Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire
Feb 2019 · HarperCollins
4.6star
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About this ebook
“A scorching, hair-raising glimpse into a new kind of criminal who’s altogether terrifying because he’s altogether real.” —Dennis Lehane, #1 New York Times–bestselling author
With a foreword by four-time Oscar nominated filmmaker Michael Mann
Paul LeRoux was born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa. After a first career as a pioneering cybersecurity entrepreneur, he plunged hellbent into the dark side, starting up businesses that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of arms, drugs, chemicals, bombs, missile technology and murder. The criminal empire he built was Cartel 4.0, utilizing the gig economy and the tools of the Digital Age: encrypted mobile devices, cloud sharing and novel money-laundering techniques.
Nevertheless, LeRoux gained the attention of the 960 Group, an element of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, that had launched some of the most complex, coordinated and dangerous operations in the agency’s history. They used unorthodox methods and undercover informants to penetrate LeRoux’s inner circle and bring him down.
For five years Elaine Shannon immersed herself in LeRoux’s shadowy world. She gained exclusive access to the agents and players, including undercover operatives who looked LeRoux in the eye on a daily basis. She puts you in the room with these people and their moment-to-moment encounters, jeopardy, frustration, anger and small victories, creating a narrative with a breath-taking edge, immediacy and a stranger-than-fiction reality.
“An investigative masterpiece . . . one of the most intriguing and frightening criminals I’ve ever read about . . . A stunning work.” —Don Winslow, New York Times–bestselling author
With a foreword by four-time Oscar nominated filmmaker Michael Mann
Paul LeRoux was born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa. After a first career as a pioneering cybersecurity entrepreneur, he plunged hellbent into the dark side, starting up businesses that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of arms, drugs, chemicals, bombs, missile technology and murder. The criminal empire he built was Cartel 4.0, utilizing the gig economy and the tools of the Digital Age: encrypted mobile devices, cloud sharing and novel money-laundering techniques.
Nevertheless, LeRoux gained the attention of the 960 Group, an element of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, that had launched some of the most complex, coordinated and dangerous operations in the agency’s history. They used unorthodox methods and undercover informants to penetrate LeRoux’s inner circle and bring him down.
For five years Elaine Shannon immersed herself in LeRoux’s shadowy world. She gained exclusive access to the agents and players, including undercover operatives who looked LeRoux in the eye on a daily basis. She puts you in the room with these people and their moment-to-moment encounters, jeopardy, frustration, anger and small victories, creating a narrative with a breath-taking edge, immediacy and a stranger-than-fiction reality.
“An investigative masterpiece . . . one of the most intriguing and frightening criminals I’ve ever read about . . . A stunning work.” —Don Winslow, New York Times–bestselling author
Ratings and reviews
4.6
5 reviews
deborah elliott
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February 17, 2021
Describes the heroic efforts of DEA agents who captured this scumbag Leroux, only to reveal that he struck a plea bargain deal with the authorities and will not spend the rest of his life in prison. His records are sealed. The information he provided better be worth the terrible trauma he caused. Were my tax payer dollars well spent apprehending this scumbag so he could strike a plea bargain?
2 people found this review helpful
Bruce Nichols
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May 7, 2019
The amount of money these crooks make in the dark arts is dumfounding...and they kill with detached precision.
4 people found this review helpful
Patrick Carbone
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March 28, 2019
Suspensful. Well written
6 people found this review helpful
About the author
Elaine Shannon, acclaimed veteran correspondent for Time and Newsweek, is the author of the New York Times bestseller Desperados: Latin Drug Lords, U.S. Lawmen, and the War America Can’t Win, which served as the basis for Michael Mann’s Emmy-winning NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story, and its Emmy-nominated sequel, Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel. Shannon is a highly respected investigative reporter, trusted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, and an expert on terrorism, organized crime, and espionage. She is the author of No Heroes: Inside the FBI’s Secret Counter-Terror Force and The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen. She lives in Washington, D.C. You can contact her at [email protected].
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