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The Undercover Cop: Listen to Ex-FBI Agent Tom Zyckowski

October 20, 2008

Tom Zyckowski was one of four FBI agents who went undercover in parallel cigarette smuggling cases, Operation Royal Charm and Operation Smoking Dragon. The veteran special agent spent 25 years working for the FBI — 20 of them undercover — until he retired from the bureau in 2004. Posing as a Mafia “wise guy,” Zyckowski befriended an unlikely middle-aged couple — Charles and May Liu — who led the FBI through a dizzying world of counterfeit cigarettes and arms trafficking that spanned both U.S. coasts and reached as far as North Korea and China.

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A Royal Flush — Counterfeit cigarettes weren’t all the smugglers were selling.

The Targets — Charles and May Liu seemed like the ordinary suburban couple.

An Italian Wise Guy — How Zyckowski gained the Lius’ trust.

Read the full story.

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