In a Liverpool night club, the Canadian mobster said, “Are you guys cops?” Steve Jackson heard him. His blood ran cold.Jackson wasn’t his real name. He was an undercover cop.Ever wondered about the life of an undercover cop?What it takes to infiltrate a worldwide drugs gang?What it feels like to live a double life? – to ‘live a lie.’Read this gripping true story of Britain’s biggest drug bust.In … feels like to live a double life? – to ‘live a lie.’
Read this gripping true story of Britain’s biggest drug bust.
In March 1978, at the culmination of Operation Julie, fifteen defendants, including doctors, research chemists, a writer, and “professional” drug dealers were sentenced to a combined total of one hundred and twenty-four years imprisonment.
Operation Julie is still today the point of reference for all British undercover operations and training. In 2011, the BBC claimed this massive and unique police operation was the start of the war on drugs.
The author, Stephen Bentley, was one of four undercover detectives engaged on Operation Julie. Together with his undercover partner, he infiltrated the gang producing around 90 percent of the world’s LSD and uncovered a plot to import huge quantities of Bolivian cocaine into the UK.
Bentley operated in the era of no undercover training. He improvised as he went along. He was a pioneer infiltrator left to his own devices.
The underworld knew the author as Steve Jackson. How did he successfully infiltrate the two gangs? Did he have to take drugs, and how did ‘living a lie’ affect him?
Bentley and his book have featured on BBC Newsnight, BBC Wales News, BBC Radio 4 World at One and BBC Five Live; and also in London’s Guardian and Sunday Express newspapers. It is now also adapted for a feature film.
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Undercover: Operation Julie-The Inside Story is Stephen Bentley’s memoir about his life as a detective in the U. K. Bentley was part of a sting to infiltrate an organization making LSD in rural Wales in the 1970s. He writes about undergoing a transformation from clean-cut policeman to the long-haired hippie Steve Jackson. He lived out of a beat- up old van with his partner Eric as they observed the activities of a house believed to be the location of a secret drug lab. Bentley is honest about using drugs so he could blend in with the drug crowd. As the story goes on, Bentley becomes more addicted to cocaine, telling himself that it was justified as part of the job. He and Eric were sent to get information from the manufacturers and suppliers so they really had to be genuine users. Trying to abstain from drugs would have made the pair suspicious to others. The time spent in bars and pubs added to Bentley’s already confused mind and caused increased drinking binges. The more that he played the role of Steve Jackson, the friendly newcomer who supported himself by tree cutting and car dealing, the temptation to toss away his old self became stronger. Bentley admits that he enjoyed his new carefree life where his only task was to get up and go meet the suspected dealers at the bar. He became friends with some of the people. One man was thought to be high up in the gang and threatened to kill Steve if he found out he and Eric were cops. Operation Julie was the biggest undercover drug infiltration in the history of th U. K. One of the sad parts of the book is when Steve had to turn in his friend Smiles, the main suspect of the drug operation. I really felt the emotions of this section when Steve had to betray his friend. The writing is very strong and made me see an image of the meeting between Smiles and Steve at the jail after the arrests. The conflicting emotions of duty to the law against betrayal of a friend is so detailed that I felt like I was there. The book is being made into a movie currently. It will be interesting to see how the film writers deal with the emotions while also telling the facts of Steve’s story. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about other people’s life stories. Not just a cop memoir, Undercover is a memoir of one man’s struggle with himself and society.
Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story was a good read by Stephen Bentley. Steve Jackson was an undercover cop who finds himself being question by a Canadian mobster in a Liverpool night club. This is the story of Britain’s biggest drug bust known as Operation Julie. There are fifteen defendants that include doctors, research chemists, a writer, and drug dealers who are sentenced to a combination of one hundred and twenty four years in prison. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.
Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story, my fourth read from author Stephen Bentley, and my first non-fiction by him. December seemed to be my month for new authors, January continued the trend, and now February. Surprisingly enjoyable read. Greg Patmore’s narration adds greatly to a good book’s enjoyment, he became Stephen Bentley. “I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.” I own 8 other books by this author and look forward to reading more from him. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
An excellent look into the United Kingdom’s drug life during the 1970’s and the undercover team that worked to try and bring it down.
The author not only relays what happened but makes you feel his pain, despair and at times laughter and giddiness.
As an American reading this book I was amazed at how different some procedures are especially the lack of guns and the vast importance pubs played in the meetings and lifestyle of both the drug pins and the enforcement officers that the author and his partner dealt with.
If you’re looking for a book to take your mind off your everyday life, this is it. Kudos to Mr. Bentley for allowing us, his readers, into the raw emotions he felt and for being able to make us feel all these many years later. A great read!
Whoa!
This was very intense, I was drawn into this world and feel like I just got hit by a semi truck after. What a ride, indeed.
Riveting account of 1978’s Operation Julie, one of the biggest British undercover operations of our time. 15 different defendants were imprisoned for a total of nearly 125 years.
This is the story of Stephen Bentley, one of the undercover detectives who lived it. I have little to no knowledge of the ins and outs of police procedure – well, only from TV, and Joe Kenda made it a point to explain that it’s soooo not like it is on TV/CSI 😉
It’s a very candid, honest and powerful audiobook by a man I respect for his bravery and perseverance. Well written and well narrated, I definitely recommend it.
Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story is a gritty, first-hand and factual account of how dangerous and stressful deep undercover work can be. (FWIW, the reality is nothing nearly as righteous and seductive as Hollywood would have you think.) We follow Stephen Bentley and Eric Wright as they immerse, and almost lose, themselves in vital roles in the largest LSD investigation and bust in the UK. We hear the unflinching police officer’s side of it, for sure, but we also feel the harrowing personal impact. We view, up close and intimately, into the consequences of deep undercover work, how the man behind the shield can be affected, both emotionally and physically, for up to decades after such an operation.
The raw feel of the entire book was absorbing, from the overarching story all the way down to the authentic use of colloquialisms and slang for the area and the timeframe. If you appreciate true crime or police-themed stories, I can’t say you’ll “enjoy” this dark and defiant book, but you’ll respect the story and the sacrifices of the men behind it.
Please note: If you are not from the UK, or are otherwise unfamiliar with the contrasting tales circulating around Operation Julie, it’s best to start the book at Chapter 3 (That’s Chapter 5 if you have the Audible version). This is where the true tale actually begins, chronologically, and you can settle into the story as related by the author, Stephen Bentley. The chapters before this point will at best confuse you, and perhaps frustrate you, as the refutations of the other accounts of this operation would not be applicable.
Fascinating autobiographical account of an undercover officer involved in the biggest LSD investigation in the history of the UK.
Real life story about Stephen Bentley in his undercover days during Operation Julie, Britain’s biggest drug bust.
In this book you will get excitement, humour and sadness in many forms during and after the undercover days. Poignant and eye opening how operations such as these are executed. Friendships past longed for and all the after effects that didn’t get recognised or acknowledged. How being undercover can affect mental health. The outcomes good and bad this book has all you could want from a real life famous event.
For a True Crime book this is poorly written and, to be honest, a rather egotistacial approach as well. It may have been an enjoyable read had this been ghost-written rather than letting the police officer in question repeatedly bang their own drum.