Everything we want, even the biggest shit, is available in Iran. And there's no questions asked. They will deliver to us anywhere, in any Muslim country, anywhere in the world. Like Indonesia, for example. But we need to fetch up there with a general or some fucking lieutenant from an African country and they front the deal, you know?" Klaussen nodded along. "I'm telling you, my friend, everything you want. Even shit the Russians won't sell us, we can get from them. Fucking seven-meter-long rockets, if you want, the size of this room, you know what I'm saying? They don't give a fuck." At moments, Le Roux almost seemed to be enjoying himself. "Everything is sweet, everything is sweet," he said at one point, a look of satisfaction crossing his face.

Finally the conversation turned to the Colombian cartel boss they were about to meet. "We basically have our talk, I introduce you to him," Klaussen said. "I call him Pepe. Because in Spanish that stands for boss. Just, uh, play a little bit the game, you know. He's very respectful, so I want to be respectful to him as well."

"Yeah."

"You will see. You will like the guy. I don't want to make any comparisons, but he's similar, handling business like you do. Just straightforward, no bullshit."

"Just remind me, what was the trade again?" Le Roux said, closing his eyes and dropping his head. "I forget, there's so many fucking deals." He wanted as much cocaine as the Colombians were willing to give him, but the drug deliveries had to happen offshore. "It's better if a boat never pulls into port," he said. "You know the Americans, they are not on the ground. But they are al- ways looking, you know what I'm saying? Always."

Finally, the meeting wound down as they made arrangements to meet the Colombian at his hotel that afternoon. Before they said goodbye, Le Roux had one more question.

"We need somebody to do a fucking—is there a laundry service here?" Le Roux asked, lifting up a bag of clothes. "These fuckers charge crazy money. It's like two bucks for a shirt and shit here. I'm cheap, dude." For years, Klaussen would be unable to shake