Cobra (novel)

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Cobra (orig .: The Cobra ) is a novel by Frederick Forsyth that was published by Bertelsmann Verlag in 2010 . The theme of the novel is the fight against the fictional Colombian drug cartel "Hermandad" (brotherhood) of Don Diego Esteban, which has a monopoly in the cocaine trade . Main characters are Paul Deveraux and Cal Dexter, which already in Forsyth work "The Avengers" have occurred. However, this novel is not actually a sequel.

action

The action begins in 2010. An African-American teenager dies in a run-down district of Washington on an overdose of cocaine. He is the grandson of a White House employee . The president then commissions a study to show whether the fight against the cocaine mafia can be won. The now retired CIA agent Paul Deveraux, alias "Cobra" , is commissioned with the study . He comes to the conclusion that he can indeed defeat the cartels, provided he is given the appropriate financial resources and powers. The President can win his British counterpart to cooperate and instructs Deveraux to start the operation. Deveraux asks the Vietnam - veteran and ex- bounty hunter Cal Dexter, who was his opponent in the "Avengers" yet to cooperate. He is the only man who has ever outwitted Deveraux. Dexter agrees to assist.

The Colombian cocaine is transported in a few large shipments by sea and land to Central America and West Africa . From there it is smuggled to the United States and Europe via middlemen and in many small individual transports. Deveraux's plan is to intercept the transports before the middlemen take over. To do this, the transport ships or aircraft must first be identified.

Two drones type Global Hawk (named "Michelle" and "Sam" , according to the women of the two heads of state involved) monitor the Caribbean and the northern coast of Brazil .

Through a tip from a Colombian clergyman, Deveraux learns of the existence of a welder who equips merchant ships with secret compartments in which the cocaine is smuggled. The welder is arrested by US intelligence officials and reveals the names of the ships he has prepared. The images of the ships are fed into the Global Hawks, which are now able to identify and report smuggling ships.

Deveraux also found out through the Global Hawks that numerous small planes take off from an airport in the Brazilian jungle for West Africa.

By chance, Deveraux learns that the lawyer of the drug lord Don Diego Esteban regularly travels to Madrid to deliver letters to and receive letters from a young woman. It turns out that the woman is Letizia Arenal, the secret daughter of Roberto Cardenas, a close associate of Esteban. Cardenas is responsible for recruiting and paying corrupt customs officials. Deveraux places a decoy on Arenal to get them on a flight to New York . Arenal is arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport : Deveraux had her 1 kg of pure cocaine smuggled into her luggage. Cardenas is blackmailed into revealing the names of the bribed officers.

Two former grain transport ships are being converted to provide space for command units of British and American special forces, speedboats and a helicopter each with which the drug transporters can be forced to stop. A prison compartment is also planned for the crews of the hijacked ships. A disused Buccaneer -Militärflugzeug is upgraded for the fight against smuggling aircraft and equipped with cannons. The Buccaneer base is Cape Verde . Under the guise of a US-sponsored flight school for young Cape Verdean fighter pilots, a secret hangar is being set up from which the aircraft can start its operations. If the Global Hawks discover a smuggled ship, the position is passed on to the Cobra warships. The smugglers' radio contact with the drug cartel is blocked by the drones. The ships are captured and sunk, the crew is transported to a secret prison on an island south of India. After being identified by the Global Hawks, aircraft are shot down by the Buccaneer. This gives the cartel the impression that the transporters, their crew and their cargo, have disappeared without a trace. Ships whose cargo the bribed customs officials in the major European ports want to wave through without inspection are searched. Large amounts of cocaine can also be secured in this way.

Don Esteban is suspected of having been betrayed by his middlemen and betrayed by his confidants. As intended by Deveraux, he unleashes a bloody war against the drug gangs of Europe and North America. Attacks and massacres cause a large number of criminals to die. But many uninvolved citizens are also among the victims. The bloodshed is going too far for the president. He orders the operation to be stopped.

Deveraux is frustrated with this decision. He secretly seeks contact with Don Diego Esteban and offers to return the confiscated cocaine to him. In return, Deveraux is demanding $ 1 billion to be able to lead an undisturbed life in a safe place. Esteban agrees. Deveraux gives Dexter the final order to destroy the seized cocaine, which is located on an island guarded by the US Army near the Bahamas. Before Dexter takes the order, however, he discovers that the cocaine has been secretly replaced with baking soda. He suspects Deveraux's intention and sends the Buccaneer on their last mission. She sinks the ship with the stolen cocaine. Diego Esteban believes he has been betrayed by Deveraux and has him murdered by his killers.

background

The historical background of the novel is the fight of the USA against the drug cartels. The Hermandad is fictional, but closely related to Colombian cartels such as B. the Medellín cartel ajar. The cultivation, production and transport of cocaine and the role that "drug states" like Guinea-Bissau play in this are also realistically portrayed .

reception

The novel was generally well received, although critics noted that the characters lacked psychological depth. The abundance of well-researched facts was praised.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zero Zero Zero. How cocaine rules the world. Roberto Saviano. Translated by Rita Seuss and Walter Kögler. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2014. ISBN 978-3-446-24497-9 .