As the Crow Flies: The Redemption of an International Drug Smuggler

By Ed Hudson

When an international drug smuggler makes a life-changing decision, he finds himself pursuing a different type of thrill all the way into eternity.

With a hunger for excitement, Freddie Crow becomes an international smuggler, piloting planeloads of marijuana from Belize, Central America, into various areas of N

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ed Hudson
• Release date: Nov 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781943106561

Book preview

Introduction

I have long felt that we all have at least one book inside of us. A compilation of events, places traveled, people met, and circumstances unique to every individual from whom we could all learn.

During my thirty-four years of service in law enforcement, I have come across just those types of circumstances I thought would result in a book worth reading, and I had considered writing a book, just not this book. If someone had told me ten years earlier that I would be writing this book, I would have thought they had lost their mind.

Getting to know Freddie Crow and his family and seeing the impact he left in people’s lives changed my mind. This is a story of the redemption of a man who lived life in the fast lane and sought thrills that could only be obtained in the sky on an airplane with 800 pounds of marijuana all around him. It’s the once-conflicting story of a man who was simultaneously generous to others but oftentimes put himself first.

All of this would change when everything was at risk. Freddie’s eyes would open to the consequences of his actions and what they had done to his family and to himself. The true Freddie Crow would learn to put others first and to beg God and his family for forgiveness. Only then was he ready for the one true love of his life—Sandra.

This book is also the story of opposing sides coming together as if directed by God. It is the story of a friendship where one friend walked the other through death’s door, helping him to prepare along the way. It is a story, I became convinced, that was worth telling.

I attempted to maintain a factual basis by using court transcripts, police reports, newspaper articles, and personal recollection. Still, so many others have stories concerning Freddie and their relationships with him that have not been included in this book. I did not intend to slight anyone because I know their stories and relationships are just as important. His life was full of stories. Some of them I know, and many of them I don’t. I can only hope I have done his life justice.

It is my desire that everyone get something out of this book. For those who knew Freddie, I hope it brings back fond memories. For those who didn’t know Freddie, you will by the time you finish reading this book.

Chapter 1

As the Crow Flies

It would have been a perfect day for the beach, the kind of day where the warmth of the sun came flowing through the cockpit, and the reflection bounced off the water like a bright light shining through broken glass. When flying over the beaches of Mexico, it was entirely too easy to lose one’s self; however, becoming distracted was not something a pilot could afford to do. After all, no one knew better than Freddie Crow just how important staying alert was. Eight hundred pounds of marijuana called for undivided attention, even before taking possession of it. Then once the plane landed in Belize, Central America and contact was made on the ground, the tension would begin to mount.

This day started fifteen hours earlier. The plane had been fueled, and all of the preflight checks were made before leaving the Florida Panhandle. This particular plane had never been used. It was kind of on loan, so to speak, which was another way to say it had been stolen. Several days in advance, the plane had been taken from a small airstrip late at night when no one was around.

Since these small airplanes were easily started with a common key, all that was required was choosing the proper time, usually at night, and then the right amount of courage. Once the plane was obtained, whether stolen or legitimately borrowed or purchased, it would be taken to a secure location where all of the seats except the pilot’s would be removed. The bladder tanks would be installed for the long trip. Freddie was fortunate to be in an organization that took care of all this. His job was to fly and make the deals, and those were tasks he did very well.

Flying out of the country was a rather simple process since no one seemed to care when it came to the small planes. Detailed plans had to be made, from preparing the plane all the way to offloading it. The entire process took coordination with the supply source, readying the plane for the trip, lining up distributors, and hopefully picking a day with the right weather—an overcast day with no moon at night.

Everything must be considered to avoid detection, which meant reducing the chances of light reflecting off your plane. Today was supposed to be a day like that, but a dependable weather day for flying was much like depending on the weather for anything else.

As Freddie looked through the cockpit window, he noted how the sky just happened to clear out. While this would have made for a rather enjoyable trip to Belize, it wasn’t the type of day he was looking for. However, according to Freddie, any day in a plane was better than a day in the office, even if he didn’t actually know what a day in the office was like.

The flight to Belize could be very relaxing, but there was a quickening of the pulse upon approach. The landing at a remote strip in a foreign country to conduct illegal activity had a way of getting the adrenalin flowing.

Freddie always tried to choose trustworthy people to deal with, but when you’re involved in an illicit business, one can never be too careful. He was always happy to get the plane fueled and loaded and then get right back into the air; however, that didn’t always happen so easily.

The desire to pack the plane sometimes came into conflict with the laws of physics. Too much marijuana made for a precarious or impossible takeoff on short runways. Sometimes the weight of the load would cause the doors on the plane to fly open, and it didn’t take an expert to know the doors didn’t need to be open in the air. For this reason, the pilot had to resist the lure of increased profits and refrain from overloading the plane.

So far, this had been a good trip. The plane was loaded with marijuana stacked behind him, beside him, and even up on the dash, and Freddie was on his way home. A small opening right in front of him allowed him to see everything he needed to see. The smell? Well, that was something one just had to get used to.

In addition to these conditions, the length of the day made it hard to stay focused as it wore on. The adrenaline rush was no longer necessary because this part of the trip came with less worry; he could allow his mind to drift off. At times like this, he began to think about how a boy from Century, Florida, could wind up in this kind of a situation.

He had loved to fly since his teenage years, partially from the freedom he felt in the air, but mostly from the excitement he could obtain from controlling an airplane as well. Undoubtedly, that same excitement was what brought him to smuggling marijuana. The money was good, but it had never been about the money. His father could have kept him in enough money to do what he wanted, but where was the excitement in having money given to you?

The idea of pushing the envelope, of getting away with something that others would like to prevent you from doing had always appealed to him. There was just something about living on the edge that really gave meaning to his life.

Unfortunately, this type of lifestyle did not come without cost— first and foremost, being captured by law enforcement. Freddie had already experienced state and federal prisons for past drug-related misdeeds. Although not fun, somehow his time in captivity seemed to make him long for excitement even more. To get out a free man and have the opportunity to once again pursue those adrenalin surges seemed to be more than he could control.

If the fear of incarceration was the only drawback, then he wouldn’t have a cause for concern. It was the other costs that gave him trepidation and those what if’s that nagged him from time to time.

Freddie loved airplanes, but he didn’t have to end up here, smuggling marijuana. He had heard about bush pilots in Alaska, who flew over rough topography without any man-made runways to land the plane. The thought of being surrounded by beautiful country, combined with his natural love for hunting and fishing, should have made Alaska the goal of his life. Alaska had so many locations where the airplane was the exclusive means of travel, so becoming a bush pilot would have locked him in for a perfect fit. But Alaska was far, far away, and he just hadn’t made it there yet. Maybe one day he could go there and start all over again. For now, it could remain a dream.

No, it was not even Alaska that made him question his place in life so much; it was family. Freddie was not lost on what his actions had done to them. His oldest sister Bobbie had tried so hard to make him turn his life around. She was almost twelve years older than Freddie and remained the one person who looked after him for his entire life. For the last forty years, from his birth until now, she had always been there to help him. She, more than anyone, wanted the best for him.

If these second thoughts and troubling considerations weren’t enough, his younger sister Tricia was married to the Alabama State Trooper Harry, who didn’t even like to think about what Freddie did for a living. Freddie’s older brother Hurston had worked his way up in the United States Forest Service, so he also couldn’t afford to be linked to an international smuggling ring.

Then he had nieces, whom he dearly loved and who loved him unconditionally, although at times their disappointment in his actions showed through. However, Bobbie was still the one he most hated to disappoint. Her tears would soak through to his soul and leave him at odds with himself.

Realizing his mind had drifted to a place he didn’t need to be, Freddie began to refocus on the task at hand. He would often rationalize whether his actions were really that wrong. It was only marijuana.

Without a doubt, he would see this natural weed become legal one day soon, so all he was really doing was getting ahead of the curve. Other countries had legalized marijuana, and hell had not broken loose yet. Marijuana had even proven to be of some value as medicine. Some of the medications doctors prescribed now certainly resulted in bigger problems than marijuana could ever cause.

The continued prohibition of marijuana just didn’t make sense to him, but that’s just the way it was. After all, if marijuana was legalized, then the thrill of smuggling would be gone, and right now, that was his driving force.

At the moment, what was important was hitting the proper longitudinal line from the Yucatan Peninsula and flying over to the latitudinal line leading up to the Big Bend area of Florida. His plane had radars to avoid, and Freddie had mastered this technique.

He used to worry about the ground crew being on time at the right place. Nothing could ruin a good trip more than making it all the way back to the strip and having no one there to unload. For that reason, he had elected to pay the offload crew very well for their participation. Fifteen thousand dollars a load was a lot of money to pay each crewman, but it ensured dependability and took the worry out of this part of the operation.

Also, he was fortunate enough to have a partner who flew in loads, which assured the organization of an income so that money was never an issue. However, in some ways, money had become a problem. Without a good way to launder it through a business, Freddie was unable to deposit the proceeds into a bank account. For this reason, he chose to bury money in PVC pipes in various undetectable locations. Now all that was left was remembering the locations, and that, he feared, was already a problem.

Once the money was buried, he tried not to go back to its location. He didn’t necessarily need the money because it continued to