Journalist Matt Potter recounts the exploits of a group of men who are paid by the United States government, Afghan warlords, and multinational companies to traffic goods across dangerous borders in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Part I. Good men are hard to find: the crew -- Part II. Everything you know is wrong: the USSR -- Part III. Gold fever: the Middle East and Africa -- Part IV. High and wild: Afghanistan to Iraq -- Part V. Back to the jungle: Central America and the Horn of Africa -- Part VI. The journey home: East Africa and Russia.