DEA Criminal Investigator on Cartels, Undercover Work & Major Drug Busts | Chris Howell

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2025

⏱️ 187 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Christopher Howell was the Police Chief of the Virgin Islands — and he’s spent decades taking down drug cartels, weapons traffickers, and some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. From going undercover and running covert surveillance to leading international task forces with over 150 agents, Christopher’s career reads like something out of a crime drama. #PoliceChief #VirginIslands #CartelTakedown #UndercoverOperations #TrueCrimePodcast #DrugTraffickingStories #LawEnforcementLife #AmericaMostWanted Thank you to PRIZEPICKS, EXPRESSVPN & BLUCHEW, for sponsoring this episode: Prizepicks: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! ExpressVPN: Secure your online data TODAY by visiting https://www.expressvpn.com/lockedin to find out how you can get up to four extra months. BlueChew: Visit https://bluechew.com/ and use promo code LOCKEDIN at checkout to get your first month of BlueChew FREE & pay five bucks for shipping. Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Use code LOCKEDIN for 20% OFF Wooooo Energy Buy Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 Inside the Virgin Islands Drug Trade: How It Really Works03:03 Growing Up in Paradise: Early Life & Influences09:09 Becoming a Virgin Islands Police Officer14:46 First Undercover Mission: How It Nearly Went Wrong23:24 Corruption & Crime in the Virgin Islands Exposed27:19 Joining the Gun Task Force & Chasing Firearms36:36 Creating the DEA Task Force from the Ground Up41:53 Rising Through the Ranks & Building Massive Cases53:08 Guns, Drugs & Federal Operations That Changed the Islands01:02:08 Cracking Major Drug Trafficking Rings01:17:30 Crazy Surveillance Stories & High-Stakes Takedowns01:26:01 Biggest Busts & Close Calls With Death01:39:16 Taking Down Violent Gangs & Organizations01:55:42 Retaliation & Fear: The Dark Side of Police Work02:08:38 Murders, Corruption & The Cases That Haunt Him02:23:49 Big Wins, Big Losses & High-Dollar Asset Seizures02:40:08 Wiretaps, Covert Ops & Creative Police Tactics02:53:00 Promotion to Police Chief & Why He Almost Said No03:00:10 Lessons From a Career Fighting Guns & Drugs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Drug Task Force was, it was untouched and there was so much cocaine flowing through the Virgin Islands.
0:05.4	I think a lot of people think that when I tell these stories that I'm embellishing them, I promise you, I'm not. There were literally guys driving around with brand new BMWs with licensed place that said paid for by Coke. Stuff we see in movies, it does happen in real life. Pickup truck speeds up and then passes them. and when you get side by side with them,
0:21.6	there's guys with high power rifles
0:23.3	perched in the back of the pickup truck speeds up and then passes them. And when he gets side by side with them, there's guys with high power rifles perched in the back of the pickup truck. They opened fire on Diaz's truck.
0:26.4	What was one of those early cases in those early years of the task force that you'll never forget that might still be on your mind to this day?
0:32.8	Christopher Howell has spent his career taking down drug traffickers and gunrunners across the globe.
0:38.4	As chief of police for the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department, assigned to a DEA task force,
0:44.0	he's led international task forces gone undercover and coordinated operations with over 150 agents at a time.
0:51.5	His cases have been featured on the FBI files in America's Most
0:54.7	Wanted, and today he's here to share the most dangerous and fascinating moments from his career.
1:03.2	Chris, welcome to Lockton. Thanks so much for flying out here today to be with us.
1:07.4	Thanks for having me. Yeah. We love the law enforcement episodes, and so does the audience. So it's going to be great. I know you have a ton of stories. My good friend, Maddie Ice, out there, had dinner with you last night and was telling me some of them, and we're really excited for this episode. Thanks. I appreciate it, and it's good to be here. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Michigan, right along the Lake Michigan shoreline and the western shoreline.
1:32.1	So I spent most of my childhood there up until the time I graduated from high school.
1:38.8	And then I got sick of Michigan weather and went someplace warmer.
1:42.9	What was your upbringing like?
1:45.5	The typical upbringing, you know, a small town that I grew up in.
1:52.0	Wasn't a great student in high school.
1:55.4	Took an interest in engineering and stuff like that.
1:57.6	And actually I had some engineering scholarships that I never used.
2:01.3	But, yeah, like I said, not a very great student,
2:04.7	but had an interest in law enforcement early on.
2:08.2	And when I graduated from high school,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ian Bick, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ian Bick and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.