tual arrests. In the most famous 960 bust, DEA informants posing as members of the Colombian rebel group FARC helped lure Rus- sian arms trafficker Viktor Bout into a sting operation in Thailand in 2008. But at times 960 seemed to push the boundaries of what qualified as “narcoterrorism,” using elaborate fake terrorist plots to reel in small-time drug dealers on the other side of the world.

Le Roux was the real thing, however, a prime 960 target with intersecting weapons and drug operations that spanned the globe. In addition to its resources and international reach, 960 had an advantage over the Minnesota DEA. Brill and Bailey were working with prosecutors from the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Division, and after nearly five years, they still didn’t have Le Roux under indictment. Cases pursued by 959 and 960 often landed in the pow- erful and aggressive U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, headed by Preet Bharara. The office had extensive experience prosecuting complex international cases—including the conviction of Viktor Bout. Now Derek Maltz, the special agent in charge of SOD, began referring internally to Le Roux as “Viktor Bout on steroids.”

At first, the sudden interest at SOD didn’t sit well with Bailey and Brill. The 960 group could be condescending, to put it mildly, toward other agents’ abilities. To make matters worse, they were horning in on a case they’d once declined. Bailey had worked at SOD, after all, in the Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and Internet divi- sion. “Nine-sixty didn’t know shit about this case,” Bailey said. “When I was back there, I briefed those guys, tried to get them to take the case, to work the guns. Because that was truly outside of Kim’s purview. Because ‘That’s what you guys do and you’re good at it.’ And they are, like, ‘Oooooh, welllllll. That’s too hard, we’re too busy.’ But when you spoon-feed and gift-wrap a frickin’ case they sit back and say, ‘What took you so long?’”

After Le Roux moved his operations to Brazil, however, Bailey began to see the logic in letting 960 take on the challenge of cap- turing the man himself. “I’m the one that told Kim, ‘Let them do it,’” he said. “‘You can’t do all this; this case is too big. They’re