Reddit reviews The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.

I ran across this online magazine series based on the book, The Mastermind, by Evan Ratliff. Amazon link, or check out your local independent bookstore or your public library!

Truth can be stranger than fiction, and to anyone wondering whatever happened behind the scenes that resulted in TrueCrypt being mysteriously pulled, this reporter's excellent work points to how and why.

Err, and also is a cautionary tale of how sometimes folks in the security community can be really freaken' weird when you look closer.

>Paul Calder Le Roux was once known online for helping build one of the world’s most significant pieces of encryption software, and then, in the mid-2000s, he poured his technical talents into an Internet pharmacy business, selling prescription drugs to Americans. That operation, according to the Department of Justice, earned hundreds of millions of dollars. Le Roux then directed his money into a broad portfolio of criminal concerns around the world: cocaine dealing, arms dealing, gold and timber smuggling, money laundering, and selling technology to pariah states. In the course of business, he’d arranged the murder of at least half a dozen people that I could name.

>For two years, I have been following the strange saga of Le Roux and the constellation of criminal prosecutions that surrounds him. I have traveled to the Philippines and Israel, connected with sources deep within Le Roux’s former criminal empire, and obtained exclusive documents revealing Le Roux’s background, his operations, and his cooperation with U.S. authorities.

>On March 10, The Atavist Magazine will launch “The Mastermind,” a seven-week series following Le Roux’s rise, his downfall, and his turn as a U.S. informant.

It's a longer series, but well worth the read.

https://www.amazon.com/Mastermind-Drugs-Empire-Murder-Betrayal/dp/0399590412

If anyone wants to know one of the people that contributed to this crisis, read The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.

It's amazing what one really smart person can do.