Jack Carlton Reed

Jack Carlton Reed, (Born 1930 in San Pedro, California), is an imprisoned drug smuggler and Co-defendant of Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas, Colombian drug baron and co-founder of the Medellín Cartel.Lee, Rensselaer W. (1989). The White Labyrinth: Cocaine and Political Power. Transaction Publishers, 5,11,14,106-108,113,116. ISBN 1560005653.] [Kelly, Robert J. (2005). Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook. ISBN 1576079155.] Reed was a pilot working under Lehder’s cocaine transport empire on Norman's Cay, an out island 210 miles (340 km) off the Florida coast in the Exuma chain in the Bahamas. [Frontline: Drug War (Norman's Cay)] Reed flew drug runs for Lehder who handled transport and distribution, while Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar handled production and supply.

From 1978 through 1982, Norman’s Cay was the epicenter of the world’s largest drug smuggling operation and a tropical hideaway for Lehder and associates including Reed. Cocaine was flown in from Colombia by private aircraft, then reloaded into other aircraft that then distributed it to locations in Georgia, Florida, [Chepesiuk, Ron (2003). The Bullet Or the Bribe: Taking Down Colombia's Cali Drug Cartel. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0275977129.] and the Carolinas. [Frontline: Drug War (Carlos Toro).] It was flown into the United States via the Bahamas made possible through Colombian suppliers and bribes allegedly spread among Bahamian government officials for political and judicial protection [Kelly, Robert J. (2005). Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook. ISBN 1576079155.] [Beeler, MayCay (2006) Return to Norman’s Cay (TV Documentary); Beeler, MayCay (2004) Return to Norman’s Cay. AOPA Pilot Magazine, April 2004] On Norman’s Cay, Lehder maintained a 3,100-foot (1,000 m) runway protected by radar, bodyguards and guard dogs for the fleet of aircraft under his command. [Frontline: Drug War (Norman's Cay)] Lehder and Reed, who held separate residences on the island, eventually fled Norman’s Cay after authorities threatened to shut down the illicit billion dollar drug smuggling operation for good.

In February 1987, just days after Lehder was captured in the Colombian Jungle, Reed was apprehended in Panama. The Co-defendants were charged with conspiring to smuggle 3.3 tons of cocaine into the United States from Colombia from 1978 to 1980.

Reed was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Prosecutors said Reed was an important player in the Lehder organization, flying drug shipments from Colombia, hiring ground crews and working with distributors. [980 F.2d 1568 US v. Reed, Lady, Kane No. 90-3076 US Court of Appeals, eleventh Circuit, Jan. 20, 1993]

Lehder lost his fight against extradition (by which point his net worth was in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion). He is presently incarcerated in the United States, under WITSEC, the Bureau of Prisons’ version of the Federal Witness Protection Program.

Reed was initially sentenced to two consecutive life terms and fined $2 million. He is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institute in Memphis, Tennessee.

References

*This article incorporates text from the Wikipedia article Carlos Lehder.