Department of the Treasury
\nUnited States Customs Service
\nReport of Investigation<\/center><\/p>\n
Record Access Code: [information withheld]<\/p>\n
Title:
\nREV. JAMES W. JONES
\ndba [doing business as]
\nPEOPLES TEMPLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
\n1859 Geary
\nSan Francisco, California<\/p>\n
Date of Report: AUGUST 26, 1977
\nFile Number: [information withheld]
\nCustoms District: [blank]
\nPeriod of Investigation: February 2, 1977 to present
\nSte of Assignment: February 28, 1977
\nCase Status: [\u201cOpen\u201d box checked]
\nViolation: [blank]
\nCharacter of Investigation: Allegations of Neutrality & Currency Evaluations
\nOffice of Origination and Related File Number(s): [information withheld]
\nSynopsis:<\/p>\n
Predicated upon allegations made by [name withheld], this investigation was commenced in February of this year. Cooperation of various Federal and local law enforcement was solicited.<\/p>\n
The body of the report and cumulative Exhibits 1 and 2 contain published and sworn to allegations and photographs of JONES\u2019 compound-type mission in Northern California which may be of interest to other agencies and is forwarded for INTERPOL and State Department information.<\/p>\n
Signature of Reporting Agent [name withheld]
\nApproved Signature [name withheld]<\/p>\n
INVESTIGATIVE DETAILS
\n[information withheld] JONES.<\/p>\n
Prior to this meeting [information withheld], I had met with an intermediary of theirs who had told a bizarre tale of the goings on within the church. These allegations were checked with a senior member of the Mendocino Sheriff\u2019s Department who acceded to their probability and acknowledged that the people who had left the church had cause for concern over possible physical harm as a result of their leaving.<\/p>\n
The following allegations were made at the [information withheld] meeting:<\/p>\n
2. That the weapons were subsequently taken to Guiana via chartered aircraft out of Miami. [information withheld]<\/p>\n
3. That funds in excess of $200,000 and $300,000 were seen in cash in one member\u2019s home.<\/p>\n 4. These monies are normally shipped via mail c\/o of Paula Adams<\/span> at the mission in Guiana.<\/span><\/p>\n 5. That JONES is an active supporter of both the Black Muslim and Black Panther organizations.<\/p>\n 6. That JONES had considerable political power, both in Mendocino and San Francisco Counties.<\/p>\n 7. That JONES had aspirations toward a political appointment to Guiana, possibly an Ambassadorship.<\/p>\n 8. That JONES was seen throwing tear gas into a demonstration in Guiana in 1975.<\/p>\n 9. That JONES would like to become a \u201cfactor\u201d in the Guiana government or power structure.<\/p>\n 10. That he has upwards of 27,000 acres in Guiana approximately 50 miles up river from Georgetown, whereupon he has his Agricultural Mission.<\/p>\n 11. That he has surrounded himself with a para-military bodyguard known as the Apostolic Guardians. Surveillance at the Redwood Valley, CA, Temple verified the presence of an armed patrol around the compound. <\/p>\n 12. That he had had an agreement with the Guianese government whereby all shipments to the Agricultural Mission would be labeled as \u2018farm implements\u2019 or \u2018used clothing,\u2019 and would not be inspected by local officials.<\/p>\n NOTE: [information withheld]<\/p>\n 13. JONES communicates from Guiana to San Francisco in code by short wave radio.<\/ul>\n On [information withheld] spoke at further length with [name withheld] in an effort to dissuade him from further association with JONES. Between the end of that meeting and the following Friday night, [name withheld] received a total of five letters revealing the substance of the talk [information withheld] and threatening reprisals to those who had spoken out.<\/p>\n Due to JONES\u2019 infiltration of the political structure in San Francisco, it was impossible to get a local investigation into the allegations of voter fraud, child abuse (including the use of electric cattle prods on children), sado-masochistic practices, welfare fraud, etc., started. It was then decided by [information withheld] to attempt to arouse interest via a team of investigative reporters.<\/p>\n As a result of this action, a continuing series of magazine, newspaper, radio and television articles and coverage has been given to JONES and the Church. Subsequently, investigations have been initiated by San Francisco and Mendocino counties.<\/p>\n JONES has retreated to Guiana and is apparently selling all property here and urging his people to come to the \u201cPromised Land\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Lookouts have been posted at Miami, Houston, and New Orleans for shipments destined to the mission in Guiana.<\/p>\n Included as Collective Exhibit 1 is a preponderance of the material printed since July 18, 1977, on this matter.<\/p>\n Because investigation disclosed allegations that JONES intends to establish political power base in Guiana, and that he may currently have several hundred firearms in that country, the above information is furnished to INTERPOL and the U.S. State Department for the purpose of alerting the British Guiana government to JONES\u2019 prior activities in the United States. JONES\u2019 method of operation in establishing a political power base is apparent from the attached investigative news reports. Since JONES demands unquestioned obedience from his followers, any such political support lent by JONES or his followers in British Guiana should be closely observed.<\/p>\n Political impact can be expected to become significant in the coming months as JONES shifts his church emphasis away from the United States. This shift in emphasis is readily apparent here in that JONES as a result of expos\u00e9 news articles has reportedly called for his U.S. followers to liquidate their holdings and come to Guiana.<\/p>\n The State Department Passport Office in San Francisco confirmed that they have been \u201cdeluged\u201d with passport applications from JONES\u2019 followers to travel to Guiana. Also, there are unverified reports several hundred members are currently enroute to Guiana, along with large quantities of supplies, description unknown.<\/p>\n This report essentially deals with JONES\u2019 alleged activity in the United States and his current emphasis in building his British Guiana base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Department of the Treasury United States Customs Service Privacy Act Disclosure Record Name of Individual: JAMES WARREN JONES Date of Disclosure: AUGUST 26, 1977 Purpose of Disclosure: [\u201cBackground\u201d box checked] Nature of Disclosure (Information Provided): Copy of Report of Investigation, [name withheld], dated August 26, 1977 Name of Requester: INTERPOL, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT Disclosure made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":13140,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18523","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18523"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18587,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18523\/revisions\/18587"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}