Kicking the Spies and Mobsters Out of St. Louis
Why this humble Midwestern city is actually a counterintelligence hotspot.
Life does not always go as planned.
In 2010, I left Washington D.C. with an infant son and took what was supposed to be a couple years of refuge in St. Louis, Missouri to escape the financial burden of the post-crash capital city. Those two years morphed into an adventure of sorts that will take much, much longer. But, as a lifelong intelligence professional, I would be remiss if I didn’t take that spare decade or two to conduct HUMINT operations. And so, I have.
I’ll tell you, one would assume that a Midwestern city would be much less interesting than the nation’s capital in terms of counterintelligence and threat assessment. But that would be to underestimate the Heartland, which has, frankly, been a bit closer to ventricular fibrillation than people understood.
Fact is, this place is crawling with spies and Mobsters who both constructed and enjoy the rotten edifice of public corruption which now defines the city. But St. Louis, as ignored as it is by the rest of America, has entirely too much agribusiness, national security assets, and commercial infrastructure to allow it to remain in the grip of the Bad Guys. Luckily, some of us have been on the ground for a decade or more, mapping out all the good targets, and we’re finally beginning to push back. There is some very good news on the way there. I’ll be detailing it on this new Substack.
Now, strap in and get ready for some pork steaks, Mexican Carteles, toasted raviolis, Fentanyl, and baseball.
Why does anybody care about St. Louis, anyhow?
St. Louis is not considered a major national security asset by anybody…except for those who study national security for a living — including our allies and enemies. They care a great deal about the city and the region. Here’s a brief list of reasons:
The main National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency production facility is in St. Louis City - and they’re expanding it to be one of the most consequential of all 18 agencies.
They grow a ton of food in Missouri, and St. Louis is the state’s power center.
Monsanto/Bayer is headquartered here, and China has been compromising the company for years.
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is here, which, with Monsanto, provided the refined uranium for the Manhattan Project and beyond.
Boeing manufactures parts for fighter aircraft here.
Three rivers (Mississippi, Missouri, Meramec), four interstates (I-55, I-70, I-64, I-44), railroads, and an airport combine with geographical location to make this a perfect trafficking hub for everything.
We relocated a lot of Nazi scientists here after World War II.
It’s been the first major hub for the “Chicago Outfit” organized crime syndicate routes since Prohibition.
A lot going on, wouldn’t you say? So, even if you haven’t thought of St. Louis as especially important, put yourself in the shoes of a spy and/or drug trafficker, and this might be one of the most important cities around.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of an American intelligence analyst, and you understand how critical this place is. We’ve got to secure this city - and we are.
It’s about time we can start telling some stories that may blow some minds - locally, and internationally.
What’s next for St. Louis in terms of counterintelligence?
I am kind of excited to be writing about this part. More than a decade of my work has gone into collecting these fun stories. And luckily, we’ve been defeating our adversaries to the point that it’s time we can explain some of the thrilling stuff that’s going to be happening in this city that so ably mixes humble and grandiose and putrescent and promising. Frankly, it’s gonna be kinda rough for some, but I think non-felons are going to find the coming months quite refreshing. Why, it may even put past years in sharp relief such that the average person may realize they’ve been under occupation by some pretty grotesque criminals for far too long.
This is a very abridged laundry list of national security operations that may likely be revealed in the near- to mid-term future in the shadow of the Arch:
Neutralizing the trafficking of drugs, arms, or human beings anywhere near the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency facilities — by anyone
Kicking the Mexican Cartels all the way out of Missouri
Exposing malign Israeli intelligence operations against the local police departments
Encouraging the Russian Mafiya to stop human trafficking, especially kids, around St. Louis
Gently instructing locals that only Federal law enforcement with search warrants and/or the Dept. of Defense should be engaged in SIGINT operations; e.g. sheriffs should not possess their own military-grade surveillance software to track their ex-girlfriends
Reminding elected officials to not be on the payroll of Palestinian drug traffickers
Providing remedial education that local governments should not be used as money laundering operations tied directly to casinos
Well, that’s more than enough to get kicked off, isn’t it?
Subscribe. You’re probably going to want to hear what’s next. Ciao for now!