HISTORY has announced plans to air the new fact-based drama series “Gangland Undercover,” which takes viewers inside a covert operation and chronicles infiltrator Charles Falco’s (Canadian Damon Runyan) mission inside one of America’s most notoriously violent outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Offering a rare look inside this historically infamous organized crime gang through the eyes of an undercover investigator, the series is based on Falco’s 2013 memoir, “Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America’s Deadliest Biker Gangs.”
Joining Damon Runyan in the cast are fellow Canadians Paulino Nunes (“The Firm,” “Haven”), James Cade (“Copper,” “Rookie Blue”), Don Francks (“La Femme Nikita,” “Hemlock Grove”), Melanie Scrofano (“Warehouse 13,” “Edwin Boyd”), Ari Cohen (“Small Town Murder Songs,” “Maps to the Stars”), and Patricia McKenzie (“Cosmopolis,” “Mirador”).
“’Gangland Undercover’ is a thrilling, crime drama that is a welcome addition to our exceptional lineup of original programming on HISTORY,” said Christine Shipton, Senior Vice President of Content at Shaw Media, in an official press release. “Brought to life by our stellar cast, this new Canadian series from Cineflix Productions cements the network’s reputation as Canada’s #1 entertainment specialty channel1.”
The series follows Falco’s three-year mission living a double-life as an ATF informant planted inside one of the most historically dangerous motorcycle gangs, the California-based Vagos – a criminal group involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering and murder. Falco initially took on the assignment out of self-preservation to avoid 20 years in prison on drug charges, but his outlook soon shifted, becoming a quest to achieve justice. Operation 22 Green, as it was known, ended in March 2006 with the arrests of 25 gang members.
Drawing on the wealth of material from Falco’s book, along with broader documented historical research of inter-gang rivalries, the series captures the reality of outlaw biker counter-culture: a world in which freedom is equated with the right to carry guns and trade drugs with impunity, a world in which respect can be earned through fear.
The six-episode series “Gangland Undercover” premieres on HISTORY Monday March 2nd at 10pm.
