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Operation Flagship • Vol. 21: #2 Vol 21: #12 • (3-16-2025) Tidbits of Coachella Valley
• In the 1980s, the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) were a winning team, having recently become NFL champs. The waiting list to get season tickets was 25 years long. Every game was a sell-out. Needless to say, scoring free tickets to one of their games would be a major windfall.
• During the 1985 season, a new cable station dedicated to sports geared up for their first season. Called the Flagship International Sports Television, it was shortened to FIST. To celebrate, FIST advertised they were giving away 3,000 tickets to the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Washington Redskins game on December 15. Winners would be entered into a raffle to win a free trip to Super Bowl XX. It was a big deal.
• Winners were asked to call to confirm that they would be attending the game at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. They were instructed to bring a friend, arrive early, and come to the convention center connected to the stadium to receive their tickets and participate in pre-game celebrations.
• About 200 people showed up on game day. Arriving at the convention center, they were greeted at the door by an excited team of Redskin cheerleaders who gave everyone big enthusiastic hugs. The Redskin mascot entertained everyone. The whole place was decorated. Everyone got balloons. Videos from the Redskins’ first Super Bowl win played on convention center screens. The atmosphere was exciting and festive.
• As soon as they arrived, the individual ticket winners were asked to check in to confirm their identities. Once verified, they were issued color-coded name tags and were ushered into a separate room in small groups. Their wives and girlfriends remained behind, being treated to brunch and entertainment.
• In their separate room behind closed doors, an emcee congratulated the winners, welcomed them to the game, and promised “a special surprise.” The FIST cameras were rolling.
• At the mention of the “special surprise,” a set of doors to a connecting room flung open, and the room flooded with a fully armed SWAT team. Every “winner” was handcuffed and led out a rear door to an awaiting police bus in the adjoining garage. As soon as the room was cleared, the next set of lucky winners was ushered in, and the whole thing began again.
• All of the lucky winners were fugitives from justice. The entire thing was a setup, and the tickets were the bait on the hook. All 3,000 “free tickets” had been sent to a fugitive’s last known address. Of those, 167 responded, 119 showed up, and 101 arrests were made.
• There never had been a sports station, and its acronym of FIST also happened to be the acronym for the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team. The letters they received in the mail were signed by “FIST” president I.M. Detnaw, which is “WANTED” spelled backward. The business manager was Marcus Cran, which is NARC spelled backward. When the “winners” phoned the hotline to indicate that they would be attending, the “hold” music played “Bad Boys!”.
• All the cheerleaders were undercover cops who's hugs were patting down the recipients as they arrived. The color-coded name tags indicated how dangerous they were. A total of 166 police were involved, posing as ushers, cheerleaders, caterers, mascots, and janitors.
• The entire setup had cost only $22,000 (equal to about $63,500 today). Operation Flagship has been hailed as one of the largest and most successful collective-capture, mass-arrest stings of fugitives in U.S. law enforcement history.
• As they were being led away, one of the criminals asked, “You mean... I don’t get to go to the game?”
