In this episode, retired agent Martin Suarez reviews his nearly seven-year undercover role inside the cartel, infiltrating the Medellín Cartel during Operation Colaboro. Using the alias “Manny,” he smuggled millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine for the cartel, all of which was immediately seized by the FBI. Next, during Operation Golden Trash, Martin became a high-level money launderer for the North Coast Cartel. When the operation ended and the cartel thought Manny had stolen their money, they sent a hitman to Martin’s home to kill him.
Martin is the author of Inside The Cartel: How An Undercover FBI Agent Smuggled Cocaine, Laundered Cash, and Dismantled a Colombian Narco-Empire.
The true crime tale recounts Martin’s undercover operations, but also how Martin the family man was trying not to lose himself in his undercover roles.
Martin’s co-author, Ian Frisch, has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Esquire. Ian also takes part in the interview.
“ I never knew for sure if they knew I was an agent. I felt they thought I was a guy who had stolen their money, because when I dropped outta money laundering, we had in their coffers about $12 million of their money, and then I disappeared. When I first met El Toro Negro, he was a very pleasant guy to talk to. He told me one time when I first met him, ‘Manny, we’re all gonna make a lot of money. But if I smell something bad, I have a long arm and I can reach around the world and touch you on the shoulder. That’s how they spoke. They tell you they’re gonna kill you in a finesse way.”—Retired Agent Martin Suarez
Special Agent (Retired)
Martin Suarez
7/1987 – 10/2011
Martin Suarez served in the FBI for twenty-three years. His first assignment was with the DEA in Miami, where he worked for nearly a year. He was then assigned to various divisions, including a stint in San Juan from 1991 to 1995, before returning to Miami in 1995. Throughout his career at the FBI, he conducted numerous high-profile investigations involving drug cartels, organized crime, public corruption, murder-for-hire cases, national security, and terrorism.
In 1990, Suarez attended the undercover certification school and completed the advanced undercover training in 1998. That same year, he was appointed Southeast Region Backstopping Coordinator in Miami, providing national support while working undercover. He also served as an instructor at undercover certification schools and worked as a safeguard assessment counselor.
Suarez holds the record for the longest continuous period spent undercover and has successfully infiltrated criminal organizations across the United States, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He has been awarded the FBI’s Special Performance Award six times, is a four-time recipient of the Department of Justice’s Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award, and received the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
Martin Suarez currently lives in South Florida.
The following are case-related articles, images, and a video featuring the operations:
Rolling Stone Magazine – 9/13/2025: Excerpt – He Infiltrated a Colombian Cartel. Then He Smuggled $500 Million Worth of Cocaine in One Night
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists – 3/3/2001: In Latin America, Big Tobacco partners with money launderers, smugglers
Washington Post – 02/17/1998: Organized Crime Exercises Clout in Island Nations
VIDEO – Dangerous Ocean Retrieval of Bales of Cocaine at Sea
Listen to FBI Case File Review Episode 333: Vince Pankoke and Tom Myers – Colombian Cali Cartel, Operation Dilido (Part 1) and (Part 2) to learn about another case Martin Suarez worked.
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