh, by the way, I have some good drugs. And she said, really? Like, yeah. And she told all her guys, like, oh, she has, like, good drugs. She's like, okay, where is it? This is, like, with you. I said, like, oh, no, I can call my guy. Like, he will come and bring it. He usually brings it to, like, the sauna, so and so. And it's like, do you know this sauna? She's like, oh, yeah, I know the sauna. Like, I've been there. I said, like, yeah, why don't you have a party there? So I wanted this proposal would come from her mouth rather than mine because I was the new girl who, like, nobody knew. So she passed this information to him, and he seemed like, agreed to that. So I went to the toilet, I texted to my Sergey, to my guy, and I said, listen, so we are going to that, but he wants drugs. What about drugs, which we have in the department.

[Robin Dreek]

Sergei agreed to go to the evidence locker, get some cocaine, and bring it to Aaliyah before she left the club.

[Podcast Host]

My other colleagues, they were following us. They came to the sauna. Everybody got undressed. I took the bag of cocaine to the table. I put it on the table. They started to sniff it. So there were, like, two girls, they started to swim in the swimming pool, and two guys hanging out with them. So my target for a while, he was, like, by himself. What I had to do, I had to take him separately to another room so it would be just me and him in the room.

[Robin Dreek]

Aliyah wasn't sure how to get her target, this gang enforcer and murderer, into the other room until she remembered something else she'd been taught in her training, something that was very unusual to learn at a military academy.

[Podcast Host]

I said, would you like some massage? And he's like, yeah. And I started to massage his shoulders. He drank that cocktail with vodka, but he didn't drink that much because he was more using drugs. I didn't really know when and how to pour these drops into heat glass. And I was telling him, oh, my God, like, you're so strong. You're so, like, masculine, and you have so much tensions. And if you would lay down, I can do good massage for you for the whole bag.

[Robin Dreek]

Aaliyah suggested to her target that they move into a more comfortable room, hoping that his friends would just assume they were hooking up and not worry about him.

[Podcast Host]

He said, yeah, let's do it. So when we were walking into the room, I pick up his glass, and I pick up also, like, my glass, but it was same looking cocktail with Cola and coke has a quite strong taste, right? So if you use any poison or you use any type of drug, Coke taste is so strong that it's just cover it all so you wouldn't feel the taste of poison. So he lay down and I said, let me give you the drink. And when he was laying, I just took the drop and put like three drops into his drink. And I put my glass nearby, but I didn't touch it. And then I just gave it to him. I said, just drink it and I will do massage straight away. So he drank it, he put it on the side and he laid down. And then I went on top of him and I started to massage his shoulders. While I was massaging, I felt like that his muscle were relaxing, relaxing, relaxing. And then he basically stopped reacting and he was completely out. So I took his hand, it was completely limp. So I was like, okay, so he's ready. And when I stood up, I took my glass and when I went to the main lobby, I just wash it, basically. I didn't tell anything to his friends and they were like still in the swimming pool. I just left. And when I was leaving, I texted to Sergey, the commander of the group of this team. Okay, it's done. He's like, he passed over, that's it. And I took a taxi and I went home.

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[Robin Dreek]

Aaliyah assumed that her first seduction mission had been a success. That is, until a few days later when the criminal's family said that he'd gone missing that night and began accusing the police of having done something to him. So Alia asked a colleague about it.

[Podcast Host]

He's like, I don't know, But I know that Sergei was working on this case, and it's not good for him. And I thought, okay, so if this criminal is missing, I am involved in this case, perhaps in this murder. And I thought, you know, it could be really bad to me, too, because I was the one who gave him this. This drink with who knows what liquid.

[Robin Dreek]

As Alia reckoned with the possibility that she might have killed him, she thought about how many innocent people this criminal had killed himself, just literally because he enjoyed it.

[Podcast Host]

And by that time, I didn't feel bad about him. He was just like a zombie who brings only nightmare to everyone.

[Robin Dreek]

As for whether she accidentally overdosed him or something else happened afterward, Alia would never know.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, in the end of the day, I never know if they were still straight like that or not. Because, like, it was the job of the cleaners. We used to have cleaners, people who like government, people who would come and clean.

[Robin Dreek]

Even her colleagues from the mission that night refused to talk about it.

[Podcast Host]

The only one thing, what he said to me, never tell anyone about what happened. So I never said anything. And day by day, I would come to my office, to my department, and work and go to all these operations and just do my job. And I've seen more and more crimes on the street. I would see more and more dead bodies. And it was really dangerous, and it was risky.

[Robin Dreek]

As Aliyah continued receiving new missions, she noticed that the lieutenant general hadn't propositioned her again. So she thought she was safe from him.

[Podcast Host]

I thought he was just leave me, you know, just okay. It is what it is.

[Robin Dreek]

But like the predator he was, the lieutenant general was just waiting for the right time to strike. And a few weeks later, he struck in a way Ilia never saw coming.

[Podcast Host]

Everybody was leaving his office after the reporting. And then he said, oh, yeah, you're staying. I have a special assignment for you. And I was like, shit. So I stayed in his room. He closed the door, and he said, so, what did you decide? And I played stupid. I said, like, about what? Sorry, Like, I don't understand. And he's like, okay, so I see. Like, you don't get it, right? All right, you can leave now. I pretended that nothing happened, really, that he's not pissed, like, he's okay, but in fact, he was really pissed. So the next morning, we had our reporting, as always. And he said, by the way, Agent, you have a chance to pay back to your country by going to the war. Make us to be proud of you. And when he said it, I heard all my colleagues were like oh my God she is fucked. Good luck to her. Like when we will go to the funeral. Inside of me I started to shake of anger and hate. He is sending me to the Chechen war for me to be killed over there and never come back.

[Robin Dreek]

Alia's story continues in episode 10, which is available now. Continue listening for free on Apple Podcasts. For full credits, check out our show Notes. If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please contact the Human trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to get help and support with the best.

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