A PEEK UNDER THE HOOD

Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Pevarnik highlights a methodical 1990s investigation into drug-related crime in a Massachusetts neighborhood.

The author writes that, in 1994, he was stuck in an office on a weeklong administrative assignment when he took an unusual call: A Royal Canadian Mounted Police corporal had worked with a Vietnamese informant who was willing to help the DEA. The man, who’s called “Lanh” in the text, had been a great help in Ontario until multiple death threats forced him to relocate to Worcester, Massachusetts. His first act for the DEA was arranging an undercover purchase of crack, as well as a handgun, from an auto body shop owner in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood. Lanh developed such a good reputation as a buyer that other dealers (from other auto shops) approached him, and he got other agents involved in what the agency called Operation Tune-Up. The DEA had its sights set on bigger fish, and the investigation expanded to other states, Puerto Rico, and foreign countries. The author’s pithy prose drops readers right at the start of the investigation and draws them in with succinct, informative prose featuring illuminating, playful comparisons; a tiny, bagged sample of Colombian heroin, for instance, is said to be akin to a supermarket’s “toothpick speared” samples, and the sight of spectators swiveling their heads toward a speeding car is likened to a tennis match’s audience. Pevarnik ably describes the apprehension of monitoring wired agents as they interacted with criminals, as well as the tense rivalries between law enforcement agencies and departments and between dealers. Lanh, however, is the story’s most riveting figure; his motivation was virtuous, as he was fed up with the destruction that drugs caused, and he skillfully handled exchanges with criminals, although his impulsiveness made Pevarnik nervous. The author’s wrap-up of the case is just as detailed as it is incisive.

An enlightening and exhilarating true-crime book.