David Farnor | On 07, Jan 2020

An adaptation of The Mastermind is in the works at Amazon Studios, reports Deadline.

The crime drama is being penned by Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917), based on Evan Ratliff’s The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.

The book tells the true story of the decade-long quest to bring down Paul Le Roux, the creator of a powerful Internet-enabled cartel who merged the ruthlessness of a drug lord with the technological savvy of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

It all started as an online prescription drug network, supplying hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of painkillers to American customers. Before long, the business had turned into a sprawling multinational conglomerate engaged in almost every conceivable aspect of criminal mayhem. Yachts carrying $100 million in cocaine. Safe houses in Hong Kong filled with gold bars. Shipments of methamphetamine from North Korea. Weapons deals with Iran. Mercenary armies in Somalia. Teams of hit men in the Philippines. Encryption programs so advanced that the government could not break them.

For half a decade, DEA agents played a global game of cat-and-mouse with Le Roux. Ratliff spent four years piecing together this intricate puzzle, chasing Le Roux’s empire and his shadowy henchmen around the world, conducting hundreds of interviews and uncovering thousands of documents.

The account of a crime boss built by and for the digital age will be turned into a series that is produced by the Russo brothers’ AGBO Films, Noah Hawley’s 26 Keys and Skybound Entertainment.

Skybound‘s Rick Jacobs and Sean and Bryan Furst will executive produce along with Hawley and Dan Seligman for 26 Keys and Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca and Lindsay Dunn for AGBO.

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