It’s clear that being an FBI undercover agent is a job filled with risks and challenges that aren’t for the faint of heart. Unlike many professions where mistakes might result in a reprimand, undercover work amidst dangerous criminals carries the risk of severe consequences.
A single misstep can ruin an operation targeting US criminal hate groups and terrorist organizations, and potentially cost an agent their life. Not exactly a stress-free environment.
Scott Payne, a former FBI agent, managed to navigate this high-stakes world for over 23 years. His experiences have left him with a plethora of intense stories to tell.
In an interview with UNILAD, Payne maintained a modest perspective, emphasizing the stresses and dangers inherent in any law enforcement role.
Due to the sensitive nature of his assignments, Payne couldn’t disclose the specific methods the FBI’s undercover teams use to apprehend criminals. However, he shared an especially nerve-wracking incident from his career.
This story is also shared in his book, “Code Name: Pale Horse,” which details Payne’s dangerous decision to infiltrate a notorious Neo-Nazi group. In one mission, he found himself facing a shotgun, his life hanging in the balance.
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In that tense moment, the armed individual wanted Payne to snort cocaine to prove he wasn’t an agent, even issuing a chilling threat.
Describing the scene of the undercover drug operation, Payne recounted: “I’m sitting here. It gets to the point where he’s sitting on a table in front of me.”
“I’m on his couch, he’s on a coffee table and he’s got a double barrel shotgun, hammer’s cocked back and he’s already told me, ‘If I find out you’re the law, you’re a dead man’, he repeated it multiple times.”
“He’s like, ‘try it, try it’, and I already told him, ‘man I don’t do this’.”
“He’s got an open bag of cocaine in my face, close to my face and he’s got a red bone hound and it’s in my crotch and growling.”
With the pressure mounting, Payne maintained his composure, trying to diffuse the tension while protecting his cover, all the while contemplating if he would survive the encounter.
Payne shared that a bit of sleight of hand helped him convince the armed man that he had taken a hit of cocaine.
He explained: “I told him I got a heart condition, I got anxiety, I’m not doing any damn cocaine. What I did do, is just something I came up with in my head.”
“I dip my finger in [the cocaine] and I came up you know and I just did a sleight of hand thing. I mean, I had a big beard.”
“I got [acted] p***ed and was like ‘are you happy now?’, and then he immediately calms down and he’s like ‘hey let me take you back to the back and let me show you where all the drugs are at’.”
Through quick thinking and clever deception, Payne managed to safely exit the perilous situation and continue his operation without blowing his cover.
That was more than a bit of luck, if you ask me!