ATF BAD BOY, LOU VALOZE: STOREFRONT ATF BAD BOY - LOU VALOZE | Page 8

LOU AKA SAL’S
Storefront Numbers
OPERATION STATESBORO BLUES WON
PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD’S
OUTSTANDING GUN CRIME INVESTIGATION
AWARD - A PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AWARD
GIVEN BY THE US ATTORNEY
OPERATION AUGUSTA INK WAS AWARDED
PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD’S
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING
GANG INVESTIGATION - A PRESTIGIOUS
NATIONAL AWARD GIVEN BY THE US ATTORNEY
OPERATION OPERATION
300
1K+
420 205
54 LBS 3 66 57 188
AUGUSTA INK
OF COCAINE
OF MARIJUANA
FIREARMS
CRIME GUNS
STATESBORO BLUES
FEDERAL
ARRESTS
OF VARIOUS
STATE
ARRESTS
FIREARMS
THE ONLY UNDERCOVER AGENT IN HIS
“There were so many violent guys we had
dealt with and it was time for them to be off the
streets,” Valoze says. “You always knew when it
was time.”
CLOSE CALLS
Although Valoze never had to draw his weap-
on, he certainly had his share of close calls.
During Operation Statesboro Blues, local de-
tectives asked Valoze to get a tattoo from a local
artist who was a suspected child molester and
see what he could learn. While he was there, a
federal firearms licensee whom Valoze had dealt
with on numerous cases walked into the shop
but thankfully didn’t recognize him.
Later, during Operation Thunderbolt in
Brunswick, a man Valoze had arrested years
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SOUTH
April | May 2018
earlier on Jekyll Island came into the storefront.
Again, he apparently was under the influence of
drugs and didn’t make the connection.
Two other moments in Statesboro stood out
as opportunities for everything to spiral out of
control.
One customer came into the store one day
under the influence and making threats, so an
agent made the bold decision to grab a fake gun
kept by the register and forcefully tell him to
leave. The man walked across the street and
called the police to report the incident, and
when the authorities showed up – unaware that
the store was an ATF front – the agents showed
them the phony gun.
Another night, a young gangster who regu-
larly made deals with the agents called to say
he had 10 guns to sell but never showed. A car
pulled up at midnight – closing time – and the
man jumped out holding a pillowcase full of
objects that didn’t appear to be guns. He was
sweating and nervous.
“He started saying, ‘You got the money?,’ and
we knew what was up,” Valoze says. “My partner
had his gun out, and he pretty much chick-
en-shitted out and drove away.”
HAUNTED
Valoze’s first book – he says there will be a
second – is centered on Operation Statesboro
Blues, which was the product of Statesboro Po-
lice Department chief Stan York reaching out to
the ATF for assistance in the wake of Operation
Augusta Ink.
Sal Nunziato opened a smoke shop called