231: Part 1: Lew Rice – DEA legends and drug wars – Back in the day 💥

Game of Crimes

True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this explosive episode of Game of Crimes, Murph sits down with Lew Rice, a legendary 26-year veteran of the DEA, to pull back the curtain on the brutal realities of America’s drug war. Lew shares firsthand stories from the front lines of federal drug enforcement, revealing how drugs like heroin, opioids, meth, and fentanyl have devastated communities across the country. From the early days of the DEA—formed during the heroin crisis of the 1970s—to modern investigations battling fentanyl trafficking, Lew explains how the mission has evolved while the dangers have only intensified.

The conversation also dives deep into groundbreaking cases, including the infamous Frank Lucas investigation, which helped establish key legal precedents still used by law enforcement today.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Frank Tamillo was killed during an undercover operation in a hotel of Midtown Manhattan by drug dealers.
0:06.2	They went in, he went in to buy drugs in the hotel room.
0:09.4	These guys came in to rip them off.
0:11.0	They killed Frank.
0:12.0	The surveillance team was in an adjoining room.
0:14.5	They come through the door.
0:16.0	They shot the supervisor, Tom Devine, and Tom Devine was crippled in a wheelchair.
0:34.1	Welcome back to this week's edition, The Game of Crimes with Murph in the morning.
0:38.2	Man, I am tickled to death with what we've got going this week.
0:42.1	We have a legend.
0:43.5	And you hear me say that about a lot of guys that come on here from law enforcement.
0:47.3	But this guy, I had the pleasure of meeting him just a few years ago,
0:52.4	and we'll talk about there shortly.
0:54.3	But his name is Lou Rice, a 26-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
0:59.8	He was, at the end of his career, he was the special agent in charge of the New York
1:04.1	field division, which is, back in his day, was the biggest, I'm sure he'll say the most
1:10.6	powerful, most respected field division in DEA,
1:13.9	us folks from Miami, we always kind of argued that point, but it's all good nature.
1:18.8	But it's a true pleasure and an honor to have Mr. Lou Rice on here.
1:23.3	Lou, thank you so much for coming on the show, brother.
1:25.6	Steve, thank you for inviting me.
1:27.2	It's a pleasure to spend some time with you to talk about the great work that's done each and every day by the DEA agents and a DEA family globally. Man, let me tell you, when this guy talks, I'm getting goosebumps sitting here, literally. And when Lou talks, you want to go grab a gun and a badge and go out and kick somebody's ass and take their name.
	...

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