George Jacob Jung

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

- FBI file on George Jacob Jung (August 6, 1942 – May 5, 2021), also known as Boston George and El Americano
- records maintained on George Jacob Jung (August 6, 1942 – May 5, 2021), also known as Boston George and El Americano

Additional information to aid in finding records:

- First 5 digits of Social Security Number: 033-30
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Number: Inmate #19225-004

Proof of death can be found here: https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-george-jung-death-weymouth-massachusetts-cocaine-smuggler/36343272

In addition to standard practices, please conduct:

- Searches of the Electronic Case File System (ECF)
- Searches of Special Agent in Charge (SAC) safes, including searches for materials marked/noted as formerly having been in a SAC safe during any requested time-period specified in this request
- Searches of SENTINEL
- Searches of Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Indices, the Microphone Surveillance (MISUR) Indices, the Physical Surveillance (FISUR) Indices, and the Technical Surveillance (TESUR) Indices
- Searches of the Investigative Data Warehouse (IDW), including IDW-S, SPT, and DOCLAB-S sub-systems/indices
- Searches of the Data Integration and Visualization System (DIVS)
- Searches of the Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx)
- Searches of the Counterdrug Information Indices System (CIIS)

I request all cross-referenced records be provided. If any responsive or cross-referenced records have been destroyed and/or transferred to NARA, please provide all records related/pursuant to their destruction/transfer. This includes but is not limited to:

- Confirmation of destruction and destruction slips
- File Numbers or other forms of ID of the aforementioned destroyed records
- Documents/records with any references to the destruction of the aforementioned destroyed records.
- Transfer slips
- Any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation that the Bureau has no other copies of said records

I want **ALL** records identifiable with this request, even though reports based on those records may have been sent to department headquarters or other department offices, and even though there may be duplication between sets of files. Please produce all records with their administrative markings intact, and all reports, memos, and documents to include any and all administrative pages. In any responsive material, please black out rather than white out or cut out material.

I request the administrative case file (including search slips and processing notes, i.e email correspondence and text messages) for this request. When searching email records, please search for any tracking information/identification assigned to this request, including but not limited to appeal number/ID, request number/ID, tracking number/ID, etc.

This part of the request is to be processed only after you have completed processing all of the above parts. This part does not request that you create any new record; rather, it requests the records that you will have created in processing the above parts, and will therefore exist before you conduct the search for this part. See McGehee v. CIA, 697 F. 2d 1095, 1100-05 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (agency must use time-of-search cut-off date, not time-of-request).

Wherever possible, please release responsive documents as individual files. Compiling all responsive documents into a single PDF reduces accessibility and ease of use, providing unnecessary complication.

I am additionally requesting for interim releases of responsive records (otherwise known as a "rolling release"). Please provide preprocessed pages initially and other material on a rolling release.

**I ask that you understand that I am requesting any and all records concerning the subject in any way, including but not limited to those listed in the General Index, those searched via your records department's standard practices and any and all other indexes.**

**Please understand that this request asks for full searches to be conducted, and that any preprocessed records/records hosted on your agency's reading room are not sufficient for my needs.** If you need approval from the requester to conduct further searches after providing preprocessed records/linking to your agency's reading room, consider this approval to do so.

BACKGROUND

George Jacob Jung (August 6, 1942 – May 5, 2021), nicknamed Boston George and El Americano, was an American drug trafficker and smuggler who was a major figure in the cocaine trade in the United States in the 1970s and early 1980s. Jung was a part of the Medellín Cartel, which was responsible for up to 90% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States. He specialized in the smuggling of cocaine from Colombia on a large scale. His life story was portrayed in the biopic Blow (2001), starring Johnny Depp as Jung. Jung was released from prison on June 2, 2014, after serving nearly 20 years for drug smuggling.

George Jung was born to Frederick "Fred" and Erminalia "Ermine" (née O'Neill) Jung in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Though Jung did not excel academically, he was a star football player and was described by his classmates as "a natural leader." His first arrest was by an undercover police officer, for solicitation of prostitution. After graduating in 1961 from Weymouth High School, Jung went to the University of Southern Mississippi. He studied for a degree in advertising but never completed his studies. Jung began recreationally using marijuana and sold a portion of everything he bought to break even.

In 1967, after meeting with a childhood friend, Jung realized the enormous profit potential represented by smuggling the cannabis he bought in California back to New England. Jung initially had his stewardess girlfriend transport the drugs in her suitcases on flights. In search of even greater profits, he expanded his operation to flying the drugs in from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, using airplanes stolen from private airports on Cape Cod and professional pilots. At the height of this enterprise, Jung and his associates were reportedly making $250,000 a month (equivalent to over $1.6 million in 2020 dollars, adjusting for inflation). This ended in 1974, when Jung was arrested in Chicago for smuggling 660 pounds (300 kg) of marijuana. He had been staying at the Playboy Club, where he was to meet a connection who would pick up the marijuana. The connection was arrested for heroin smuggling; however, he informed the authorities about Jung to get a reduced sentence. After arguing with the judge about the purpose of sending a man to prison "for crossing an imaginary line with a bunch of plants", Jung was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury.

At FCI Danbury during his marijuana trafficking sentence, March 1974, Jung's cellmate was Carlos Lehder Rivas, a young German Colombian man who introduced Jung to the dominant and powerful international drug-trafficking Medellín Cartel; in return, Jung taught Lehder about smuggling. In April 1975, when Jung and Lehder were released, they went into business together. Their plan was to fly hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Pablo Escobar's Colombian ranch to the U.S., and Jung's California connection, Richard Barile, would take it from there. Jung had a security man who would accompany him to the exchanges, where Jung would give the man the keys to a car and half the cocaine, and then leave. A day or two later, they would meet again and exchange keys to cars.

Though only a middle man, Jung made millions off the operation. He came up with the idea to steal single-engine airplanes for transportation and charge $10,000 per kilogram, with five planes going from Colombia to California, carrying 300 kilograms per plane: this equated to $15 million per run for Jung. In the 1970s Jung was earning $3 million to $5 million per day. To avoid the need of laundering his earnings, he kept his money in the national bank of Panama.

By the late 1970s, Lehder had effectively cut Jung out, by going straight to Barile. Jung continued to smuggle, however, reaping millions in profits.

In 1987, Jung was arrested at his mansion on Nauset Beach, near Eastham, Massachusetts. With his family in tow, he skipped bail but quickly became involved in another deal in which an acquaintance betrayed him. With Escobar's approval, Jung testified against Lehder, the latter recently extradited, and Jung was released soon after.

After working some "clean" jobs, Jung began working in the drug industry again. In 1994, after reconnecting with his old Mexican marijuana smuggling partner, he was arrested with 1,754 pounds (796 kg) of cocaine in Topeka, Kansas. He pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy, received a 60-year sentence, and was incarcerated at Otisville Federal Prison, in Mount Hope, New York, then was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna, in Anthony, Texas. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Jung (Inmate #19225-004) was most recently serving time in the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix, New Jersey, with a scheduled halfway house release date of June 2, 2014, though he completed his halfway house and was fully released from custody on November 27, 2014.

Two years after his release in 2014, Jung was arrested for a parole violation on December 6, 2016. Sources close to Jung said in an interview that he had been arrested for making a paid promotional appearance that had been arranged by his manager but not cleared by his parole officer.

According to statements on social media from his then-current girlfriend, Ronda Clay Spinello, Jung was released from a halfway house on July 3, 2017; thus completing his punishment for his 2016 parole violation.

In September 2014, Jung contributed to Heavy with T. Rafael Cimino, nephew of film director Michael Cimino. Heavy is a fictional story that details how Jung escaped from a Cuban prison and fled to Guatemala.

Jung, known as "Boston George" had been suffering from liver and kidney failure, was receiving hospice care when he died Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at his Weymouth, Massachusetts, home with girlfriend Ronda Clay Spinello and friend Roger by his side. Jung, 78, was preceeded in death by grand-daughter Athena Karan. Jung's daughter, Kristina Sunshine Jung survives.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Michael Quinn