Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire – A Tech Kingpin, Cartel 4.0, and the Undercover Agents Who Brought Him Down

by Elaine Shannon

With a foreword by four-time Oscar nominated filmmaker Michael MannThe story of Paul LeRoux, the twisted-genius entrepreneur and cold-blooded killer who brought revolutionary innovation to international crime, and the exclusive inside story of how the DEA's elite, secretive 960 Group brought him down.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, using his extraordinary talents to develop a disruptive new business model for transnational organized crime. Along the way he created a mercenary force of ex-U.S. and NATO sharpshooters to carry out contract murders for his own pleasure and profit. The criminal empire he built was Cartel 4.0, utilizing the gig economy and the tools of the Digital encrypted mobile devices, cloud sharing and novel money-laundering techniques. LeRoux's businesses, cyber-linked by his own dark worldwide web, stretched from Southeast Asia across the Middle East and Africa to Brazil; they generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of arms, drugs, chemicals, bombs, missile technology and murder. He dealt with rogue nations--Iran and North Korea--as well as the Chinese Triads, Somali pirates, Serb mafia, outlaw bikers, militants, corrupt African and Asian officials and coup-plotters.Initially, LeRoux appeared as a ghost image on law enforcement and intelligence radar, an inexplicable presence in the middle of a variety of criminal endeavors. He was Netflix to Blockbuster, Spotify to Tower Records. A bold disruptor, his methods brought international crime into the age of innovation, making his operations barely detectable and LeRoux nearly invisible. But he gained the attention of a small band of bold, unorthodox DEA agents, whose brief was tracking down drugs-and-arms trafficking kingpins who contributed to war and global instability. The 960 Group, an element of the DEA's Special Operations Division, 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. Shannon takes us on a shocking tour of this dark frontier, going deep into the operations and the mind of a singularly visionary and frightening figure--Escobar and Victor Bout along with the innovative vision of Steve Jobs rolled into one. 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.Remarkable, disturbing, and utterly engrossing, Hunting LeRoux introduces a new breed of criminal spawned by the savage, greed-exalting underside of the Age of Innovation--and a new kind of true crime story. It is a look into the future--a future that is dark.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Terrorism, Audiobook, Biography, History

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2019

About the author

Elaine Shannon, veteran correspondent for Time and Newsweek, is the author of Hunting LeRoux (Michael Mann Books, an imprint of Morrow/Harper Collins), with foreword by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann. Other works: New York Times bestseller Desperados: Latin Drug Lords U.S. Lawmen and the War America Can’t Win, which served 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. Also: No Heroes: Inside the FBI’s Secret Counter-Terror Force, with Danny O. Coulson, and The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, with Ann Blackman. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Mishehu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very few notes. Amber waves of purple prose. Reams of dialogue (both internal and external), about which one must ask "how do you know?". And hook-line-stinker acceptance of what I can only assume was one of the bad-guy's self-serving "I never wanted anything to do with all this criminal stuff" accounts.

Neither a seemingly intrepid, nor a well informed or objective, reporter, the author is also -- by and large -- a paint-by-numbers writer. I have no doubt the story this book tells is, in the main, accurate, but it could have been told much better.

[Nick Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

about as bad as it gets. read the mastermind if you want to read about leroux, who is a fascinating character.

[Michelle Tackabery · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of how the DEA captured Paul Calder LeRoux and five of his hired mercenaries is fascinating. Unfortunately, this book botched it despite the author's access to the agents who set up the stings that delivered all six to the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

Apparently, director Michael Mann has bought the film rights to these men's stories, and Elaine Shannon has taken them and woven them into a screenplay. That's the only way to explain this work's terrible pacing and cart-before-the-horse narrative. Not to mention the liberal littering of hackneyed cliches and bad cop, bad cop dialogue. In his foreword, Mann calls Shannon's work a "script," not a manuscript, and to me that tells you what you need to know before you read this book. Although there are six pages of "notes," practically every word is suspect, especially when you learn that the tales of LeRoux's crimes are primarily coming from LeRoux himself, while he is testifying against the other men.

The chase kept me interested until the end, but be advised that you'll need to be very forgiving of run-on sentences, fragments, switching tenses, and poor editing throughout. I was frankly stunned that a Big 5 publisher would allow "Michael Mann Books" to print a title with so many dropped articles, abrupt and disconnected fragments, and sentences that sometimes contained more commas than verbs. I'm off to read Evan Ratliff's version of this tale, which I know was written by an actual journalist who tracked this guy when nobody gave a shit about him.

[Leftbanker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The creepy underworld of international organized crime is too bizarre to be fodder for films. A brilliant psychopath running wild with billions of dollars at his disposal and nothing in the way of a moral compass. I hope someone does the world a huge favor and kills this creep while he is in prison. I can’t believe the DEA cut a plea agreement with this guy. He should be in prison for the rest of his miserable life.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I guess it was my own fault for reading the serialisation in the paper - this didn't grab me, probably because I had already read most of the "good bits".

To be honest, I was glad to finish it.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what if Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos used his business acumen and drive for innovation to be a 21st story Bond villain? That's pretty much what you get with Leroux, a South African/Australian cryptographer who used is his skills to establish the Amazon for guns and arms.

Really cool story. As good as a Tom Clancy novel, with the extra kicker that it really happened.

[Andrew Tollemache · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read (and apparently possible movie) "HUnting Leroux" details the DEA led effort to track down this criminal empire builder that is supposed to represent the new generation of crime lord. Instead of being tied to his country/region of origin (South Africa) and largely built a global criminal empire on his laptop from his homes around the world. Using the programming skills and computer knowledge he acquired early in his professional life Leroux would serve as a broker of a variety of criminal enterprises. Starting with an internet pharmacy for opiods he branched out into gun running and then going large scale by dealing in North Korean meth and Iranian missile smuggling.
He only came to the attention of the DEA when he tried building a port on the Ethiopian coast to for the sole purpose of expanding his empire. Leroux's predilection for using a crew of mercenaries of varying competence also helped seal his fate.

[V.M Fourie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My cousins adopted son.

Paul was adopted by my cousin and I only met him once as a teenager who was soo good-looking and impressive then. Hard to believe what you are reading....yet it is confirmed truth. How does a young boy with a solid upbringing become such an evil monster I wonder. An amazing read thanks to ElAine Shannon.

[Tom Callanan]

While masquerading as a crime story or even a real life spy thriller, this book is important for a lot of reasons. It is the story of the successful investigation, chase and capture of the then No. 1 drug and arms dealer in the world, Paul Leroux, a Rhodesian by birth, but raised in South Africa. His criminal empire is more than impressive; he makes Al Capone look like a shop lifter. The real story is what he does with his money.

Making a fortune in the illegal drug trade has been done before and continues to this day and beyond, but what do they do with all that money? They buy arms, and not just pistols and rifles. They buy light and heavy duty military weapons, guidance systems for missiles and even nuclear warhead technology and they sell it to the highest bidder regardless of who that bidder is. Leroux sold missile technology to Iran and other rogue states. This is the real danger of the drug trade. It's not just wasted lives and street thugs. Guys like Leroux pose a significant threat to all of us.

[Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Paul LeRoux. Criminal Mastermind. Dark Internet Billionaire . Smart, violent, psychopath. The perfect criminal for the 21st century, brought down by the DEA. The book details how he was caught, through detailed reporting, from the inside out. It makes you amazed, and proud, at the dedicated men — there were no women in this book — of the DEA, who sprung the trap, and horrified at the intelligence and ruthlessness of the villain.

[Nicca Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. I highly recommend it.

[Boyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elaine Shannon writes a tense account of the rise of a new kind of criminal – one the leverages technology, visceral violence, always looking for new opportunities. Hunting LeRoux documents the Drug Enforcement Agency’s investigation into Paul LeRoux, a reclusive genius whose criminal empire spans drugs and arms smuggling worldwide. His ambition knew no bounds – he maintained a mercenary squad dedicated to making people disappear. He worked on developing missile guidance systems for Iran. Elaine compares him to an evil version of Elon Musk – a shark always looking for a new money-making opportunity unconstrained by morality. Elaine Shannon also portrays the DEA investigators that hunted LeRoux and highlights both their bravery and vulnerabilities. The story is compelling but lacks the depth to recommend without reservations.

The Good – Elaine Shannon succeeds in portraying LeRoux as charismatic (when he wants to be) but an amoral monster. She had great access to the DEA and provides compelling portrayals of the individuals in the 960 group – the unit that investigates DEA’s hardest cases.

The Bad - While the book does a good job detailing the investigation and is an easy read, I would have appreciated some more depth on how LeRoux built and maintained his empire as well as the investigation. More problematic, Elaine Shannon seems to have based the book on DEA and court documents – she clearly has great sympathy for their agents but that makes the book seem like an extended press release.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this title due to the nature of the beast that was being tracked. Paul Leroux. He was someone I was unfamiliar with however his back story of being an above average intelligence IT worker with a strong background in IT security and Cryptography interested me.

The story goes in to how he seamlessly delved in to the under world, his narcissism and sociopathic traits driving him to see how far he could go. In the end those traits were his downfall and will be again once he inevitably is finished with his trials.

His character was fascinating however the story was more on the level of a report in to how the 960 group went about getting him. On that level the reader for this Audible version of the book was perfect. Given that the author was unable to interview Paul Leroux explains the lack of detailed insight to the person, something I was hoping for. It might seem odd, but such things are fascinating to me about him like his interesting eating habits (he seemed to prefer very basic simple foods, a Big Mac over an artisan burger, when the option is presented). I also would like to have known more in-depth detail on what type of computer network and infrastructure he employed.

Overall, despite my bias, I feel this is a solid 4 stars rating. It's interesting and if you are into books about catching criminals this will not disappoint. The reading was well done and engaging and deserving of 4 stars for Audible as well.

[Emilio III · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a little of everything. On the one hand, it was like reading a Jason Bourne thriller. On the other hand, it was a bit like reading about a cartoon villain in the next Incredibles. The main antagonist in this story is so unlikeable, so depraved, that it made the book hard to get through at times.

There are plenty of psychopaths running around in society. The worst kind are those who achieve a level of power and wealth. Paul Leroux had started with honest intentions. There is plenty of money to be made from online pharmacies. But LeRoux wanted more, not that it took much prodding to move from legal drugs to those with more profit potential.

As LeRoux's empire grew, so too did his need for more revenue. So LeRoux branched out into other money-making ventures like arms sales. If someone deceived him, or if LeRoux suspected someone had deceived him, he had his hit squad dispense with the offender.

LeRoux's greed had no limit. It's what ultimately led to his downfall. The careful LeRoux let his guard down, blinded by the prospect of gaining even more wealth. In the end, it was a man with a conscience that brought him down.

The disappointing thing about LeRoux's story is that he did not face charges for any of the murders he orchestrated.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointed.

It's a bit anticlimactic - you expect it to be sort of like Michael Mann's film Blackhat, which is stoked by the fact that he writes the foreword. But overall it seems a bit less than gripping.

That's not to say that LeRoux isn't a compelling character. But he was clearly in ascent when the DEA catches him. And for all of his criminal talent, he's still hobbled by the fact that he doesn't have experience in certain realms, which leads him to hire guys to do his dirty work who might otherwise be nicknamed "Dumb and Dumber," notwithstanding the fact that they have guns.

Shannon does a good job building up her characters, from LeRoux, to his henchmen, to the agents tasked with catching him. But overall it seemed like a straightforward police procedural, and lacking in some of the drama you might expect when approached with the premise of a transnational, highly technologically savvy criminal kingpin. In reality, he's more like a sociopathic computer nerd with poor human resource policies.

[Alex Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Interesting and reasonably well researched book worth the read. Worth more than 3• but less than 4• generously given.

The problem is that the author never had direct access to her subject. A real shame, as this would undoubtedly have affected the dynamics of the book and brought us closer to solving the mystery of this fascinating character study.

As it stands, we are left with a sort of black box, a tunnel view of what seems to be an enigmatic character. Never quite getting a solid glimpse of LeRoux, we are left depending on the author's relatively limited imagination for unsatisfying interpretations of motives and simplistic hearsay concerning actions.

We are thus lead to the predictable and uselessly trite conclusion by the author that LeRoux was a dangerous, manipulative psychopathic personality that could have been a real bad-boy, if given enough time and lack of supervision and we, the good and decent people of society, are in big trouble if we ever let him out of his cage.

[Robert Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book describing the DEA's capture of a world class criminal genius whose activities range from drugs to firearms. Le Roux is an orphan child from South Africa with an early interest in computer technology. He rapidly moves into a world of multiple criminal exercises ranging from drugs to guns. He insulates himself to protect his identity and hires killers to avoid anyone who betrays him or anyone he doesn't trust.

I have a personal opinion that the DEA is gutsy and quick to move while other agencies ponder risks and work in the black hole of bureaucracy. That's also the message Elaine Shannon brings to her story. She dishes up a host of countries and governments that you'd really need a map to follow, but sails through it. She also glorifies the DEA agents that put this plan together and reading about their background is interesting enough to get the readers attention.

I think her prose is a little over the top and her admiration for the DEA is a little strained and I might mark her down half a star for that.

Still a great story.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought that supervillians could be real life? The subject of this book, Paul Calder LeRoux, aspired to be one, even buying an island for himself. He had a supergenius mind and lacked any moral qualms, and his motive was his love of playing the game and sticking his fingers into the various pies of gunrunning, money laundering, legal and illegal drugs, assassinations, but while he made a huge amount of money even that was not his goal. He loved challenges and loved to come up with bigger and better convoluted plots, simply because of mental compulsion.

All the same, the American DEA, with the cooperation of other nations' police forces, were able to finally capture and imprison him, partly due to luck but mostly due to their own cunning. Still, even in prison LeRoux would prove to be extremely dangerous, and though he lost an empire, he could be expected to create another if he ever gets the chance.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter felt weirdly familiar just because I've read Neal Stephenson's books that deal with settings adjacent to the titular criminal's milieux (think Cryptonomicon or Reamde), or know people who lived in them. It provided an interesting look at the process of amassing evidence against international criminals and how they're treated once they've been turned over to the US criminal court system.

However, I have mixed feelings about the DEA (massive illegal drug traffic: not good; the war on drugs, also not good) and was not tremendously comfortable about the way the author valorized them.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Paul Le Roux story is one of the most interesting, but this book isn’t particularly well written or well researched. Author was given very privileged access to sources, but doesn’t really understand the topic well enough to ask the right questions. The book is interesting for the mass market, annoyingly jumps around, and includes really over the top descriptions of routine things, presumably why it is going to become a movie, but neither this book nor Mastermind (the other one, more focused on Le Roux’s pharma ops in Costa Rica) are excellent as books. Still, worth reading; I just wish the primary sources, court documents, etc were collected somewhere with someone actually intelligent and informed about the topic writing summaries and linking directly to source material.

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you William Morrow for the free advanced copy for review!

Paul Leroux, a cyber security entrepreneur, turns to the dark side and becomes involved in organized crime. Smart and evading law enforcement, he creates a team to work for him that keeps him from stopping his illegal sales activity. Although I had never heard of Paul Leroux, it was an interesting read how he got away with so much and how many people went along with it. Thankfully due to informants and various other methods, law enforcement tracked him down. This was an incredibly informative read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of true crime and this was great!

[John Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cut above the usual true crime book. Obviously well researched although footnotes and sources are not always clear. Two comments. I believe the "criminal genius" theme is a little overdone. He seems to me to be a garden variety sociopath with too much money and time on his hands. In addition, although the guy has half a dozen murders under his belt and a string of drug and weapons smuggling capers, I would say his main crime against humanity is creating those call centers - thousand of jabbering autodialed phone operators simultaneously wasting their time and those answering the calls' time for years on end. Life in the dungeon is too good for him...

[Yuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting in that it covers multiple areas of the world and many different kinds of organized crime. The mastermind, Paul Leroux is an interesting and unique character but I feel like the book didn’t get in depth enough about how his organization was able to amass so much wealth and power and what’s behind his motivation to engage in all sorts of businesses. Despite detailed descriptions of lots of the characters in the book the authors often falls back on characters being complete sociopaths with simple desires for money and power when reality is rarely so simple. Overall an interesting book.

[Lisa Carlson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Time and Newsweek veteran correspondent, NY Times bestselling author Elaine Shannon shares the details of DEA capture of international criminal Paul LeRoux in Hunting LeRoux (pp. 351). This story is a bit all over the place and too long. The names of the some of the people involved have been changed because they work undercover and frankly, LeRoux is a creep but not that interesting. Or the writing doesn't make him so. I was rather bored and I should have been engaged. The author never speaks to him. The pictures in the book are high quality and follow the story.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true page turn! The brilliant unfolding of this story is the highlight that keeps you reading into the night! Unbelievable what goes on under our noses! Always amazes me how some people use their God given gifts for bad vice good! Great author, was extremely comprehensive with the multitude of players, schemes and other on goings that LeRoux had his hand in.

[Carol Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of a cyber genius who went from computer geek to criminal mastermind. He created a mercenary force of ex-military personnel to protect his growing enterprise of corruption. This account tells how an unorthodox group of DEA agents ultimately capture him and take down his criminal networks.

[Waffles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost dnf-ed this one,
Wow! How to describe the blandness of this book - both the story and the writing.

On the back cover are blurbs ofadvanceParaise from the likes of Mark Bowden and Don Wonslow.
I think this is why I finished it.
I want to read the book they read,
This wasn't it.
This was the story of an uninteresting sociopath told in an uninteresting way.

[Oli Turner]

#huntingleroux by #elaineshannon published in 2019. A fascinating insight into the realm of global criminal enterprise smuggling, arms, drugs, corruption etc. you can really see why this was the first book published by #michaelmann take a little bit of #Heat2, a dash of #Miamivice and a good chunk of #blackhat and you have this fantastic bit of journalism.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating behind the scenes look at the DEA operations to take down Criminal mastermind Paul Leroux. The scale of his crimes is unbelievable, and the amount of coordination and work between the DEA and other international agencies is amazing.

[A Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a page turner for me; a great alternative to a few espionage works I had been reading. The author explores the world of a master manipulator whose thoughts and behaviors create an objectionably new criminal "template" for the investigative and legal community.