The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - Introducing: Betrayal on the Bayou

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

For almost two decades, DEA Special Agent Chad Scott ruled the streets just North of New Orleans. He controlled a network of snitches by convincing people he arrested to work for him as informants. Chad would stop at nothing to put drug dealers behind bars. His successes won awards at the DEA, but his willingness to bend the rules earned him a terrifying reputation on the streets. Some called him the Golden Boy. Others called him the White Devil. But when one of guys on Chad's team is caught dealing drugs, Chad’s life is overturned. His right-hand men betray him and confess everything to the FBI. Investigators go over his career with a fine-toothed comb, asking the question: is Chad Scott the greatest DEA Agent in the South, or is he a criminal? Smoke Screen: Betrayal on the Bayou is part of The Binge – a channel on Apple Podcasts. Browse all the shows included in your subscription here: apple.co/thebinge  The Binge – All Episodes. All at Once. New binge-drops every month. Don’t miss a thing, follow us @sonypodcasts A Neon Hum Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For two decades, a DEA agent owned the turf just north of New Orleans, Chad Scott. I've never seen anyone that had that fire. Chad's job meant busting dealers, catching them in the act, and putting them behind bars. And traffickers knew that if Chad was in town, it meant trouble. He played informants like pawns, pitting brother against brother. I'm like, what'd he do? He's like, man, he told on his own brother. I'm like, dang.

Chad was the kind of legend who racked up nicknames. Some called him Big Dog. Others called him the White Devil. He come to seek and destroy. You know, just like the Bible said, the devil seeks and destroy. And he was just letting us know that he's the white man that come to seek and destroy a black community. But in the New Orleans office of the DEA, Chad Scott was the golden boy. Chad's problem in life is the same problem he has everywhere. He's just better than everybody else at it. So he follows his own rules. He outperformed his colleagues. His bosses loved him.

Until the shit hit the fan. Two guys on Chad's hand-picked team were caught selling drugs and stealing money. And Chad found himself the target of a federal investigation. This is bullshit. I've never been accused by one defendant of any of this shit. Ever. The DEA is notoriously secretive. They wouldn't tell us anything about his case. So instead, we met with drug cops. I started hearing things about the way he would do his cases.

Chad's group never did wiretaps, but yet they seized huge amounts of narcotics. The story of Chad Scott says a hell of a lot about the DEA. You look at his career, and you might see the greatest agent in the South, or you might see a criminal. I said, Chad Scott's a dirty motherfucker. He says, what do you mean?

I said, I'm telling you, Chad Scott's a dirty motherfucker. He says, what do you mean? I said, I'm telling you, Chad Scott's a dirty motherfucker. Some people say the ends justify the means. Getting drugs off the street means you have to get your hands dirty. But what Chad Scott didn't see coming was that his own team would betray him and land him behind bars. But don't take my word for it. There's already guys in there beating on the window, screaming my name.

Put that motherfucker in here. I said, you ain't putting me in there. And he's like, what do you mean? I said, did they not tell you who I am? I said, I'm a fucking federal agent. From Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment, I'm Jim Mustian. And I'm Feynman Roberts.

Join us for Smokescreen, Betrayal on the Bayou, coming August 1st. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts to binge all episodes, or listen weekly wherever you get your podcasts. podcast.