In the Name of Corruption
Mark Pruter
Copyright 2011 by Mark Pruter
Smashwords Edition
In September of 2009, two American bail bondsmen, James Scofield and Bradley Taylor along with their company boss, Thomas Pringle boarded a jumbo jet at the LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California in route to Panama.
James a twenty three year old Los Angeles native (a student and still living at home with his parents) welcomed the challenge of this mission to Panama. He stood 5’7” possessed brown, almost black, eyes and enjoyed karate and sports more than he enjoyed women. His strong beliefs and strong moral character filled his life with integrity and he gave service to all. He is fluent in his mothers native tongue of Spanish and thus was chosen for this adventure.
Bradley, a little over 200 pounds, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, loved to work out and exercise on a daily basis. Born and raised in Queens New York, he grew up in a strictly minority based neighborhood. He had a large and humble family and he knew the value of hard work. He was always doing the right thing to please his parents. He was an undergrad, and had a full time job. He had a busy and promising life ahead of him.
Thomas, a father of three, stood at 6’ 2”, was 220 pounds and sloppy around the edges. Thomas owned a bail bonds company. He was the type to fall for the “get rich quick” schemes and always had a borderline illegal and shady way of doing his business. He strived to be a an honorable man, but always seemed to take the easy way out. This brought many conflicts between him and his wife. They constantly fought and were always happier when Thomas was traveling. Thomas was the one who hatched the idea of the Panama adventure.
The individual that the three Americans were seeking was one Juán Humberto Frías, a convicted child molester. He had done unspeakable things to minors, believing he was untouchable. He skipped bail and fled to his home country to escape the American Justice system.
Their flight plan consisted of a direct flight to Miami followed by a seven hour layover, which was more than enough time for them to rehearse their duties. Upon arriving in a third world country, each of them were anxious and dealt with their emotions as the anticipation built and the plane was landing. On final descent to Tocumen International Airport, the team realized that this is it; they would soon be on unfamiliar ground and well on their way with their mission.
Upon arriving in the fast-paced country of Panama, they found adequate lodging at the Hilton hotel, and then proceeded to contact the chief of the local police department by phone. They arranged a meeting for the following morning at eleven o’clock at police headquarters.
Morning arrived with an amazing sunrise. The three men were upbeat and positive as they sat on the patio of the hotel drinking orange juice and eating eggs and toast. They planned their day, confident that they would be back on American soil by the following day. Not having rented a vehicle, the slightly dubious trio hailed a taxi which would take them to their meeting. With pertinent and necessary documents, James and his partners entered a dirty, white, early model Renault taxi, which seemed to be mechanically unsound. James and Bradley took positions in the rear seat with their boss Thomas seated shotgun. Unaffected by the congested traffic and numerous other obstacles encountered in the unmarked city streets, the cool, calm and collected taxi driver delivered them safely to their destination in about fifteen minutes.
Soon after they had exited the taxi, James realized that he had left the vital documents pertaining to Frías’ arrest in the backseat. He immediately hailed another taxi that took them back to the hotel where they initially hailed the first taxi. They searched hastily for the first taxi with no luck- they all looked the same. Suddenly, James spotted the vehicle a few blocks down the street. He broke out in a full sprint towards the parked taxi. With his fluent Spanish he began to tell the driver of his problem. The Panamanian said, “Your very lucky my friend,” and motioned to the back seat where the documents were still lying. James quickly tore open the rear passenger side door and snatched up the papers. With a sigh of relief he thanked the driver and returned to where his partners were waiting. James, Bradley and Thomas then departed once again for the police headquarters. The three very professionally dressed foreigners approached a police outpost where they found five heavily armed police officers.
As James approached, he pulled back his suit jacket in a manner that would expose his bail bondsmen badge. One of the officers began to question the men regarding citizenship, type of law enforcement, and nature of their visit. After the officers were satisfied with their answers, two of the officers escorted the men to the main entrance doors where then they entered and told them to have a seat and wait for the police chief to greet them. After several minutes the police chief arrived and directed them to his office. They discussed Juán Humberto Frías and the chief stated that he had obtained an address that Frías has been known to reside. The chief offered to have two of his detectives escort the Americans to a residence of a known family member of Frías’. At the conclusion of the meeting, the small posse departed police headquarters in a red, four door Nissan mini truck and headed for Frías’ residence. The path they traveled, was a dirt road with patches of cement in random spots. The neighborhood was filled with bungalows, huts and three walled cement structures. There were more of these than there were actual houses.
They all arrived at the Frías’ place and after repeatedly knocked on the door and announced who they were. No response. They determined that either the structure was vacant or that the individuals inside were too frightened to open the door. Disappointed, the bail bonds men and detectives hit the surrounding streets to search for Frías. They knew that a man on the run could resort to living in the most decrepit of places. This would mean searching in some of the most undesirable spots including secluded highway underpasses, thick overgrown backyards and rundown remnants of once thriving neighborhoods. They searched the hot, humid climate for hours with no results. They ignored their chapped lips and sunburned skin, and decided to continue their vigorous search till well after midnight. As planned earlier, they returned to Frías’ residence via the same Nissan truck. After approximately ten minutes of standing outside the front door, a woman answered and the Americans and two police detectives went inside. They encountered two females and one male family member. The place was very small. It consisted of one room, which acted as the kitchen, living room and bedroom. They claimed to have no idea as to the whereabouts of Mr. Frías. These individuals were also very skeptical when James told them about the facts of Juán’s case, and about the authenticity of all the parties involved.