WITHOUT A BADGE: Undercover in the World's Deadliest Criminal Organization

by Jerry Speziale, Mark Seal

A member of the DEA's task force on drugs recounts his undercover work as a top drug trafficker, describing how he assisted in the arrests of dozens of high-level dealers before an inside betrayal placed his life in jeopardy. Reprint.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Biography, Crime, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many undercover books but this is by far one of the best ones! The author does a superb job in giving details of his undercover days in taking down the Columbian cartels. He really had my heart racing several times when he had close calls on getting discovered by some of the cartel leaders. Him & his team truly did amazing work in their cases and bringing a lot of the men to justice. There were some surprises on some of their informants playing both sides of the coin. I was most shocked by Paul's. Especially being that he was the one who taught Jerry how to act like a cartel member. The magnitude of how organized these cartels are is really eye-opening! This is definatley a must read by all true crime readers or law enforcement personnel!

[Jennifer Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book -- especially if you like true crime in the undercover drug world. Speziale is what a good cop should be and others in the criminal justice system should take a page from his book. I really liked the way that he takes you through his life before and during his undercover work.

[Tbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Cahones from this undercover cop who took down Drug LOrds from Columbia and then became a sherriff........ to finish it off they offer him millions to work with them and he tells them to f.... off basically.
Great book, was never bored very interesting the whole time. Great book

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have read a lot of memoirs/biographies of cops and the people they catch. this is one of the best i have read. reads like fiction. made me laugh at times. what this guy claims to see and do is just amazing. very good book.

[CJ Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed a lot about this, but some of the cop posturing got in the way. What this guy does very well is recount his at times outlandish or terrifying experiences around various cartels while working with the DEA. Parts of this are farcical, in terms how much trust rituals went into this, or how the shark like middle man who plays the interim acts like a real diva, insisting on the best - which is exactly how to play the part.

Some of the details about people's physical reaction to literally hundreds of kilos of cocaine is astounding. Also there is the predictable impact on the undercover agent, his family & mental health. This is at times fascinating, and I enjoyed it.

[Rod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, similar in ways to Donnie Brasco, amazing eye opener to Cartel Life. A must read for all Law Enforcement... and their better halves

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This true story felt like The Wire meets Narcos. It reads well and even has photos!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rollicking true life account of the men who run undercover operations against the Columbian drug cartels, an occupation akin to poking a giant cobra with a stick. Sometimes I felt the book was being deliberately economical with the truth, and not just in the episodes where the author spends evenings in South American high class brothels but makes his excuses to leave early and 'phone his darling wife. With the money and coke floating around, many must have been paid off along the way, although the crooks who paid with their lives as the team covered their tracks aren't given a second thought.
In the end, the life gets to him and he goes over the edge into paranoia following a major bust, leading to his retirement. I finished the book feeling I'd been given about half the story - how he and his cohorts were never sussed by the cartels seems incredible - and if any other drug agency had successes during these years - which they must - you'd never know. I feel I'm still waiting to read the ultimate true life expose of the drug cartels in Columbia, one that will better the fictional works of Le Carre or Tom Clancey. That story must be out there.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Jerry Speziale, a DEA agent who went undercover and was engaged in numerous drugs busts relating to the Cali cartel in Colombia.

It is action packed, with moments of suspense where I was on the edge of my seat. I also found it a very human story, of a man who went on a journey, from someone who began as a rookie and was not taken seriously by his colleagues and peers, to a man who was recognised as a world class authority on wore tapping and narcotics. The end segment of the book was particularly touching (but I won't spoil it for readers by revealing what occurs).

I also found this an informative read, in terms of how the cartels operate and what methods law enforcement in the US uses to combat them.

An excellent read, definitely recommended.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed and fascinating non-fiction account of a NYC cop is trained by a drug smuggler to walk and talk like one. He goes on to infiltrate the Colombian and Brazilian drug cartels in ways that were a thrill to read.
However, I do not recommend the audiobook version as the actor who read the book read every line with the same annoying cadence that made him sound like a high school kid called on to read aloud in class (who also could not pronounce names and places like "Quito, Ecuador" and who read every line of dialogue spoken by a woman in a creepy, accent-less identical whisper). That speaks highly of the book's content in that I was able to stand the moron reading it for over ten hours.

[Phillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book. It has all the plots and such that I'm interested in reading except it really happened. Some of the names have been changed and some of the time lines are a bit off, but basically its the story of Jerry Speziale who went undercover in the 1980s and 90s. How a task force was formed to try and take own as many drug cartels as possible. After reading the book you'll wonder how he made it out alive. How many times things could have gone wrong and some did. But after it was all said and done Jerry and his Group of rag tag undercover agents did pretty good at making a big dent in some of the cartels, especially those operating out of NJ. He has since moved on to different law enforcement jobs. Since this book was published in 2003 I'll bet he's retired now.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met Jerry when I worked in LA County. He was a nice guy but he obviously candy coates some parts of his book. People who read it will probably recognize the same lies in it that I did. It is an interesting book and a good inside look at how drugs are brought into and transported in the US. The parts of the book that talk about the criminal world and the drugs is all true. It is a couple parts about his behavior I didn't believe. I guess that could be since I met him and got to know a little about his personality.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was just an awesume, amazing book that kept you reading chapter after chapter in the book. It was a great true story that made you say WOW! And im going to read it over and over agian, and i hope that you will too.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how he lived through it. The book is a page-turner! For a view from the other side, check out Cocaine Cowboy. For historical perspective, I recommend Get Capone.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. Just wasn't the best writing and I wasn't into it. Which is a shame because I love stories like this.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

incredible story. A really fun read.

[Denise M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

with Mark Seal

[Troels G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy is nuts :) Very entertaining story about undercover operations.