DRAGNOV SNIPER RIFLE 10 12MM SHOTGUN RUSSIAN TYPE 10

The arms would be flown in from Ukraine on a Russian An- tonov cargo plane, a favorite of international arms dealers. Klaussen prepared a security force of a hundred men to guard the plane’s unloading. At the last minute, the pilots balked at the size of the runway and canceled the flight.

To Klaussen, Le Roux’s ideas were growing more erratic and grandiose by the month. Le Roux wanted to make roomfuls of money in Somalia, he told Klaussen, boxes of cash so voluminous that they wouldn’t be able to store them. He wanted to control his own country, so he could operate with complete freedom. Ulti- mately, it wasn’t just profits he wanted, but power unfettered by any government. “He wanted to be the king of his country, that was his major dream,” Klaussen said. “The big man. Sitting on his fat ass behind a giant desk in his palace.”

Klaussen could never understand why Le Roux couldn’t just stick to the plan. “He would have made millions and millions of dollars every month in Somalia legally,” he said. The tuna business really was there for the taking. And after that there was oil: De- cades before, American oil companies had prospected in a more stable Somalia, believing that it had significant oil reserves to ex- ploit. They’d fled after the overthrow of the country’s pro-American dictator in 1991, and Le Roux claimed to have come into possession of coordinates indicating where the Americans had drilled. There could be untold riches under the ground that Southern Ace, with its protective force, would be uniquely positioned to liberate. Le Roux purchased a small drilling rig and had it shipped to Somalia. When Klaussen and his men tried it, they discovered that he’d bought one insufficiently deep to strike oil.

Klaussen was beginning to realize that Le Roux’s appetites were too great to be satisfied by long-term returns. “He didn’t have the patience,” Klaussen said. “It had to happen now. Not next year, not in six months. No. Now.”