FBI: Tip, relentless pursuit led to Bulger

The hunt for Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was unusually intense and involved every domestic and international office in the bureau, USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson reports.

Update at 6:10 p.m. ET: A federal judge has ordered Bulger, 81, and Greig, 60, to be jailed until they are returned to Boston to face charges, the Los Angeles Times says.

Bulger, mostly bald with white fringe, mustache and beard, wore glasses and a white, hooded loose-fitting shirt to court this afternoon, the Times writes. When the judge asked if he had been advised of the charges against him, Bulger responded: "I got 'em all here, it'll take me quite a while to finish these."

"I know them all anyways," he said.

Update at 3:23 p.m. ET: Authorities say Boston mobster John "Whitey" Bulger and his partner, Catherine Greig, had been using the aliases Charles and Carol Gasko. Agents used an unspecified "ruse" to lure the man they believed to be Bulger from the apartment in Santa Monica and arrested him without incident, the Los Angeles Times reports. Greig was arrested inside.

Bulger and Greig lived in the apartment for 15 years and paid their rent in cash, property managers tell the Associated Press.

By Douglas Stanglin
USA TODAY

Original post: Tom Fuentes, a former FBI assistant director, says the hunt for Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was unusually intense and involved every domestic and international office in the bureau, USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson reports.

Bulger, 81, and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, were arrested Wednesday at an apartment in Santa Monica, Calif., after 16 years on the run. Bulger has been indicted in connection with 19 killings.

Their capture came days after the government launched a publicity campaign to locate the fugitive crime boss by circulating pictures of Greig on daytime TV and on billboards.

Federal authorities said they got a tip about the couple's whereabouts and arrested them near their apartment. They said the pair had substantial cash and a variety of weapons but offered no resistance.

"Although it may have looked like there was nothing going on from the outside, it was a non-stop effort,'' says Fuentes, who once ran the FBI's organized crime division.

Early in the manhunt, a tip that Bulger would arrive in South America at an appointed time sent U.S. and local authorities scrambling to airports in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro where investigators staffed surveillance posts for 24 hours straight.

"He was like the criminal version of Elvis,'' Fuentes says. "At one point, he was sighted on two different continents at the same time. The FBI pulled out all of the stops.''

Fuentes said the bureau maintained such an active interest for so long, not only because of the severity of Bulger's alleged crimes, but because of the fugitive's alleged involvement in corrupting law enforcement officials who allowed him room to operate.

"The whole case created some very hard feelings in Boston,'' Fuentes says. "Because of Whitey, a lot of investigations were thwarted. That made people pretty angry. It kind of became an effort by the FBI to get closure.'

Bulger and Greig will appear at a hearing around 2 p.m. ET today.