Befriend and Betray: Infiltrating the Hells Angels, Bandidos and Other Criminal Brotherhoods
Hardcover – February 17, 2009
Description
From Publishers Weekly Chilling and gritty, this new account by Caine, an undercover police agent for 25 years, showcases his skills as a shrewd chameleon who could infiltrate any group while tallying their vices and offenses. Following stints in Vietnam and behind bars, he teamed with the cops to penetrate the criminal netherworld populated by cruel Asian triads and street gangs battling for territories and riches. Caine, a tough cookie, was recruited by all of the federal enforcement agencies to get the goods on the big four outlaw bike gangs—the Hells Angels, the Bandidos, the Outlaws and the Pagans—and some of his exploits are the stuff of high-tension torture and lawlessness. His resourcefulness is uncanny, as is his sheer will to survive as he matches wits with a group of Russian mobsters and lawmen on the take. It's to Caine's credit that he lived to tell this riveting tale of bloodshed and corruption. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal Adult/High School—Working for everyone from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Caine spent 25 years infiltrating and taking down dangerous criminal groups. He did anything and everything he could to work his way into them: he dealt drugs, sold T-shirts, and even promoted rock-and-roll concerts. After building personal trust, he used his contacts with the inner members of a group to create a solid court case and make sure as many as possible wound up in jail. But the book works as more than a portrait of organized crime—it is also the author's personal story. Readers see him struggle many times with the complex, conflicted emotions of making friends with criminals while maintaining the secret intent to take them to jail. There are also powerful moments showcasing difficulties in his marriage—often caused by his career—as well as personality conflicts with his government handlers. Caine knows how to tell a story and doesn't waste a single dramatic moment. Immediately enticing and gripping all the way through, this volume will appeal to fans of true crime and anyone looking for a unique biography.— Matthew L. Moffett, Pohick Regional Library, Burke, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. “Alex Caine’s memoir of his life as a confidential informant is one of the most engaging tales ever told about the deep infiltration of organized crime. His revelations are extraordinary; his story gripping. I couldn’t put it down.” —William Marsden, coauthor of The Road to Hell and Angels of Death “Caine is the ultimate actor, inhabiting roles as a big-time drug dealer, border runner, money launderer, hit man, rock-and-roll promoter—all while working as one of the most audacious undercover informants of all time. He turned infiltrating organized crime into an art form. He could easily have become a master criminal himself. Luckily, he worked for the good guys. Amazingly, he survived his encounters with the Hong Kong Triads and Bandidos bikers and the KKK and has returned to tell his fascinating and nearly unbelievable true-crime story.” —Guy Lawson, coauthor of The Brotherhoods Alex Caine now acts as an adviser on biker investigations and a speaker at police conferences. He is a certified fifth-degree black belt martial artist, recognized by the World Kickboxing Association. This is his first book. Read more
Features & Highlights
- The Hells Angels. The Bandidos. Asian triads. Russian mobsters and corrupt cops. Even the KKK. Just part of a day’s work for Alex Caine, an undercover agent who has seen it all. Alex Caine started life as a working-class boy who always thought he’d end up in a blue-collar job. But after a tour in Vietnam and a stretch in prison on marijuana-possession charges, he fell into the cloak-and-dagger world of a contracted agent or “kite”: infiltrating criminal groups that cops across North America and around the globe were unable to penetrate themselves. Thanks to his quick-wittedness and his tough but unthreatening demeanor, Caine could fit into whatever unsavory situation he found himself. Over twenty-five years, his assignments ran the gamut from bad-ass bikers to triad toughs. When a job was over, he’d slip away to a new part of the continent or world, where he would assume a new identity and then go back to work on another group of bad guys. Told with page-turning immediacy,
- Befriend and Betray
- gives a candid look behind the scenes at some familiar police operations and blows the lid off others that law enforcement would much prefer to keep hidden. And it offers an unvarnished account of the toll such a life takes, one that often left Caine to wonder who he really was, behind those decades of assumed identities. Or whether justice was ever truly served.
