TOM: I've always been
like the Mick Jagger of

the reptile Industry.

I've sold all kinds
of illegal stuff

Crocodiles, snakes, tarantulas

My holy grail, was
the king cobra.

I elected to take the
snake on the plane.

Were there some
apprehensions, yes!

Deadly venomous, one bite
means almost sure death.

There's no question I made
a lot of bad decisions.

CUSTOMS: Did you pack a
king cobra in your luggage?

TOM: But the worst
was yet to come

I honestly thought
I was going to die

ERNEST: For years and years Tom
Crutchfield was the big dog in

the reptile trade in the united
states Suspect has been spotted.

Has a cage in his hand It
was critical that we get

Tom out of circulation
and into our custody.

TOM: My customers loved the
rare stuff that was illegal.

They knew it was illegal and
they stood in line to buy it.

ERNEST: Stand by in
second positions

TOM: But that fateful day I knew
I was taking a great risk

ERNEST: This is exactly what
we'd been looking for Now,

move in, now

TOM: And I thought oh shxx

I was
living in Fort Myers, Florida.

Life was pretty good for me at
that point. I was newly married.

Only one thing was wrong
with the whole picture and

that was I really hated my job.

I was working for a large
department store that

was all over the U.S.

It was a really good paying
job but this is not what

I wanna do with my life.

the first thing I did when I got
home of course was always work

with my reptiles which was
really my passion I would always

clean the cages and
look at the animals.

And it gave
me a great deal of pleasure and

satisfaction to do so

And somehow I had to figure
a way to be able to live my life

the way that I wanted to live it

At an animal dealer's in Miami,

two friends of mine had
a lot of Bimini boas.

It was a wonderful snake.

They told me they could simply
go to the Bahamas and catch

anything and then they could
just bring it back into the US.

Basically you put them in your
suitcase and take them back.

I asked them, I
said, Are you sure?

And they said they'd never ever
had anything confiscated and

if someone found them, all you
had to do was tell them they

were personal pets.

He said even though the
animals required permits,

no-one really cared.

I decided I wanted to see if
we could catch some of those

beautiful boas for myself.

I had a little bit of
trepidation that it might be

more of a problem
than they said.

I'm thinking of this giant law
that made all this publicity in

every newspaper in the world
that was going to regulate all

wildlife.

It was hard to believe that
no-one was enforcing it

All that was in my mind was
what one of these would look

like actually in nature,
you know, in the sunlight.

I wanted to do it.
I say let's do it.

Penny: Ok

TOM: That was it. We were going
to south Bimini

For me it was a huge huge
event. It was exciting.

This was my very first
international trip.

A friend of mine who also
collected reptiles heard that

we were planning to go.

We said okay and
he went with us.

About 50 yards in the woods
is this old deserted building,

and inside that building was a
place I was told that boas could

be found.

I proceed to the building like
a Tasmanian devil because I want

to catch a snake immediately.

So I'm tearing it apart
trying to look for snakes,

in all the rafters
and down in the holes.

All of a sudden Penny said;

Penny: Tom I gotta go to the
bathroom

TOM: So I tell Penny she needs
to go to the restroom wherever

she can find a place.

I kept looking for the boas,
shining lights in holes and

I hear Penny calling.

PENNY: Tom, Tom, come here.

TOM: When she first started
calling me it was irritating me.

I go, 'I don't
have time for that,

just go ahead any place it's
alright to go to the bathroom.'

She goes, 'No, no, I
already went, but" she said,

'Where I went,' she
said, 'It's a snake.'

So I took off as fast as I could
running to try to get to the

spot where she was.

And when I got there she
has this beautiful four,

four and a half foot
male Bimini boa.

PENNY: Isn't it beautiful?

TOM: Unbelievable, look at that.

I took the snake and my hands
literally shook holding it,

even though I had seen the
snakes before, Oh my gosh.

It was my very first wild one.
And it was a remarkable sight.

It made me very, very happy.
Go get a pillowcase!

We caught a snake the first 20
minutes we were there, Alright,

here we go, here we go.

And I thought, well wow if
we caught one this quick,

we're probably going
to find a lot of them.

Lets go get some more!

If I turned over one rock, I
probably turned over metric tons

of rocks looking for snakes.

But unfortunately we didn't find
anymore, that was the only snake

But we started hearing
this, 'Click, click, click,

' you know all
over the building.

Woah It sounded like little
toes, 'Click, click, click,

click, click.

And it was tarantulas,
lots of them.

And they were on the
floor, on the walls,

everywhere looking for food My
friend wasn't fortunate enough

to find any snakes So he thought
he'd catch the tarantulas.

Dude you're a pro!

FRIEND: I know!

TOM: So he caught six or
seven of the biggest females.

As we were preparing to go back
to Miami We packed the snake in

our bag, you know, with clothes
around it and on top of it.

And my friend put the tarantulas
in his bag the same way we did

ours, with clothes to
keep them cushioned.

No-one would see anything, we
wouldn't open our bags and

they would just wave us through.

That was my hope.

When
we got to the customs shack,

there were these two sorta
really bored customs officers

like laying around if you
will Now I was terrified.

GUARD: Driving license?

TOM: Oh, license. I didn't
know what to expect You know

I mean there I was
smuggling illegally.

And that was it.

So we get on the plane.

Air Hostess: Can I help
you with your bags sir?

Tom:
What? Both of us were nervous.

I can never forget the
snake is in the bag.

Air Hostess: Your bag

Tom: Oh. Oh. No
I can handle it. Thank you.

And as we're coming in I still
had some trepidation about what

would happen at U.S. customs.

I had never done it before so
I didn't know what to expect.

We disembarked the plane along
with the other passengers,

and you have united states
customs agents

It's not like in Bimini,
these guys are really serious

There looking at things a little
more serious I'm thinking than

the people in the Bahamas were.

Still you have to think in the
back of your mind is someone

going to say something?

Is there going to be a problem?

My friend said 'I'll go first
Everything seems pretty smooth

until the guy says

CUSTOMS: Excuse me sir, can
I look at your bag please?

Can I look in your bag please?

TOM: And I thought
this is not good.

When he opened the
suitcase he sees a bag.

But when he picked the bag
up I thought, 'Holy xxxx,

CUSTOMS: What is this?

FRIEND: Nothing much.

TOM: Because I knew that there
were spiders in the bag and

I knew that they're not going
to like the tarantulas.

So the customs guy
decided to open the bag.

And that's when I did like
that looked at Penny and

she looked at me 'Oh.'

He sticks his hand in and he's
feeling around and then...

CUSTOMS: Agh!

TOM: And I thought, oh god.

That's absolutely the worst
thing that can happen.

The customs guy's looking at
the blood and he's looking at

my friend.

He didn't say anything for
probably about five or

ten seconds.

It's like he can't believe
that his hand is bleeding from

sticking it in the bag.

He just doesn't believe it.

And we're going what the
hell is going to happen and

for whatever reason he says

CUSTOMS: Do you have
something sharp in your bag?

FRIEND: No.

TOM: And a spider is crawling
right up with the legs almost to

the top, all I could see was
the whites of his eyes then he

passes out, bam.

So at that point every single
customs guy in that place

came running over.

And they're looking
at my friend,

I mean they were not nice
looks, and I thought, 'Oh God.'

And some of them still didn't
really understand what had

bitten him.

And my friend's trying to tell
them that this spider's not

deadly.

FRIEND: It's ok it's alright.

It's just a spider it's not
going to kill you.

TOM: And immediately one of
the guys stomps the spider.

And I was looking at Penny and
we still had the snake in the

bag, and I sort of elbowed
her and I go....

Lets go outside,
nobody is watching.

We took our bag and the snake
just nonchalantly walked out,

never looking back, never
looking at anybody because

you don't want
to attract attention.

And we walked out
of the building without

clearing customs.

It was a huge relief.

But I was a little bit
worried about my friend still.

Really if you think about it,
with him it was kinda serious.

You've got a guy in customs
that works for the United States

Government; he got bit with
a spider that was brought

back illegally.

He's passed out. I have
no idea of the man's condition,

and we're all just thinking
about that and then we saw my

friend come walking out and he
had the empty bag in his hand so

he walks up to us and I
look at the bag and I go,

Where are the spiders?

He goes, 'They flushed
them down the toilet.

What are they
going to do to you?

He goes, 'Nothing, but
they told me never, never,

never do this again.

I said, 'Alrighty now.

That was the point
where I figured

I'm going to do this a lot.

TOM: I'm thinking you
know that was easy,

Those beautiful snakes
are worth about about

50 dollars, here in the U.S.

I could do it as a living.

My first trips were
to the Caribbean,

to Bimini and to Eleuthera
Island and the Bahamas.

At that point the money
was in the hundreds or

thousands of dollars.

And a lot of my trips financed
other trips and all this time

we weren't getting permits for
anything we were just going

through Customs.

And they said "what
are these for?"

I said "they're for pets" and he
said "Go on through" So it was

like, carte blank permission for
me to do whatever you wanted!

So we decided to open up a
reptile business I sold them all

kinds of illegal stuff I
sold them crocodiles, snakes,

and tarantulas.

And the rarer animals I got the
more business I seemed to have.

I think the first year
we did $200,000 maybe.

It just got bigger and bigger
and bigger and as I had more

money I went to more exotic
places and I caught more and

more exotic reptiles.

But my holy grail
was the King Cobra.

TOM: The king cobra is the
longest venomous snake in

the world.

When they stand up
to spread a hood,

their head can be five
feet off the ground.

And they can be looking at you
eye to eye which is truly an

extraordinary thing to see and
a frightening thing to see

if you're not expecting
it or used to it.

It's one of the most impressive
reptiles certainly in the world

and a deep and abiding passion
to be able to catch one in

the wild.

So, we made Chiang
Mai our base in an area called

the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle was
a dangerous place most of

the world's opium used to make
heroin and other illegal drugs

was grown up there There
are huge narcotic warlords,

as powerful as the Thai
army; they would have real

military battles.

We drove for probably half
a day first on a paved road.

Then on some really bad dirt
roads and then the road stopped.

I was super excited.

The only thing that we could
see was like a little trail.

Actually it looked
like an elephant trail.

And we went down that trail
miles and miles and

miles into the jungle.

TOM: So we kept walking
and walking and walking.

And all of a sudden
the guide made a sound,

something like this.

Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee.
And he started running.

My first thought was,
what the hell did he see?

Because if he saw a tiger I...

you know, I might want to do
the same thing and run

but I saw the movement
in the underbrush.

And I could see the last
half of a snake and

I knew immediately
it was a king cobra.

Rapidly crawling away.

So I ran up and grabbed
the King Cobra by the tail.

Now this was a tough situation.

I had a huge adrenalin rush
because you realize

you don't know what's
going to happen.

It's deadly venomous.

Any bite means
almost sure death.

by understanding
the snakes' abilities,

you can actually control what
the snake does If I were to do

my hand like this, the king
Cobra will do like this and

follow it.

He'll simply turn and face me
the whole time because he is

facing what he considers
something that's potentially

dangerous to him.

You cannot take your eyes off
the snake because to take your

eyes off it even for a second
can mean that you're bitten.

He would strike at me
again, again and again and

he's getting more tired.

Until I could pin its head down
and grab it behind the neck.

TOM: Penny! Bag! There it is.

Woooo! Wooo! Wooo!

I was ecstatic about catching a
king Cobra it was lifelong dream

come true.

The king cobra could've easily
been shipped from Thailand.

But it was so valuable to me
I wanted to make sure nothing

happened to the snake.

So, I elected to put the
snake in the suitcase and

then take it back on the plane.

Penny: Tom, no way!

TOM: And that was
Penny's biggest concern.

Someone might open your
suitcase, grab the bag and

then be killed by a
king Cobra.

But I elected to risk it anyway.

At that point I had decided
to put the King Cobra in

the suitcase but we would put
it in another bag to make it

even more secure.

And then put those bags inside
of a cardboard box that would

fit inside the suitcase
so if someone touched it,

it can't bite through the
box, so there's no problem.

Penny also found some more
animals She had found some boas

and a rare monitor.

She put those in little camera
cases and we packed them in our

hand luggage and we drove
to the airport

At the airport in Bangkok.

Were
there some apprehensions? Yes.

But you can't think about
things like that

if you're a good smuggler.

You're having to go through
customs with the king cobra.

You simply walk up there as a
regular customer and

you don't act odd.

CHECK IN: Did you pack
your bags yourself Sir?

TOM: Yes I did. You don't
sweat; you don't jump around

because you'll get caught.

That's the bottom line.

If you don't have the balls
to do it don't do it.

That was it.

CHECK IN: Have a
nice flight sir.

TOM: Next stop the United States
of America, Miami, Florida.

I knew I was taking
a great risk

So, once we'd landed in Miami
International Airport,

we're all unbuckling and
everybody on the plane is

getting ready to disembark
and there was an announcement

TANNOY: Would Tom and Penny
Crutchfield report to the front

of the plane please?

TOM: I looked at Penny.
She looked at me. And she goes,

PENNY: They found the cobra

TOM: I said, it has to be that.
At that point I began to worry

about someone being
accidentally bit by the snake.

TANNOY: Everyone
please remain seated.

Tom and Penny Crutchfield could
you identify yourselves and

make your way to the front
of the plane please?

TOM: I thought Oh God. And at
this point I could see a

contingency of US
Fish and Wildlife agents.

But you can imagine all the
stuff going through your head

So, we walked to the front of
the plane with everybody staring

at us of course, it was
kind of embarrassing.

There's no great plans
hatching in your mind.

So I'm now I'm starting
to think I'm screwed now.

You're caught that's it, you
have to go see what the deal is.

I was terrified.

We're trying not to act afraid
or show any feelings

But I knew that they had
probably found the king

cobra probably, that's the
only thing I could think of.

At that point we were scared. I
knew it was a really big deal.

AGENT: Bags on the table please.

TOM: Customs guy is looking at
me and finally he speaks ups

AGENT: Mr Crutchfield.
Did you pack a King Cobra

in your luggage?

TOM: And my heart sank,
when he said that,

my heart absolutely sank.

Where's my suitcase?

Agent: In Amsterdam

TOM: We had a stopover in
Amsterdam where

we changed planes.

And that's where the luggage
would have to change planes too

to go to the United States.

At that point I began to
worry about someone being

accidentally bit by the snake.

A friend of mine was bitten by
a King Cobra and

he died in 11 minutes
with paramedics there,

there was nothing they could do.

How did they even know
there was a snake in there?

AGENT: The drug dogs. They
smelled the snake in the box.

TOM: It was a huge relief that
no one was bitten or hurt in

some way but then they go....

AGENT: We're gonna need to
see what else you're

carrying with you.

TOM: I go, oh good I'm
standing there looking at Penny

and both of us were nervous.

Because we had smuggled
a few other things too,

rare boas and a rare monitor
that Penny had put in

little camera cases.

They started to go through
everything And they finally got

around to Penny's purse And I
thought Holy xxxx.

And at this point one of the
agents looks down at the bag and

then 'Oh God' and I'm thinking
about what's going to happen.

AGENT: Nothing here.

TOM: And that was it,
they didn't find anything.

AGENT: Customs in Holland
are gonna keep the snake.

You're lucky we didn't
catch you here in America.

TOM: Of course I'm smiling
like hell because the idiots,

I had outsmarted
them completely.... Morons

I thought they were just so
stupid in those days.

Ernest: Tom had developed a
persona of being someone who

for the most part thought he
was better than you were,

knew more things than you knew,
untouchable, couldn't be caught.

I was part of a special task
force whose job it was to

identify and pursue the biggest
players in these smuggling

operations.

It was critical to tie Tom
to these smuggled reptiles.

We knew there were a group
of German smugglers bringing

Tree Boas and Ground Boas in
to the United States.

We needed to find a way to
link those Germans with

Tom Crutchfield.

TOM: At this point we were doing
well over $1million a year.

I was certainly one of the
biggest reptile dealers in

the country if not the biggest.

Hi Tom Crutchfield.

I was the guy that
everybody talked about.

You
want some Madagascan Tree Boas?

You do know they're
a restricted species?

After the Cobra incident I
decided more and more it wasn't

really worth trying to
bring stuff myself back.

I had decided it would be
much safer if I were going to

smuggle something to do it in a
completely different way where

I personally wasn't
involved at all.

Hello Wolfgang!

Tom Crutchfield here.

It would be much safer buying
in stuff that other people

brought into the US.

Listen I have a
proposition for you.

I went to meet the German that
I knew called Wolfgang Kloe.

He was another reptile smuggler.

Ernest:
Suspect has been spotted.

Has a cage in his hand.. I went
and set up surveillance because

it was critical that we
establish a positive link

between the smuggled reptiles,
Wolfgang Kloe and

Tom Crutchfield's business.

Ok move into positions now

TOM: I've got a buyer looking
for Madagascan Tree boas.

Wolfgang: Okay

TOM: Wolfgang had animals
I wanted so we did a trade.

ERNEST: Stand by
second positions

TOM: A few womas for probably
8 or 10 of his Madagascan tree

boas, which he brought into
the US without permits.

WOLFGANG:
Yes you have a deal man.

TOM: Excellent.
Let's have a look.

Ernest: This was tremendous,
it was exactly what we'd been

looking for, it directly
tied Tom Crutchfield into

the smuggling operation,
linked him to the German team

I was ecstatic.

Ok we're set.
Ready to move in on my command

TOM: I was extremely pleased,
I had Madagascar tree boas but

then all of a sudden he says

WOLFGANG: I think there's
someone looking at you

with binoculars

TOM: And I go
WHAT?

WOLFGANG: Don't
look don't look.

TOM: We should get out
of here.

ERNEST: Move in now now!

AGENTS: Show me your hands.

TOM: They all rushed in like
they were expecting gunfire

exchange and I thought oh xxxx

ERNEST: Our team moved
in and arrested Wolfgang Kloe.

We probably already had enough
information to convict Tom for

the smuggling of the reptiles
but what we really needed was to

build a bigger case against
him Tom Crutchfield

I have a warrant to
search your business.

Let's go.

TOM: At this point we're not
liking each other a whole lot.

Ernest: So we were looking
for key bits of information.

And it actually amazes me
how some of these crooks keep

documents that actually show
their illegal activities.

When you looked at the volume
of the smuggled animals,

they were easily worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars,

His goose was cooked.

He certainly was going
to jail for a long time.

At the end I said to him I know
for a fact we'll be seeing each

other in court before too long.

TOM: I knew that there was
going to be more trouble.

I thought if we stayed
I would be indicted

So I decided to pack up
everything and leave the U.S

and headed to Belize

We already had a fair amount
of money in cash

so we decided on opening up
a car rental business and

started a new life in Belize.

Life was pretty good for me
at that point and I thought my

problems were finished
and we were safe.

ERNEST: Hello Ernest Mayer
Fish & Wildlife At first

I was kind of shocked Really?

But then I realized, this was
probably the stupidest thing

that he could have done.

Forget the wildlife
smuggling now,

this guy has really taken
it to the next level.

We knew we would not
get him extradited

for smuggling reptiles.

However, How about the
fact he's a fugitive?

The types of crimes the Belize
government did not tolerate

was fleeing from justice
to avoid prosecution.

The plan was arrest Tom, put
him in jail and hold him until

we could get the authority
through the Belize Justice

Department to have him
expelled from the country.

Thank you very much.

TOM:
What the hell is this about?

I was almost in shock when
it happened,

I was like what the hell.

What are you holding me for?
I'm not breaking any laws!

He says 'the US is after the
Belizean government to deport

you' and then I knew what
the plan was immediately.

I didn't have time
to talk to Penny.

I simply said Get an
attorney and find out where

I am and come see me.

And then they say you're
going to Hattieville prison.

I knew exactly where that was.

The last place that I probably
wanted to go in Belize was

Hattieville prison,
the last place.

It's something right out of
that movie Midnight Express.

I mean the place looks bad but
the worst was yet to come

They take me and they put me in
the cell with four other people

They're sleeping on the
floor on pieces of cardboard

and covering themselves
with their clothes.

And I'm in shock almost
cause it's so horrible.

There is no electricity, there
is no plumbing, there are

no toilets there is no running
water in any of the cells.

And I'm go in there and I'm
thinking 'five people in this

cell' And the one guy
starts to reach for my bag.

TOM: Hey hey hey! I go.

Don't touch my bag bro.
Don't do that.

He starts to reach
for my bag again.

Hey! Again I told him not
to. And the guy did it again.

And I just grabbed his wrist And
that time I just dropped down

with my knees and just popped
the capsule in his elbow,

he was so weak.

The guards came running over
so they walked me over,

like fifty yards away probably
and they put me in this cell.

TOM: They open it up and
there's just one guy in

that cell. Just one guy.

He had the most serious
look on his face.

And he's got one of those metal
beds and he's got like foam

rubber up on top of it There's
another metal bed there but

there's no foam rubber or
mattress or anything I knew he

was dangerous or he wouldn't
be in a cell by himself.

Finally he speaks up

KAMPER: My name is Kamper.

TOM: And I said-
How come you're the only person

in here that I see that
lives by themselves?

And he said

KAMPER: The last cellie. We
get into a little argument

and I had to jig him And he die.

TOM: I'm like, they put me in
with a killer now because

I hurt the other guy.

And he's looking at me and
they're not nice looks.

Then I saw he has half a
machete that's broken off and

I certainly didn't
sleep at all that night

I honestly thought I was
going to die, period.

For the first two weeks in
Hattieville Prison

I honestly thought
I was going to die.

It's a violent place.

Weapons were freely held
by almost anybody there.

The most brutal I saw is that
I was in the yard and

I heard behind me this
sound it was a thunk.

Like that.
A thunk.

And I spun around not
knowing what it was,

just in time to
see what happened.

And this guy's guts just
fell out on the ground.

All I wanted to do was
get the hell out of there.

That's it.

TOM: It was about two weeks
before my family found out that

I was in Hattieville.

I was very happy
to see Penny. Extremely happy.

She looks at me and she goes
She said they just want you

back in the US.

All you have to do is tell
them you'll go, and fly back.

I said yeah but you know what.

There's a good chance
we can win this!

Just because I've committed
a crime in the United States,

does not allow the Belizean
authorities to put me in jail.

It was decided we would
stay and fight it.

That's what both of us wanted
to do, and that's what we did.

Ernest: We had to wait quite a
period of time while the Belize

court system processed the
request to have him extradited.

What I thought was going to be
a fairly quick process ended up

dragging out for several months.

The longer the delay went the
more I began to have questions

whether this was going to
be a successful effort.

TOM: One day early on a Sunday
I was in the cell with Kamper

and Kamper looks at me and goes

KAMPER: Woah woah woah
man. Babylon's is coming man.

TOM: Babylon, he come.
Babylon meant cops.

And he goes: I think
they come after you now.

At that point I knew that battle
was lost and that was the end.

Simple as that.

Actually it was a huge relief.

I had no intention
of fighting it,

I just wanted it
over at that point.

ERNEST: As soon as he stepped
foot on American soil,

he was arrested by
federal marshals.

I felt vindicated that one
of the biggest people in

the business could actually
be successfully prosecuted

for their crimes.

By getting Tom, back
into the United States.

We had achieved one large goal
in the overall investigation

and that was: getting Tom
out of circulation,

and into our custody.

I was elated. We got
him, we finally got him.

TOM: There was no question I
made a lot of bad decisions.

I should've just
stayed in the US.

I should have never
even went to Belize.

It wouldn't have put my wife
through all that stress.

And not a day goes
that I don't regret

Penny having to go through
all that stuff.

For that I'm deeply
deeply sorry.

The toll that something like
that takes on you is a lot.

I think that's probably why
Penny and I aren't married.

It destroyed
our marriage, basically, yes

and that's terrible.