that Le Roux had sent between $225 million and $275 million into the United States, just to cover wholesale drug costs and commissions, which means his revenues could be multiples of those numbers. (See USA v. Berkman, Docu- ment 952–1, August 17, 2010, at 30.) Le Roux himself would later estimate his lifetime profits at $300 million, a number that investigators and employees alike believed wildly underrepresented his earnings. (USA v. Hunter, Docu- ment 580, April 5, 2018, at 555.)

48 roughly the same as Facebook: In 2007, Facebook’s revenues were $153 mil- lion. In 2008, they were $272 million. From Facebook Inc., Form S-1, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 1, 2012.

48 $50 million in cash: Interview with Kent Bailey.

CHAPTER 6

49 had a reputation for looking the other way: See, for example, United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Money Laundering and Financial Crimes,” March 2010, at 119; and Clifford Lo and Alex Lo, “Police, Customs Probe Record Pile of Dirty Money,” South China Morning Post, February 22, 2011.

49 fifty-year-old Canadian: Details of McConnell’s involvement, unless otherwise noted, derive from interviews with McConnell, filings in USA v. Berkman, and other members of Le Roux’s organization.

50 local subsidiary of Metalor: For further discussions of Metalor’s role in the money-laundering scheme, see HKSAR v. Gavish and HKSAR v. Shulman.

50 McConnell didn’t inquire: “My job was to move it from the secure locations,” he said.

50 British ex-soldier named Dave Smith: I was unable to interview Smith, for reasons that will become clear later.

51 gotten his start . . . provided security: Lachlan McConnell LinkedIn page.

51 Smith left the company under acrimonious circumstances: Interviews with both Lachlan McConnell and the Manila-based security contractor identified hereafter as Patrick Donovan.

51 hailed from Northern Ireland: Interview with Patrick Donovan; interview with anonymous former member of Le Roux’s organization, now incarcer- ated.

51 fighting in the Falklands War: Interview with Tim Vamvakias.

51 he surfaced in Liberia: Details of Smith’s work in Liberia derive from Johnny Dwyer, American Warlord: A True Story (Vintage, 2016), 105–14. “You really shouldn’t be here,” Smith once told Chucky Taylor’s teenaged American girl- friend. “You shouldn’t be mixed up with these people.” Smith helped Chucky Taylor build a training facility and firing range for his squad, and declared to new recruits that they would turn them into an elite SWAT team.

52 a 2004 story on contractors: Tucker Carlson, “Inside the (Not So) Secret Armies of Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Esquire, March 2004.