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Sergeant Smack chronicles the story of North Carolina's Leslie "Ike"
Atkinson, an adventurer, gambler and one of U.S. history's most original
gangsters. Under the cover of the Vietnam War and through the use of
the U.S. military infrastructure, Atkinson masterminded an enterprising
group of family members and former African American GIs that the DEA
identified as one of history's ten top drug trafficking rings. Ike's
organization moved heroin from Thailand to North Carolina and beyond.
According to law enforcement sources, 1,000 pounds is a conservative
estimate of the amount of heroin the ring transported annually from
Bangkok, Thailand, through U.S. military bases, into the U.S. during its
period of operation from 1968 to 1975. That amount translates to about
$400 million worth of illegal drug sales during that period. Born in
Goldsboro, North Carolina, Ike Atkinson is a charismatic former U.S.
Army Master Sergeant, career drug smuggler, scam artist, card shark and
doting family man whom law enforcement nick-named Sergeant Smack. He was
never known to carry a gun, and today many retired law enforcement
officials who had put him in jail refer to him as a "gentleman."
Sergeant Smack's criminal activities sparked the creation of a special
DEA unit code named CENTAC 9, which conducted an intensive three-year
investigation across three continents. Sergeant Smack was elusive, but
the discovery of his palm print on a kilo of heroin finally took him
down. In 1987, Ike tried to revive his drug ring from Otisville Federal
Penitentiary, but the Feds discovered the plot and set up a sting. The
events that follow seem like the narrative for a Robert Ludlum novel.
Atkinson was convicted again and nine years added to his sentence. Ike
was released from prison in 2006 after serving a 31-year jail sentence.
Atkinson's story is controversial because his ring has been accused of
smuggling heroin to the U.S. in the coffins and/or cadavers of dead
American GIs. As this book shows, the accusation is completely false.
The recent movie, "American Gangster," which depicted the criminal
career of Frank Lucas, distorted Atkinson's historical role in the
international drug trade. Sergeant Smack exposes the lies about the Ike
Atkinson-Frank Lucas relationship and documents how Ike, not Lucas,
pioneered the Asian heroin connection. "Drug kingpin Ike Atkinson, is
the real deal, and not the stuff of Hollywood legend. The author
delivers an eminently readable book about a genuine Mr Big who knows
that no fictional makeover is required for his compelling story - the
truth is more than enough." -Steve Morris, Publisher, New Criminologist
"Sergeant Smack is meticulously researched and its prodding for the
truth by author Ron Chepesiuk makes it an excellent non-fiction crime
story. Along with a compelling history of Ike Atkinson's life and
criminal career in drug smuggling, the author has managed to put the
truth to numerous falsehoods contained in the major movie, American
Gangster, about the life of Frank Lucas." -Jack Toal, retired DEA agent
who worked the investigation of Frank Lucas "Finally, the real story.
I've waited 40 years for this book." -Marc Levin, Director of the
documentary, "Mr. Untouchable" "Ron Chepesiuk has gone from publishing
the Black gangster classics, Gangsters of Harlem and Black Gangsters of
Chicago, to crafting Sergeant Smack, an astonishing masterpiece." -David
"Pop" Whetstone, Owner, Black Star Music and Video "Sergeant Smack
forcefully debunks the urban legend of Black family groups smuggling
heroin from Southeast Asia in the bodies of dead GI soldiers while
recounting the colorful saga of the authentic American gangster. Highly
recommended." -Gary Taylor, journalist and author of the award-winning
true crime memoir, Luggage by Kroger.