Next
time you hear a demagogue inveigh against the so-called “militarization” of the
police, ask yourself what sort of anti-submarine defenses your local PD has,
because that is the sort of world we live in. It is an established fact the Cali
Cartel has tried to purchase full military subs from the Russians on at least
two occasions (that we know of). The second case we discovered through dumb
luck, but the first attempted sale was broken up by some tenacious police work.
Ludwig “Tarzan” Fainberg was one of the men brokering the sale. Somehow, he and
his shady pals lived to tell the story in Tiller Russell’s documentary, Operation Odessa (trailer here), which premieres this Saturday on Showtime.
For
a while, the Odessa-born Tarzan Fainberg worked for an Italian crime family in
New York, but when things got too hot, he relocated to Florida, opening a strip
club modeled on the fine establishment in the Porky’s movies. In terms of random pop culture references, Fainberg
also became friendly with Vanilla Ice. More importantly, his club and
subsequent Russian restaurant became hang-spots for every visiting Russian and
Eastern European gangster. Soon he became their unofficial liaison to the South
American cartels.
Fainberg
formed fast friendships with Tony Yester, a former Cuban spy, and Juan Almeida,
a supposed luxury car dealer. Technically, the three friends and co-conspirators
were not drug traffickers, per se, but they facilitated the smuggling by brokering
deals for heavy-duty twin-turbine Russian helicopters and the like. Russia was their
K-Mart and everything was on Blue Light special—even including an old but still
sea-worthy diesel submarine (available with or without armaments).
The
story of Tarzan and his bros is so wild and colorful (and he is such a knucklehead),
viewers will often lose sight of how terrifying this narco-kerfuffle really is,
when you think about it soberly. There is a very real possibility one of the
cartels is running a hard to detect Russian diesel sub, loaded up with cocaine—if
we’re lucky. Obviously, this a real security concern for all police and Coast
Guard vessels.
Regardless,
the hard-partying Fainberg also waxes nostalgic for hedonistic Miami party
scene. Subtlety is not his thing, which is just as well, considering he is the
primary POV figure. However, Russell also managed to score on-cameras with
Yester (whom Fainberg and Almeida were convinced would never agree) and the
heavily disguised undercover who brought down their racket.
In
terms of sheer style and energy, Operation
Odessa (named for the inter-agency operation investigating Russian mob activity
in South Florida) is one of the best true crime documentaries in years. It is
impossible to be bored by the mayhem and skullduggery it documents. Russell
also avoids making any political statements, which is definitely a plus. You
could argue he comes perilously close to glamorizing Fainberg, but he also
gives the law enforcement agents ample opportunity to have their say. It turns
out, they are quite lively talking heads, as well.
This
story is just crazy—and so are these people. It is rather amazing that so many
of them are still walking around, but don’t count on them making the ten-year Operation Odessa reunion party. Highly
recommended for fans of Billy Corben’s docs (such as Square Grouper), Operation Odessa
premieres this Saturday (3/31) on Showtime.
