I Was A Skinhead In LA County Jail – Then I Hunted Drug Cartels In Mexico | Dave Franke

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 128 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dave Franke shares the journey that most people could never imagine living through. Growing up in California, Dave became involved in the skinhead gang lifestyle at a young age, pulled in by identity, belonging, and survival. That path led him into some of the hardest jails and prisons in California, where violence, politics, and racial tension were a part of everyday life. Over time, Dave began questioning everything—his beliefs, his identity, and the world he thought he understood. He eventually renounced the skinhead lifestyle, determined to break the cycle and find a new purpose. After rebuilding his life and establishing himself in a stable career, he took a dramatic turn few would ever see coming: he went to Mexico and worked alongside law enforcement in operations targeting drug cartels. #LockedInWithIanBick #RealStories #PrisonStories #TrueCrime #CartelStories #SurvivorStory #ChangeYourLife #StreetToStrength Thank you to BRUNT & PRIZEPICKS for sponsoring this episode: Brunt: $10 Off @BRUNT with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.bruntworkwear.com/lockedin #bruntpod Prizepicks: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Connect with Dave Franke: Website: www.davefranke.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@fusilautomaticoligero?si=kJHAaAOFDolhk7iq Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 The School Fight That Changed Everything 02:56 Growing Up, Family Struggles & Moving Across States 06:39 Culture Shock: From Iowa to L.A. and Learning to Survive 09:46 Teen Dreams, First Trouble & the Path Toward Violence 13:48 Gang Life, Juvenile Hall & the Skinhead Mentality 20:41 Proving Himself Through Violence & Street Respect 26:11 Facing an Attempted Murder Charge in L.A. County Jail 34:34 Life Inside One of America’s Toughest Jails 43:05 Surviving the System & Questioning His Identity 52:18 Tattoo Stories, Regret & The Start of Change 01:01:00 Sobriety, Malcolm X & Opening His Mind 01:07:00 Trying to Join the Military & Finding a Work Ethic 01:16:00 Heading to Mexico: Manufacturing, Violence & Opportunity 01:24:00 Becoming a Mexican Agent & Training Police 01:33:01 Inside Cartel Hunts & Life With Special Forces 01:44:42 Racism, Trust & Living on the Edge in Mexico 01:53:01 Coming Home: Law School, Purpose & Redemption 01:58:00 Life Now: Reinvention & Lessons for the Next Generation 02:03:37 Final Reflections, Gratitude & The Power of Change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm skateboarding at school and six of these crips.
0:02.0	Push me off my board, beat me up. I went home. I got a bat. The next day I brought it with me to school. I went and I brain that kid right in class, man. For taking my skateboard. Was it normal to be a skinhead as a teenager? I could cut off my right arm right now and take that one moment back in time to alleviate that person of any suffer or trauma that they might be able to deal with. if I would do it. Tell us about that year in county jail, LA County Jail.
0:24.3	I used to hunt. time to alleviate that person of any suffer or trauma that they might be able to deal with,
0:21.2	I would do it.
0:21.7	Tell us about that year in County jail, L.A. County jail.
0:24.3	I used to hunt drug cartels for a living in.
0:26.6	He grew up in California as a skinhead gang member.
0:29.6	He survived California prisons and jails and somehow ended up hunting drug cartels in Mexico.
0:36.0	This is Dave Frank's insane life story.
0:41.5	Dave, welcome to Lockton.
0:42.7	Thanks so much for coming out here today.
0:44.0	Ian, man, thank you for having me in your studio.
0:48.1	Man, I'm completely honored to be here.
0:50.8	I've been watching you now for about a year and a half or whatever.
0:53.7	Your story is amazing. In fact, I feel like I should be interviewing you now for about a year and a half or whatever. Your story is amazing.
0:55.0	In fact, I feel like I should be interviewing you, man. And people have done it, but, man, thanks for having me. When I'm in LA, you can interview me when we go out the dinner. I would love it. I'll take you. Well, you know, what they shut down, Darma Gribb. It's this cool Moroccan restaurant on Sunset Boulevard but they shut it down a few years ago turned it in some
1:11.6	actually it's closed the building still there but I'll find another cool Moroccan restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, but they shut it down a few years ago,
1:10.9	turned it into some, actually it's closed. The building's still there, but I'll find another
1:15.0	place to take you. You and your, hey, congratulations on your female companionship.
1:21.0	Thank you. You're welcome. I appreciate it. Maddie Ice is super dope. I dig that too.
1:25.6	He's a good man. He's working hard. No, you got to keep her. I do. I learned that when I did the Mr. Beast challenges here. That guy's loyal to him. Yeah, no. There's not many people that can show up the way he does. Well, it's weird because you'll see him online, but then to meet him in person, the guy's just like over the top. nice, man. He is really nice. I dig it. Now, so the audience knows before we get the trolls,
1:47.4	you spread out, person, the guy's just like over the top. Nice, man. So I mean, yeah, I dig it. Now, so the audience
	...

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