«¿Iban a sacar sus armas y matarnos a todos? ¿Así es como terminaba mi vida, en una ostentosa guarida de narcotraficantes en la playa de San Diego? ¿Me podría identificar Inez, mi esposa, en la morgue? ¿Qué pasaría con mi familia?»

Los capos a los que ayudó a encarcelar lo conocen como Roman Caribe -uno de sus tantos sobrenombres- y sus contactos del FBI, la DEA y la CIA como C. S. 96 (Confidential Source 96). Ésta es la impresionante historia de Caribe, quien operó y coordinó durante años una red de entrega de narcóticos en los Estados Unidos, provenientes de algunos de los cárteles más importantes y mortíferos de México.

Con un ritmo trepidante, estas memorias, escritas con la ayuda de Robert Cea, nos muestran cómo Caribe escaló posiciones entre los bajos mundos de la droga gracias a sus grandes dotes de negociador, hasta que un día es detenido transportando un cargamento de cocaína. A partir de ese momento decide colaborar con las agencias federales estadounidenses y se convierte en el informante más exitoso en términos de drogas decomisadas. A la par que Caribe rectifica su camino y lleva una doble vida entre despliegues policiales y arriesgadas operaciones, los peligros se multiplican para él y su familia hasta llegar al punto de casi perder el control.

Éste es el épico testimonio de un hombre que logró atravesar un camino de sombras, así como un retrato de la batalla que se libra en contra de feroces traficantes que asolan el imperio de la ley.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The men he put behind bars know him as Roman Caribe or one of the dozens of other aliases he has used undercover. His handlers in the DEA, ICE, and FBI know him as Confidential Source Ninety-Six, or C.S. 96, named for the year he confronted the sins of his life atop a massive drug distribution ring and flipped, becoming law enforcement's secret weapon.

In Confidential Source Ninety-Six, Caribe tells the extraordinary story of his transformation into America's most successful informant in terms of total narcotics seized--from the years of trafficking cocaine and marijuana across the U.S. for a terrifying drug lord, eventually becoming that man's number two, to his decision to defect and trade sides. In his first mission, Caribe set his sights on his onetime boss's brutal operation. In his next, he broke all protocol and made a daring foray into the notorious Fuentes Cartel, where he took down a family that was smuggling tons of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

As Caribe launched his career as a confidential source, finding his faith and seeking to finally do right by his stoic wife, Inez, and his four children, his marriage became stressed in new ways, the risks to his family unimaginable if he made a single mistake on the job. He found himself looking over his shoulder every day, knowing that with each drug ring or kingpin he destroyed, he made another dangerous enemy. For as long as he continued the high stakes work, he would survive on the cunning of his tradecraft and his ability to improvise in the most terrifying circumstances.

Unfolding in Southern California mansions, makeshift DEA trailers deep in the redwood forest, drug fronts in Spanish Harlem, fast-food parking lots where kilograms of cocaine and heroin change hands, and around the dinner table where Caribe began mentoring at-risk youth to help them avoid the mistakes he made, Confidential Source Ninety-Six is the epic saga of one man's quest to redeem himself and a thrilling look at the law enforcement battle that rages in the shadows of our nation.

Robert Cea es un exoficial de policía y detective de la ciudad de Nueva York que recibió 136 recomendaciones por valentía, coraje y acciones policiales meritorias. Es autor de las memorias No Lights, No Sirens: The Corruption and Redemption of an Internal City Cop. Actualmente trabaja como escritor y productor de series de televisión y proyectos cinematográficos.