After turning up on a federal wiretap, accused Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to federal law enforcement sources.
These revelations have never been divulged by FBI officials working the Paddock case who maintain he was an affluent professional gambler who apparently had no apparent motive for the Oct. 1 massacre in Las Vegas.
The truth appears to be far more complicated than the government’s official narrative about how Paddock lived and earned his comfortable living.
Here is what we have gleaned from law enforcement sources who are NOT directly linked to the sham active Las Vegas probe of Paddock:
- Paddock had a number of cell phones acquired and linked to numbers in Los Angeles, CA.
- From what we can ascertain on or about 2013 one on the LA-based numbers linked to Paddock turned during a DEA wiretap.
- That phone was reportedly an AT&T Mobility phone.
- After tracing the phone to Paddock, DEA agents delved into his finances and background.
- DEA agents pinpointed a high number of federal Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) linked to Paddock’s bank transactions, including large wire amounts.
- A number of such wires were from shell companies without an official brick-and-mortar presence in any domicile.
- A number of SARs involved offshore wires coming into Paddock’s U.S. accounts.
- Paddock may have maintained at least one offshore bank account.
- Paddock subscribed to different cell phones in different U.S. cities from different cellular phone carriers.
- A number of those phones are now in the possession of the FBI lab in Virginia.
It is not apparent whether Paddock was the primary target of a DEA investigation or whether he was part of any pending case. Sources would not disclose the status or exact case linked to Paddock or whether any probe was ongoing.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) warehouses SARs which are forwarded to Treasury from financial institutions for transactions in the United States and globally. The SARs are triggered by anti-money laundering safeguards. These reports are confidential.
This story is Developing.
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