Outlaws Inc.
Flying With the World's Most Dangerous Smugglers
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4.3 • 8 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
In the world's most dangerous trouble spots, a small band of men risk their lives to fly in desperately needed aid. But they are not heroes. Their giant ex-Soviet cargo planes are also riddled with secret compartments, which they fill with drugs, guns, money or people. They deliver anywhere, and they rtake their cut. But they pay a heavy price, many losing their lives to gun-toting pirates, terrorists, hostile state forces, jealous competitors and alcohol.
In Outlaws Inc. Matt Potter follows their incredible story around the world. He discovers a secret society of mercenaries, dictators, agents, gangsters, businessmen and real-life Bond villains. Updated for the paperback edition, this story is the stuff of spy thrillers and action movies, but all the more terrifying for being true.
'Outlaws Inc. is an explosive read, full of heart-thumping excitement and brilliant detective work which shines a light into the darkest corners of the world' Sean Rayment, author of Bomb Hunters
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
One of globalization's seamier corners the shadowy network of Russian aviators flying rattletrap cargo planes full of contraband to the world's hellholes is poked with a stick in this colorful expos -cum-adventure story. BBC correspondent Power flies along with "Mickey" and his crew of Soviet Air Force vets in their Ilyushin-76 transport plane, a model prized for its secret cargo holds that customs officials never check. The crew and their ilk go everywhere there's money to be made, legal or not: they transport building supplies, generators, and heroin in Afghanistan, humanitarian aid and blood diamonds in Africa, cocaine in Latin America, and arms almost everywhere. It's a story rife with ironies the same flight, the author notes, could carry U.N. food for refugees and Kalashnikovs for the militias who destroyed their homes which Potter traces upward to the hypocrisies of financiers and governments. But the book's heart is his vivid, atmospheric reportage on the hungover flyboys who subject their planes held together more with duct tape than rivets to potholed airstrips, crazed aerobatics, and ground fire. Through the dissolute romanticism peeks an arresting glimpse of an airborne proletariat desperate for a risky paycheck. 8 pages of b&w photos.
Customer Reviews
Great book, incomplete ebook
Excellent book but the ebook edition doesn’t seem to include the pictures credited at the end.