239: Part 2: Drug Trafficker to Informant to Training Cops about Human Intelligence

Game of Crimes

True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After dismantling his own drug trafficking network and agreeing to cooperate with federal agents, Ben entered a world few ever talk about from the inside. The deals, the dangers, the mental toll, the paranoia — and the unexpected truth about the people supposed to protect him.

Ben is now a law enforcement consultant and informant expert — training handlers on what they're getting wrong. His insights are changing how agencies across the country approach informant management.

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're into true crime, not just the headlines, but the human stories behind them.
0:04.4	Join us at Crimecom Birmingham, an intimate one-day event on April 25th,
0:09.1	featuring in-depth sessions with investigators, creators and the families impacted by crime.
0:14.2	With just 200 attendees, you'll also share breakfast and lunch with the speakers,
0:18.2	giving you the chance to spend time with the people shaping the world of true crime. Crimecom Birmingham is partnered by the True Crime Channel.
0:25.1	For 10% off, go to crimecon.com.com.com and use the code Birmingham at checkout.
0:30.0	It's part of why I was a drug trafficker, and I knew that I had a skill set that could be
0:36.0	put to work in a capacity that wasn't being done
0:39.5	really anywhere in an open manner, such as the way that I wanted to do it. And so I started to
0:46.1	think that this would be a really good idea to go out and start speaking. And I, you know,
0:51.7	was successful in having some of those lectures. But it just wasn't
0:56.0	paying the bills. It wasn't enough. So I needed to find a way to get a sponsor and produce
1:02.3	the kind of content that I have been producing. And that's what I did. And that's what I'm doing.
1:05.9	And that's what I'm going to continue to do because it's very, very important.
1:10.5	I'm Steve Murphy, DEA Special Agent Retired and now host of the Game of Crimes podcast.
1:15.8	If you've seen the Netflix series Narcos, then you know my story.
1:20.2	I now bring you stories of heroism and bravery from our law enforcement and military heroes
1:25.5	and occasionally from the criminals that they faced.
1:29.5	Welcome to Game of Crimes.
1:43.7	Hey, all you Game of Crimes. Thank you so much for coming back. It's Murph here.
1:48.4	We're here with part two of this week's episode with Ben Friedland, a admittedly wealthy to do young Jewish kid that grew up in Beverly Hills that had everything he wanted growing up,
2:01.8	started his own business out of college, got interested in some other businesses that
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