NAT GEO Series, TRAFFICKED with Mariana Van Zeller airs PODCAST Interview with The Coronado Company Smuggler, Lee Strimpel & DEA Agent Jim Conklin

(Global Release) A few days ago the National Geographic TRAFFICKED series with Mariana Van Zeller released their supplemental podcast series with an in-depth interview with one of the key members of the notorious The Coronado Company, Lee Strimpel.

During the mid-60’s through the early 80’s the Coronado Company was responsible for smuggling hundreds of tons of Mexican and high-grade marijuana from Thailand known as Thai sticks into the US along isolated shorelines on the west coast and in Maine. This also included shipments of Middle eastern hashish from Afghanistan & Morocco.

The sophisticated operations of the Coronado Company was made up of a bunch of local surfers and navy kids from Coronado, and along with one of their high school teachers, together, brought in millions of dollars worth of weed into the country that fueled the Summer of Love and the liberating era of the 60’s and 70’s.

The Nat Geo series, TRAFFICKED with Mariana Van Zeller, features a variety of topics that are all underground and crime related. Her 2nd Season features an episode on the black market for marijuana that still persists, in spite of legalization. The production company, Muck Media, reached out to Lee for an interview.

Lee, along with a production company led by local San Diegan, Joe Balla and his CoroCo LLC, have been developing a limited series podcast and eventual series for streaming platforms all about The Coronado Company.

Many members of The Company are dead but Lee has quietly been working in Montana on a ranch for recovering veterans. “This is a tragic story of friendships and betrayal but we also had quite a life together before government informants ended it all.” Jim Conklin, the DEA agent who is also interviewed for the Nat Geo podcast admitted the same, “We rarely catch these guys unless an informant is willing to work for us.”

CoroCo LLC is actively conducting interviews with living members, family and friends of The Coronado Company. For more info about their project & series visit www.thecoronadoco.com.