The Mastermind

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It began as an online prescription drug network, distributing painkillers worth hundreds of millions to American customers. This operation quickly evolved into a vast multinational criminal enterprise involved in a myriad of illegal activities. The scope included yachts laden with cocaine, safe houses in Hong Kong stocked with gold bars, meth shipments from North Korea, arms deals with Iran, mercenary forces in Somalia, and hit squads in the Philippines, all secured by advanced encryption that stymied government efforts. The mastermind behind this chaos was Paul Calder Le Roux, a reclusive programmer turned criminal mastermind, thriving in the digital landscape of the twenty-first century. For five years, DEA agents engaged in a relentless pursuit, only to find Le Roux slipping away time and again. It took exhaustive investigative efforts and a shocking betrayal from within his ranks to finally capture him. Upon his arrest, Le Roux made a deal to dismantle his own empire and implicate former associates. Award-winning journalist Evan Ratliff dedicated four years to unraveling this complex narrative, chasing Le Roux’s operations and his elusive accomplices worldwide, conducting extensive interviews, and sifting through thousands of documents. The outcome is a gripping, unparalleled exploration of a crime boss uniquely shaped by the digital age.