Evan Ratliff

In Evan Ratliff’s absorbing account of Paul Le Roux’s criminal empire, I am reminded of another criminal trial that is presently wrapping up, and a couple of trials that ought to be but are unlikely ever to take place.

Joaquim “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, head of a deadly Sinaloa Mexican drug cartel sits in a Manhattan prison awaiting sentencing for murder, money laundering, drug trafficking, racketeering, and organized crime.

Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, may never stand trial for conspiracy to commit fraud in the transfer of his father’s real estate empire to himself and his siblings, for conspiring with a foreign power to undermine the security of the United States, or for conspiring to launder money for known Russian kingpins.

Advances in logistics, computer payment systems, and social media have made massive online fraud in the distribution and consumption of barbiturates eminently feasible for at least a generation. It was these systems which made Le Roux’s online prescription services a foregone conclusion and to some degree, virtually unassailable. Nobody will face trial for this: not the courier companies, not the managers of the Internet infrastructure, and as we’ve seen, not the social media companies that lure the eyeballs of millions of people.

The drugs Le Roux distributed under American law were not “controlled substances” at the time his business swung into full operation. The admittedly brilliant computer programmer used the infrastructure to climb into the stratosphere of the wealthy few.

This newfound power led him to even bigger crimes corrupting public servants in many countries, hustling methamphetamines out of N. Korea (most likely manufactured with the participation of the Kim family), originating targeted assassinations, and shepherding tons of cocaine around the oceans for the El Chapos of the drug world.

Whether the drugs are controlled substances or not seems to be beside the point. There’s something about our society that seems to be out of control, something that the wealthiest have figured out: that accountability and transparency have gone out the window.

Corruption is on the ascent across the globe. Vast sums of illegally acquired money and tax-sheltered money move across jurisdictions with the aid of bankers, lawyers, and border personnel. Dictators like Rodrigo Duterte assume power with a mandate to clean up the drug trade in his country so he takes the opportunity to assign death squads to mete out rough justice, but the biggest criminals remain hidden.

Le Roux’s saga changed dramatically when he turned state’s evidence in rolling up many of his employees and may walk out of an American prison in another ten years.

American prosecutors blurred their priorities enough to give Le Roux an exit plan. First they built a case to convict him of the initial online drug business, then they compiled a record of racketeering and mob-style violence, then another case of shipping controlled substances around the globe, and finally there is a case that he conspired with North Korea and Iran.

American law enforcement found a treasure trove of contacts and information in Le Roux’s cooperation, undoubtedly offering him inducements to stay onside, more than we’re ever likely to know, and enough to keep him from being criminally accountable on his international crimes.

On one hand you ask yourself: “Well, if El Chapo gets caught and sent to prison after all the drug smuggling, murders, and payoffs to politicians surely the world is a just place after all. With any luck he won’t escape a US SuperMax prison.”

But for Donald Trump the only exit will be at the ballot box. He has earned the biggest get out of jail free card almost no matter what he does next. There will be a lot of hemming and hawing but the next president will likely do what Barak Obama did and let bygones be bygones. Why? Because ultimately Americans believe the institution would take too big a hit to its prestige to indict either a sitting or past president.

As we learn in this story Trump is negotiating with a regime in N. Korea that not only is building a deliverable nuclear arsenal, but also manufactures massive quantities of methamphetamines bound for the US market. Trump’s bro-mance with Kim Jong-un is nothing short of disgusting.

It will be a similar logic to the “too big to fail” rationale taken to preserve US financial institutions.

The question remains “is it right?”

As we roll up environmental protections, human rights legislation, economic redistribution of wealth, and democratic protections around the globe not only is it wrong it risks dooming our society and civilization.

And yet I am a businessman in retail who suffers from an extreme form of accountability. When people leave my stores unhappy, as they sometimes do, a few of them leave really nasty reviews on Google or YELP. So before I begin criticizing seasoned US prosecutors I best settle up with my conscience.

This is a really complex environment in which to do business, even the business of the people. The prosecutors enforce laws written long before the electronic communications environment we find ourselves in today.

No wonder they had a hard time nailing Le Roux’s business.… (lisätietoja)

Very interesting book about one Paul Le Roux, criminal extraordinaire who ruled a vast and powerful crime empire for almost a decade and even managed to wiggle his way through the law when he was finally caught. He sold out all of his partners and it is still not clear what is actually his legal status.

What is especially fascinating is that Le Roux started with hi-tech setup for buying medications online. Of course this meant no regulations and as far as you pay you will get the product. But nevertheless, although this operation was in the gray, it was more or less legal and majority of people (except the management that worked directly with Le Roux and knew their boss is not legit in any way) actually thought they were working for legit online seller of medicines.

What pushed Le Roux into actual drug business, weapons smuggling and sales, hauling large quantities of gold around the world, diamond sales, managing assassination and mercenary teams is still unknown. Le Roux having very strange personality does not help - in the entire book not two people describe him in the same words. Only constant is very genuine fear of Paul Le Roux's retribution (whoever crossed him in any way did not have long life ahead).

I have to agree with one of the people author interviewed - it is very unlikely that Le Roux acted without backup and support of major international players. His scope of operations plus areas where his organization operated (Somalia, China, Philippines, North Korea, Iran) had to bring him into cross-hairs of international players and services.

But again this is something for which there is no solid evidence - only time will tell.

Recommended for all true-crime aficionados.

… (lisätietoja)

Another entry in "The Internet can really make crime a lot more lucrative, huh?" genre, with this being, in its own way, even more insane than [b:Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World|38743564|Billion Dollar Whale The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World|Tom Wright|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1534271010s/38743564.jpg|60319844]. While this does, so far, have a happier ending, the epilogue does contain the hints of a grim future foretold.

It's well written and breezes along. My minor quibble is that nearly everybody in law enforcement to whom Ratliff spoke seems to believe that LaRoux would have gotten away with his crimes if only he had kept a lower profile for a bit longer. Based on the sheer number of sides from which law-enforcement was coming at him, this seems unlikely. In a story about the inability of government agencies to cooperate, mostly, because of their need to be the most important, this would be an amusing irony if this was pointed out.… (lisätietoja)

This story reads like an unbelievable thriller-unfortunately all of it is true.

Paul Le Roux, an antisocial programmer, builds an internet Pharmacy goldmine that spans the globe. The money is laundered through purchases of gold and weapons and pretty soon this sociopath is the largest Crime Boss the world had ever seen. Le Roux pulls all the strings, a criminal genius who it took years to catch. For a decade Le Roux played cat and mouse with the DEA, every time he slipped away.

I don't get into details in my reviews-to easy to drop a spoiler-but I can tell you that this book is shocking in it's story, brilliant in it's writing and needs to be read by everyone!

This book caught my eye as I am a chronic pain suffer. I follow the news on the subject of the Opiate Crisis as I myself use pain meds. Without them, there are days I would not be able to function. I wanted to know, how and why did this crisis develop? How did this happen? The answer is Paul Le Roux, and unfortunately our own "ABC" agencies who waited too long, and screwed up in the end! I would bet that half of you, like myself, had never heard an inkling of this story.

Evan Ratliff spent over 5 years following this story across the world. It is a fascinating, and disturbing tale. This book should win awards this year, in my opinion.… (lisätietoja)