Behind Cartel Lines: How I infiltrated and brought down Britain’s biggest drug networks

Author:   Stephen Bentley
Publisher:   Ebury Publishing
ISBN:  

9781529148152


Pages:   320
Publication Date:   20 November 2025
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained


Our Price $26.99 Quantity:  
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Behind Cartel Lines: How I infiltrated and brought down Britain’s biggest drug networks


Overview

Forget Breaking Bad, this is the extraordinary story of the 1970s Welsh LSD ring that supplied the world, told by a cop in deepest cover on the case. Life undercover was one great adrenaline rush fuelled by copious amounts of alcohol, hash, weed and some cocaine. I was off the leash. In the mid-1970s, at the age of 29, Stephen Bentley, a fresh-faced detective, turned himself into Steve Jackson, a dope-smoking, hard-drinking hippy. His time spent undercover with a gang making and distributing LSD helped bring down two criminal networks - but the operation also led to deep personal aftershocks felt long after the case closed. As we get up-close-and-personal with the people who were the operators of the drug supply chain that fuelled 70s counter-culture, the story becomes laden with heavy drug-taking, blurred lines between cop, criminal and friend, and creeping doubts about who Steve really is. Taking us into the unlikely setting of the rural Welsh valleys and infiltrating the gang that was responsible for about 90% of the LSD production in the UK, Steve Bentley's insider account shows what it really takes to go undercover - to befriend, to betray and to bury your sense of self.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stephen Bentley
Publisher:   Ebury Publishing
Imprint:   Ebury Spotlight
Dimensions:   Width: 12.80cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 19.70cm
Weight:   0.223kg
ISBN:  

9781529148152


ISBN 10:   1529148154
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   20 November 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   To order   Availability explained

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Author Information

Stephen Bentley is a former UK police Detective Sergeant, pioneering undercover cop, and barrister. He is now a freelance writer and an occasional contributor to Huffington Post UK on undercover policing and mental health issues. He lives in the Philippines. He also writes crime fiction and you can find him on Twitter @StephenBentley8

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NOV RG 20252

 

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