Return To Lemuria

Chapter 8 - Setup

Turkish Airlines, Boeing 777 from Belgrade, touched down at JFK International at 10.55am. It was seven minutes earlier than expected, but Viktor was there. How could he miss a visit from his parents that he had not seen for over a quarter of a century? Billy had booked Viktor's parents in at the five-star, Million Hotel in Crosby Street, Soho. The hotel had a modern look and feel with magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows and a great view overlooking the city. Clive "The Jive" Gibson was the concierge at the Million, and one of Billy's oldest clients. He used to be a liquor rep in the city and, as a result, was well connected to the New York nightlife. He threw regular parties around town where he moved a serious amount of dope. Nowadays, the parties were less frequent but far more exclusive. From the rooftops of some of the tallest buildings in New York, to luxury yacht parties on the Hudson River, Clive entertained stars like Paris Hilton, Colin Farrell and the late Amy Winehouse. 

Clive welcomed Viktor and his parents as they arrived from the airport to check into the hotel. "Good morning Mr and Mrs Kadezi. My Name is Clive. Welcome to the Million. We are here to make your stay as comfortable as possible." He handed Viktor's father a little black electronic device with a small, red rubber button. 

"Please push this button if you need anything – a taxi, a restaurant booking or anything else. The device will send me an instant message, alerting me to call you." 

The electronic transmitter was also fitted with a GPS tracking device, linked directly to Billy's desktop at his office. Billy scheduled a weeklong itinerary for Viktor and his parents that would take them to strategic locations all over the city. Everything was going according to plan.

Traditional container pallets are made of wood, but Viktor chose the more modern, plastic pallet instead. Plastic pallets offered far more benefits than the wooden variety, including easy sanitation, durability and non-splintering, which made them more environmentally-friendly as a result. Viktor was no environmentalist. He couldn't even spell the word. The real benefit for Viktor was the fact that the plastic pallets he used, were injection moulded, which meant that the three base strips of each pallet were hollow – perfect for smuggling purposes. Stuffed into the hundreds of pallets currently sitting in his African curio warehouse, was around one ton's worth of cocaine with a street value of over US$300 million. The pallets were filled in Santiago, Cuba. Cuban Tobacco was packed on top of the pallets and exported to Cape Town. The Tobacco was unpacked and replaced with African curios and then shipped to New York. Finally, the curios, together with the pallets were unpacked and delivered to a warehouse, at 622 Communipaw Avenue, in Jersey City.

Part of Billy's plan was to 'borrow' some of this stash without Viktor finding out. Like Viktor, he didn't want to expose the ingenious cocaine trade route. It was far too valuable. Billy planned to take over operations once Viktor was out of the way, so the clandestine nature of this job was of utmost importance. He was counting on the fact that Viktor was too pre-occupied with entertaining his parents to be concerned with anything else right now. With Viktor's eye off the ball, Billy was free to operate and operate he did. He arranged for the security team covering the warehouse to be replaced with his own. A crew of guys that were paid handsomely to do what they were told, no questions asked. These were pros, handpicked from a group of ex-mercenaries, designed to kill, or die trying. 

The security camera system was a little more complicated because Viktor kept close tabs on all movements in and out of the warehouse. Billy decided to enlist the services of none other than Carl Finnegan, an electronics expert from Ireland. His mop of unkempt, red hair, matched a pointed goatee and his green sparkly eyes hinted at a wryly, mischievous character that reminded Billy of a Leprechaun. 

"Good day sir, top of the morning to ya!"

"Hello Finn, good to hear your voice. What's the status?"