Introducing...The Gas Man
Introducing...The Gas Man
It starts with a tip-off.
It’s the late 1980s and US Special Agent Dennis Bass is warned about a shipment of suspicious chemicals headed to a secret destination. So he follows the lead – and ends up stumbling into a global plot helping fuel a war. The main suspect? The Gas Man.
In the decades since, Special Agent Bass has been locked in an international game of cat and mouse with the man who supplied a dangerous regime with the chemicals to make weapons. Every time Bass thinks he’s got his hands on him… The Gas Man somehow manages to slip the net. And he’s still on the run today.
But after more than 30 years, could his past finally be catching up with The Gas Man?
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Reporter: Chloe Hadjimatheou
Producer: Claudia Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Narrative editor: Gary Marshall
Sound design: Hannah Varrall
Original theme music: Tom Kinsella
Original artwork: Jon Hill
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Full Transcript
It starts with a tip-off.
There were a number of red flags that made it suspicious.
It's the late 80s and Special Agent Dennis Bass is settling in for his first day in a new job.
It was meant to be the start of a quieter life.
No more late-night drug busts.
But then he gets a phone call.
A warning about a shipment of potentially lethal chemicals
heading to a secret destination.
We got a sample out before it left Baltimore and sent it to a lab.
So Special Agent Bass follows the lead.
And I said, if we just seize it, we have nothing.
He sets up a sting operation that uncovers more than he ever bargained for.
I'll see you next time. the lead.
And I said, if we just seize it, we have nothing. He sets up a sting operation that uncovers more than he ever bargained for, a global plot helping fuel a war.
When mixed on a one-on-one basis with hydrochloric acid, it becomes mustard gas. And he said, It was a chemical bomb.
And a suspect, the gas man.
He loved being... And he said, it was a chemical bomb.
And a suspect, the gas man.
He loved being this evil entrepreneur.
For decades, Special Agent Dennis Bass has been locked in a global game of cat and mouse with one man.
I said, listen, you'll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. A man who's still on the run today.
But this story is not about my hunt to track this fugitive down. Hello, Mr.
Valaschek. Hello, this is Chloe from London.
That's the thing. He's hiding in plain sight.
FBI and the Americans are stupid. They're stupid.
It's about a sharp dresser with a gold chain. An enabler who helped a regime create a chemical weapons program.
Individuals like that are extremely dangerous. If he had hung himself out, I wouldn't have lost a wink of sleep, believe me.
But whose crimes appear to have simply drifted away, right under everyone's noses. Forget these fucking human rights.
I hate it.
There is no human rights.
And I just want to look at them and I say,
look what you've done to me.
Now, so many decades later,
could justice finally be catching up with the gas man?
So, are you happy to start the interview?
John, I can tell you a story.
I'm Chloe Hadjimathay.
This is a new six-part series from Tortoise.
The Gas Man.
The series is now available to listen.
