Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA

Fans of The Wire, Breaking Bad, and The Godfather won’t be able to resist this heart-pounding—and true—tale of drugs, crime, and power, with real-life characters whose astonishing stories have never been told. Take Wei Xuegang, whom you might call Asia’s “El Chapo,” otherwise known as a “stone-cold genius with the mind of a Fortune 500 CEO” who “dresses like a strip mall accountant”—and is the world’s best player ever in the drug trafficking game. He operates out of “one of the most secretive places on earth,” the 12,000-square-mile Wa State, nestled in a hilly region of Asia that might be compared to America’s Appalachia. Determined to stop Xuegang’s criminal enterprise and bring respect to his people is Superstar, himself a former druglord, whose steely principles land him squarely in the crosshairs of the US’ War on Drugs as a DEA informant. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys here? The lines are blurry—but Patrick Winn’s sharp, riveting storytelling never loses focus.