In this gritty exposé, a firsthand look inside U.S. undercover operations targeting the immigrant smuggling, counterfeiting, and drug rings of Mexico’s dangerous mafia. For three decades, U.S. government agent Hipolito Acosta’s undercover work against Mexico’s mafia routinely made national headlines, and he quickly gained a reputation as a daring crime fighter who sent bad guys to prison, using his intelligence and audacity to stay one step ahead of those who would kill him if his cover was ever blown. Using multiple disguises and aliases, Acosta participated in scores of dangerous clandestine operations: He was locked into the back of a U-Haul truck along with a group of hopeful immigrants—half of them children—and smuggled from Mexico to Chicago without food, water, or basic hygiene; he infiltrated a gang of international counterfeiters; was mistakenly thrown into a Mexican jail where authorities purposely revealed his identity to his criminal cellmates; and was the target of multiple murder plots. Raised in a Texas migrant worker family near the Mexican border, Acosta empathizes with the men and women who sought freedom, sanctuary, and a better life for their families in the United States. This is the first book to take readers directly onto the frontlines, via someone who is so intimately familiar with these worlds, to expose the criminal workings of illegal immigration as well as the human plight that drives it. The Shadow Catcher reads like the best crime novels, as Acosta takes readers on a backseat ride through the unknown world of Mexico’s organized crime families and goes behind the headlines to reveal the human dramas that, for him, were all in a day’s work.

The Shadow Catcher: A U.S. Agent Infiltrates Mexico's Deadly Crime Cartels

Biographies & Memoirs

Acosta, Hipolito

Arts & Literature

Atria

Undercover and on the trail of the most wily and dangerous target of their careers, U.S. Special Agents Hipolito "Poli" Acosta and A. J. Irwin chronicle the gripping true story of the U.S. government's covert operation to capture the man behind the largest human smuggling operation in history. And contrary to news reports, the immigrants pouring in are not Mexicans or Central Americans they're South Asians. The agents risk their lives in pursuit of Maan Singh, confronting thugs, corrupt officials and hitmen during this perilous chase that plays out across the globe from Quito, Ecuador Singh's headquarters to Guatemala, Panama, England, the Bahamas and the United States. As Acosta and Irwin find out, the tentacles of Singh's smuggling enterprise extend to places fiercely protected by paid-off police, politicians and diplomats, and Singh always seems to be one warm cup of coffee ahead of his pursuers. The Hunt for Maan Singh pulls back the curtain on Singh's organized worldwide smuggling syndicate while candidly revealing the double exposure of undercover government agents, where inter-departmental rivalries and corrupt officials put Acosta and Irwin in just as much danger as pursuing the criminal mastermind they are sworn to bring to justice.

The Hunt for Maan Singh

Politics & Social Sciences

Irwin, A J

Social Sciences

Arte Publico Press

"You have a lot of enemies, Hipolito. I heard rumors in jail that some of the people you busted are going to try to kill you, so you better watch yourself." U.S. Special Agent Hipolito Acosta had put lots of thugs in jail, but the death threat from an imprisoned convict was still a shock. Acosta recounts his often-dangerous exploits as a law enforcement agent over more than 30 years, which frequently included going undercover as a human smuggler or an undocumented immigrant. He targeted those who took advantage of immigrants, stuffing them into car trunks for hours-long drives from the border to the north; counterfeiters who, for the right price, provided false social security cards and other papers; and even corrupt agents who earned significant financial rewards on the backs of desperate migrants. Though catching drug dealers wasn't in his job description, when the opportunity to take them down presented itself, Acosta enthusiastically complied even if he had to do it without the support of governmental agencies. And later in his career, diplomatic postings in the Philippines and Mexico expanded his experience with immigration issues. This exciting memoir of a life spent in pursuit of human traffickers is an eye-opening look at smugglers and other criminals involved in the sale of counterfeit documents, narcotics and weapons.

Deep in the Shadows: Undercover in the Ruthless World of Human Smuggling

Community & Culture

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Books by Acosta, Hipolito