"Need For Weed": Randy Lanier, the drug trafficker who dethroned great motorism

Randy Lanier caminaba nervioso, con ojos en la espalda. Creía que su doble vida como piloto profesional y traficante de marihuana podía revelarse en cualquier momento.

There were subjects who, always dressed in impeccable suit, followed him.I thought they were from the FBI, but no, they were members of the best teams that were closely appreciated each race they disputed.However, their suspicions would be realized sooner rather than later.

Randy Thomas Lanier was born on September 22, 1954 in the conservative state of Virginia, where he lived with his parents, humble tobacco growers, until when he was a teenager they moved to Miami.

En Florida, el joven de marcado acento sureño descubrió un mundo nuevo gracias a la cultura hippie: rock & roll, libertad, mujeres en bikini y marihuana… mucha marihuana.

Randy left school and his father forced him to work as a construction worker where, far from placing bricks or moving trucks, he began selling drugs to his colleagues.

"At that time it was easy to get marijuana.I went from winning 1.$ 75 a day to thousands of tickets a week, ”said Lanier himself, in the“ Need For Weed ”chapter of the Netflix Document Documentary Series.

But the native of Virginia and his friends did not stay there.They bought a boat and kilos of cannabis began to import from Bahamas, in years where US authorities had zero jurisdiction in Altamar.

EVERYTHING WOULD WIND IN RANDY.He moved to an elegant house with Pam, his future wife, and enjoyed the business.Until one day, a friend arrived at his house and, gun in hand, completely devalued him.

I dreamed of being a pilot

Violence was not a thing for Lanier, who decided to get away from drug trafficking.With the hidden money he had left, he bought an old Porsche Speedster 356: he wanted to fulfill his child as a child and become a race pilot.

Together with the same friends with whom he ventured into the drug business, he prepared his ramshacking vehicle to compete in amateur races of the Southeast Regional Championship, which he won without problems.

Seeing him, comment on his closeness in the aforementioned documentary, was something hypnotic.The great speed that reached and the adrenaline he transmitted were worthy of the best pilots in the world.

Almost at the same rate he was driving in the circuits, his career was on the rise.He was about to play a grand prize in Miami in 1980 thanks to a friend who had a private team, but broke the gearbox and could not finish the race.

It was there that Randy decided to form her own team.But I needed money, enough money, and decided to resort to marijuana.

Thanks to his former contacts, Lanier arrived in Colombia.There, after walking half a day through a jungle, they arrived at the promised land of cannabis: hundreds of hectares with red tip sowings.

"It's the best marijuana I have tried in my life," the Expileoto confessed.But there was a problem, how to take cargoes to the United States?

Ronald Reagan's anti -drug policies made it impossible to enter illegal products as it used to do it years ago, and Randy and his partners had to manage - and invest - to be able to enter the sacks of Colombian cannabis.

Finally, through a modified freighter, they managed to enter 55.000 kilos of red tip in an abandoned port and sold everything in a matter of hours.The money for a racing team was already in their pockets.

The feat of the Blue Thunder

The entrance of the cargo left Lanier about 10 million dollars, enough money to acquire two 82G GTP vehicles and start building the Blue Thunder Team.

In addition to his drug addicts of a lifetime, the one born in Virginia added to the squad to the pilot Bill Whittington, winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans, and Keith Leyton as chief of team chief.

Randy's tiny team debuted in the IMSA GT championship in 1984 and, that same season, threatened to change resistance motor racing forever.

White and blue cinderella

The IMSA GT was one of the most recognized worldwide competitions of motor racing, being one of the King competitions between 1971 and 1998.

Historical teams like Porsche, Ford and Nissan marked presence and dominated in their early years.Until the 1984 season gave an unexpected turn.

An unknown team called Blue Thunder, commanded by the "Aquatic Sports Business" Randy Lanier, and with the remembered pilot Bill Whittington among his ranks, began to win races.

Circuit after circuit, the March 82g GTP painted white and blue arrived in front of the powerful porsche piled by those experienced to Holbert and John Paul Jr.

The despair in the German manufacturer led them to invest more money than in any other season, aware that their domain was in danger of the unknown and surprising Blue Thunder.

One day, despite the heat of Miami, two men in impeccable suit arrived at Randy's trailer.He thought they were FBI agents, that everything had come to an end, but no: they were Ford veterans who offered to drive for the American giant.

It was the opportunity to leave illegal businesses, but for the native of Virginia its circle and its improvised team was more important.He gave up the offer, something that would end up regretting.

On the penultimate date of IMSA GT, and despite mechanical problems, Randy won in the Watkins Glen circuit and achieved the impossible: being a champion in his first season as a professional.

Fame came, the money multiplied, the luxurious parties in Casinos de Las Vegas and Montecarlo with marijuana and cocaine were every day bread.

But Lanier wanted more and, at the same time that the cargo.

The beginning of the end

The low profile that Randy Lanier maintained until then vanished, something that his wife and friends did not share and caught her attention."I became a speed addict.I needed to run and, for that, marijuana money, ”said the Expileot.

By 1986, Virginia's humble boy signed for Arciero Racing and approached his great desire: compete in the 500 miles of Indianapolis.

When the big day arrived, Lanier's family had the FBI to follow after a friend, a key piece in the arrival of cargoes from Colombia, was arrested.

Aware of the danger it meant, Randy, who after a brilliant career in Indianapolis was chosen "rookie of the year", decided that a last shipment of 75.000 kilos of Red Punta would be your goodbye to drug trafficking.

The freighter had to deviate from Miami on the other side of the United States, San Francisco, after federal agents learned that a massive cargo of marijuana was destined for a port of Florida.

But the extra time in Altamar played a bad pass to the modified ship.Part of the load wet and, when coming into contact with salt water, cannabis produced methane gas and exploded when it was downloaded: two people died.

Randy never acknowledged that two operators lost their lives, but knew that the threads that the FBI Tejía would reach him sooner rather than later.

The fall of the narco pilot

The same day that PAM gave birth to his second son, Randy went to take breakfast at a restaurant before visiting his sprout and his wife in the hospital.

There, his home saw on television, being registered by the FBI, and his face in all the news: "The pilot Randy Lanier is a fugitive, accused of international drug trafficking".

The native of Virginia escaped Ancient, while one by one his team fell into prison.His father were also arrested, to bury three million dollars by order of his son, and PAM, who was in the street accused of obstruction of justice.

Eight months after being declared a fugitive, Randy was arrested by the FBI when he planned to hide in New Zealand.The declaration of a ex -partner was key to be sentenced to life imprisonment as an intellectual author of the drug cargoes that entered the United States.

Lanier spent 27 years in prison until, in 2014, he was pardoned by Barack Obama.His good behavior and zero violent background were key to recover his freedom.

Today, Randy is an ambassador for a medical marijuana company and dreams of which in 1984, champion is crowning in a motoring competition.