Free Web NovelI recalled the information about Max Walker written in the files Black Bear had handed over.
It said he joined the DEA because of his hatred for drugs.
His family had been destroyed by narcotics, and he had wandered aimlessly in his youth because of it.
‘It said he hated drugs.’
After joining the DEA, Max Walker volunteered for Colombia despite the possibility of dying there and spent years hunting Pablo Escobar.
In the end, he succeeded in killing Escobar, and afterward devoted himself to taking down another Colombian drug cartel—the Cali Cartel.
“What would I do? I simply wouldn’t.”
I shrugged as if I had nothing to regret.
At that reaction, Director Max narrowed his eyes.
“Really? Agent Ramos told me something different.”
“Agent Ramos’s position and mine are different. I just want to clean things up quickly and leave Mexico. I’m only here because of a promise. Otherwise, I’d never have any reason to get involved with drug cartels.”
“That’s strange. From what I know, Charlie... or rather Kim Muhyuk has connections with every East Asian mafia organization.”
“What exactly is it you want to hear? Earlier you said we should get to the point, yet now you’re circling around it.”
There had to be a reason the DEA Director had flown all the way to Mexico personally.
I had no interest in dragging out a pointless conversation.
Director Max smirked faintly while looking at me.
“My biggest concern is that you’ll use the committee to enter America’s drug business.”
“As if. Why would I take on that kind of risk? It’s not as though Chairman Carlos Slim lacked the ability to get involved with drug cartels.”
“Hmm.”
“The reason I created the committee is simple. No matter how large a cartel you destroy, another one immediately rises to fill the gap. Because for Mexican citizens, it’s the easiest way to make money.”
I wet my lips with the water in front of me before continuing.
“After you killed Pablo Escobar of Colombia’s Medellín Cartel and arrested the Cali Cartel brothers, did the amount of drugs entering the United States decrease? Answer me.”
Director Max merely moved his lips but couldn’t answer.
“You know better than anyone that it didn’t. The moment the Colombian cartels weakened, the Mexican cartels expanded as if they had been waiting for it. Isn’t it funny? Destroy one organization, and several more appear in its place. And the smaller those organizations become, the fewer means there are to control them.”
“......I admit that.”
Even though my words diminished his own achievements, Director Max accepted them calmly.
“But even ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) so, there should never come a day when we negotiate with criminals.”
“Really? Isn’t plea bargaining common in the United States?”
“Plea bargaining?”
“There are suspicions that El Azul orchestrated the deaths of DEA agents from behind the scenes, but there’s no evidence. Only testimony. But El Chapo is different. The volume of drugs he transports into the United States is enormous.”
“So you’re saying that in exchange for giving us El Chapo’s location, you want El Azul removed from the wanted list.”
At Director Max’s words, I curled one corner of my mouth upward.
“And on top of that, you also get Rafa’s life—the man the DEA hates most.”
I had decided to kill Rafa.
Director Max glared at me. freēwebnovel.com
“You’re going to kill Rafa? Not extradite him to the United States?”
“Yes. The Mexican government refuses to approve extradition.”
Director Max swallowed quietly and thought for a moment before speaking.
“Do you know why?”
“Well. I don’t know the details. The Mexican government agreed to remove El Azul from the wanted list, but for some reason they’re fiercely opposed to Rafa’s extradition.”
“I know why.”
His words startled me internally.
Outwardly, however, I maintained my composure.
“You do?”
“Only a suspicion. I have no evidence whatsoever......”
“Can you tell me?”
“That’s not the important issue right now, is it?”
Director Max shifted the topic back.
It seemed he believed he now held a useful card in his hand.
“I’ll ask again. What will you do if we refuse?”
“My answer remains the same. I’ll kill both El Chapo and El Azul. But whatever happens afterward won’t be my responsibility. It’ll belong to the DEA and Director Max for refusing this proposal.”
“Our responsibility?”
“Yes. The committee has already made promises to El Azul. If those promises are broken, who would ever want to join the committee? The committee itself won’t collapse, but things will move in a direction different from the one I planned.”
Director Max let out a low sigh and pressed at his brow.
After a long silence, he asked,
“Do you have alcohol?”
“What kind would you like?”
“Any whiskey is fine.”
I called Manager Ma and told him to bring drinks.
A short while later, Manager Ma set out whiskey and snacks before leaving.
Director Max filled his glass to the brim without even adding ice and downed it in one shot.
“This is good whiskey.”
Despite the compliment, his expression wasn’t bright at all.
“It costs tens of thousands of dollars per bottle. Is it to your liking?”
“Of course. It feels nice being served something this expensive. I usually only drink cheap whiskey.”
“I’m glad you like it. But can you really appreciate the taste drinking it that quickly?”
“People drink to get drunk, not to savor flavor. A man like me wouldn’t know good liquor anyway.”
Muttering self-mockingly, he filled his glass again and emptied it in one gulp.
“Charlie. Do you know why I hate drugs so much?”
“Roughly.”
“That makes this easier. I hate drugs, and I hate the cartels that sell them.”
So even if the committee existed to regulate them, he still hated drugs themselves.
I nodded slightly and met his eyes.
“I feel the same way. That’s why I exert some level of control to keep drugs from spreading into Korea.”
“I’ve heard a little about that. But you can’t control everything, can you?”
“It’s a business that makes too much money. No matter how much law enforcement and the mafia try to block it, there’s a limit. But at the very least, we can try.”
“That’s an idealistic statement. Korea can do that. America can’t.”
Bitterness lingered in Director Max’s voice.
He seemed to understand the flaws of America’s anti-drug policies better than anyone.
“I understand the reason better than anyone. Instead of focusing solely on cracking down on drugs, more attention should be given to rehabilitation. But reality doesn’t allow that.”
As expected of the head of the DEA, he understood the core issues of America’s drug policies perfectly.
Letting out a deep sigh, he poured himself more whiskey.
“For starters, drugs are simply too cheap in the United States. After the Al-Qaeda attacks, tightened security temporarily reduced the flow of narcotics, but afterward the amount entering through Mexico increased even more.”
Every market follows the laws of supply and demand.
The greater the demand, the higher the price.
The greater the supply, the lower the price.
“And now the supply has increased even further.”
“It increased even more?”
When I held out my glass, Director Max smirked and poured whiskey into it.
“Yes. The Sinaloa Cartel is pushing aggressively. Whether it’s to secure war funds or a final desperate struggle, I don’t know. The amount we’ve seized alone is enough for hundreds of thousands of users. And what we failed to seize is probably even more.”
I listened to him while sipping the whiskey diluted by ice.
After draining another glass, he set it down hard and looked straight at me.
“I’ll speak plainly. We accept all your conditions.”
My hand froze midway to my lips.
A fierce light burned in Director Max’s eyes.
“But in return, tell me your plan. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand it. No matter how this ends, there’s nothing for you to gain.”
“My plan? Agent Ramos should’ve already told you everything.”
“Isn’t Ramos your man?”
Sharp.
Perhaps that was why he’d become Director of the DEA in the first place. freёwebnovel.com
He seemed to have already noticed Ramos’s change of allegiance.
“I’ve seen people like Ramos countless times during my time in the DEA. Just by analyzing an agent’s behavior and the information coming in, you can get a rough idea.”
“Well, since you already know, I’ll be honest. After El Chapo dies, Ramos will leave the DEA. Then he’ll become an advisor to the committee and help control them. In my place.”
“So in the end, the committee will move exactly how you want.”
“No. I simply want to prevent them from running wild. Once the Sinaloa Cartel disappears, there won’t be any organization left capable of keeping the committee in check.”
Director Max nodded.
“Then this becomes much easier. Let me join that arrangement too.”
Without realizing it, I frowned.
I couldn’t understand his intentions.
“What exactly do you mean by ‘join’?”
“I’m asking you to help me gain influence over the committee.”
“The Director of the DEA—the spearhead of anti-drug policy—wants to directly involve himself in the drug trade?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I only want to control the amount of drugs entering the United States.”
“Do you think people would believe that?”
At my question, Director Max answered in a voice more serious than ever.
“Even if it ruins my reputation, I want to control the amount of drugs entering America.”
“Even if the Mexican cartels reduce supply, organizations from other countries will just fill the gap.”
“They probably will.”
“And despite that, you’d still risk becoming a criminal if this is exposed?”
Director Max seemed far more sincere about eradicating drugs than I had imagined.
“Charlie. You don’t understand, do you?”
“Honestly? No. Why would you do something that brings you no benefit at all? Especially when it’s something that could already be coordinated through Ramos.”
“How much do you trust Agent Ramos?”
I smiled faintly at Director Max’s question.
“I don’t trust people.”
“Neither do I. That’s why I want that authority shared with me.”
“And what do I gain from it?”
“As I said earlier, all of your demands. I’ll give you everything related to the committee. I’ll personally handle negotiations with Washington as well.”
The conditions were suspiciously sweet, but there was no harm in accepting.
After thinking for a moment, I nodded.
“Fine. Then what exactly do you want?”
“I just need Ramos, your representative, to obey my orders.”
I stared silently into Director Max’s eyes.
His request was practically asking me to hand over the detonator capable of setting off the bomb I had planted.
“You’ll find me more trustworthy than Ramos. I won’t use the committee for personal gain.”
“Are you saying you’ll leave the DEA?”
“No. I’ll stay. This is something I can do while remaining in the agency.”
Honestly, it wasn’t a particularly difficult request.
All I had to do was place Director Max between Ramos and myself.
After thinking briefly, I called Ramos in.
The moment he entered the room, Ramos greeted Director Max before greeting me.
“Director. Have you finished speaking?”
Director Max ignored him and simply drank from his glass.
“Ramos.”
The moment I called his name, his eyes widened.
“Director Max will be giving you orders in my place from now on.”
“What?”
“That’s how it is. Just follow Director Max’s instructions.”
“Huh? Ah, Director, that’s not—I mean......”
Ramos stammered in panic.
It was understandable. His betrayal had been exposed in front of his superior.
But Director Max showed no agitation whatsoever as he quietly addressed him.
“Agent Ramos. I already knew you intended to leave the DEA and join the cartel.”
“......”
“I understand completely. I probably would’ve done the same.”
“Are you leaving the DEA too, Director?”
At Ramos’s cautious question, Director Max shook his head.
“No. I’ll remain in the DEA. Think of it as nothing changing from before. You’ll belong to the committee while simply reporting to me.”
Ramos looked toward me, seeking confirmation.
I nodded.
Letting out a long sigh, Ramos scratched roughly at his hair and answered,
“Haah....... I don’t know what’s going on, but if it’s the boss’s order, I’ll do it.”
“Then sit down too. We need to organize this properly.”
At Director Max’s words, Ramos sat down, and the three of us spent a long time discussing how the committee would be run.
