Spotlight: Snitch City

4.8 (488)
TRUE CRIME
SERIES

Spotlight: Snitch City brings listeners inside the clandestine world of police informants through the story of one police department. Investigative reporter Dugan Arnett uncovers rampant misconduct and explores how, in a nation addicted to drugs, police have become addicted to informants.

EPISODE 1

EPISODE 1: Officer Pastillas

On the docks of New Bedford, Massachusetts, whispers about a rogue police officer harassing fishermen and stealing drugs come to a head aboard a scalloping boat late one night. The officer forces his way on board, saying an informant told him there would be drugs on board, and demands some. But when another officer, Mark Raposo, shows up, he thinks his colleague is in the middle of a “drug rip.” Now Raposo is ready to blow the whistle on what he’s seen. And it turns out that this officer’s abuse of the informant system is just the tip of the iceberg in this historic port city. *Note: this episode was updated Mar 12, 2025, to include a statement from police that the Globe received after the deadline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

55 min
EPISODE 2

EPISODE 2: Blind Trust

Spotlight reporter Dugan Arnett receives a desperate phone call from an informant who’s now in prison. He says he's afraid for his life because other inmates know he cooperated with police. This informant always knew he’d be in danger if someone from his gang found out that he was a snitch. What he didn’t anticipate was being betrayed by police, including a New Bedford officer who shares information with a member of the informant's gang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 min
EPISODE 3

EPISODE 3: The Chief

Meet New Bedford’s police chief, Paul Oliveira. He’s had a hand in both of the stories we’ve already heard. And the Spotlight Team's reporting shows there's a dark backstory behind Oliveira's rise to the top of the department. Oliveira wrote the playbook on using informants. In this episode, a former New Bedford narcotics cop who worked alongside the chief for nearly two decades agrees to go on the record about everything he’s seen… and taken part in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

36 min
EPISODE 4

EPISODE 4: Cops & Robbers

When Frank "Rizzo" Simmons was a big-time drug dealer in New Bedford in the '90s, he went toe-to-toe with a drug cop named Paul Oliveira. After a major bust of Frank’s headquarters, Oliveira tries to turn Frank into an informant. But snitching goes against everything Frank believes in. This won’t be the last time Frank will have to decide if he should cooperate. But the next time, it’s going to be harder to stay true to his code. Because next time, he'll be asked to snitch on Paul Oliveira. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

42 min
EPISODE 5

EPISODE 5: “All this for nothing”

Two former New Bedford informants tell shocking stories. The first: a woman who didn’t even know she was being used as an informant by the cop she was sleeping with. The second: a man who was Paul Oliveira’s informant decades ago and who knows – better than anyone – how the police chief exploits the secrecy of this world. Spotlight reporters Dugan Arnett and Andrew Ryan try to get answers and accountability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

48 min
EPISODE 6

UPDATE: Case Dismissed

Reporters Dugan Arnett and Andrew Ryan are back in court to learn the fate of a case that has spanned eight years. In 2017, New Bedford police accused Steven Ortiz of being at the center of a major drug trafficking ring. But an officer involved in his arrest was sleeping with Ortiz’s fiancee while using her as an unwitting confidential informant. This case was what first brought Arnett to New Bedford. In the two years since he broke the story, one drug trafficking case has already been tossed. Now, an even bigger case hangs in the balance. And the outcome could bring a reckoning for police and prosecutors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 min
SEASON 1 TRAILER

Trailer

In a nation addicted to drugs, police across the country have become addicted to informants. Nowhere is this more apparent than in one New England port city, where police have been empowered to use informants to take down dealers by almost any means necessary. This is the story of a deeply flawed system, the flawed individuals working within it, and the injustices that can occur when no one’s watching. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 min

See All Season 1 (7)

4.8

out of 5

488 Ratings

Brave

1d ago

JaneBerlinH

Everyone involved in this show has giant massive balls! Much respect. They used their voice to actually say something. The truth. And this is the way it is everywhere- not just one city.
I NEED YOuR help please

2d ago

Marly Mar02

This was my sign to reach out. I’m from Miami Florida who was framed by leaving a 20 dollar debt in Sushi Sake and they framed me I didn’t have anything in my pockets until the 4 cop searched me then I was charged with possession. And I was telling them I was having a panic attack they didn’t care and the police just making fun of me Acting like as a criminal
WOW!

May 14

AVHa02740

Well, I am born and raised and still live in the Whaling City and can honestly say I am not surprised. Nothing screams guilty like signing your own permit request to destroy records. C’mon man. Seriously though, great podcast. I trust the Spotlight Team. I wanted more episodes.
Lacks investigation

4d ago

Msp629

So many of the things he says about CI’s is untrue. The word “CI” is no different than a witness. You can’t just do whatever you want because you have a CI. All the same laws apply.They need credibility, have to be named on a search warrant if there is no credibility. If it goes to a hearing the CO is revealed. And then to pretend criminal CI’s are victims of some sort so far fetched.

Spotlight: Snitch City brings listeners inside the clandestine world of police informants through the story of one police department. Investigative reporter Dugan Arnett uncovers rampant misconduct and explores how, in a nation addicted to drugs, police have become addicted to informants.