351: Lou Calvarese and Melissa Fortunato – Undercover Wedding, Operation Royal Charm
FBI Retired Case File Review
Jerri Williams
4.6 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2025
⏱️ 103 minutes
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Summary
Retired agents Lou Calvarese and Melissa Fortunato review their undercover roles in Operation Royal Charm, an investigation that used an undercover wedding ruse to dismantle an international smuggling ring bringing into the U.S. illegal drugs, cigarettes, and counterfeit $100 bills, known as North Korean “super notes,” and conspiring to smuggle in weapons from North Korea as well. Task force members immediately arrested guests arriving in chauffeured limousines to Lou and Melissa's wedding.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to episode 351 of FBI Retired Case File Review with Jerry Williams. |
| 0:13.1 | I'm a retired agent on a mission to show you who the FBI is and what the FBI does through my books, my blog, and my podcast case reviews |
| 0:23.2 | with former colleagues. Today we get to speak to retired agents Lou Calvarez and Melissa |
| 0:30.6 | Fortunato, who review their undercover roles in Operation Royal Charm, an investigation that dismantled an international smuggling ring |
| 0:41.1 | bringing in to the U.S. illegal drugs, cigarettes, and counterfeit $100 bills known as North |
| 0:49.2 | Korean supernotes. The smuggling ring also conspired to bring in North Korean weapons. |
| 0:56.7 | The investigation incorporated parallel undercover operations, Operation Royal Charm in New Jersey, |
| 1:04.9 | and Operation Smoking Dragon in Los Angeles. A total of 59 individuals from around the world were arrested in 11 locations |
| 1:15.1 | in the U.S. A total of 87 people were charged. Retired agent Lou Calvarez served in the FBI for 30 years. |
| 1:25.0 | While in the bureau, he worked truck hijacking, organized crime, gangs, terrorism, |
| 1:30.9 | and surveillance. However, most of his career was spent undercover, successfully posing as a mobster, |
| 1:39.3 | contract killer, international weapons dealer, and drug dealer. |
| 1:47.6 | Lou received numerous awards throughout his career, |
| 1:53.4 | including the coveted FBI Director's Award for Distinguished Service. Lou appeared on CBS News with Katie Couric, |
| 1:57.5 | and his story and Operation Royal Charm have been featured on several true crime shows. |
| 2:05.2 | Retired agent Melissa Fortunato served in the FBI for over 23 years. She was assigned to the New York |
| 2:12.9 | and Cleveland Field offices. Her investigative work focused primarily on public corruption and white |
| 2:19.6 | color crime cases, and in the later part of her career, drug trafficking and domestic terrorism. |
| 2:26.2 | Melissa was recognized with the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service for her |
| 2:31.5 | part in a large-scale public corruption investigation. |
| 2:35.3 | She also operated as a crisis negotiator for 15 years and led the FBI Cleveland's |
| 2:41.8 | crisis negotiations team, successfully resolving many high-stakes negotiations, |
... |
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