Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History

Written by Guy Lawson

Narrated by Jason Culp

The page-turning, inside account of how three kids from Florida became bigtime weapons traders—and how the US government turned on them.
In January of 2007, three young stoners from Miami Beach won a $300 million
Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan
military. Incredibly, instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim
Diveroli, David Packouz, and Alex Podrizki—the dudes—bought cheap Communist style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners. The dudes then secretly
repackaged millions of rounds of shoddy Chinese ammunition and shipped it to
Kabul—until they were caught by Pentagon investigators and the scandal turned
up on the front page of The New York Times.
That’s the “official” story. The truth is far more explosive. For the first time,
journalist Guy Lawson tells the thrilling true tale. It’s a trip that goes from a dive
apartment in Miami Beach to mountain caves in Albania, the corridors of power in
Washington, and the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawson’s account
includes a shady Swiss gunrunner, Russian arms dealers, corrupt Albanian
gangsters, and a Pentagon investigation that impeded America’s war efforts in
Afghanistan. Lawson exposes the mysterious and murky world of global arms
dealing, showing how the American military came to use private contractors like
Diveroli, Packouz, and Podrizki as middlemen to secure weapons from illegal arms
dealers—the same men who sell guns to dictators, warlords, and drug traffickers.
This is a story you were never meant to read.
"Lawson's eye for detail and research are commendable … details the backroom
machinations, corruption, red tape, and intrigue that go along with high-stakes
arms deals."—Publishers Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490661896

Guy Lawson

Guy Lawson is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning investigative journalist whose articles on war, crime, culture, and law have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, GQ, Harper’s Magazine, and many other publications.

Reviews for Arms and the Dudes

[amkee-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I just did not like this book. I don't know if it was the subject matter, the person reading or just not my kind of book.

[charlottem_63 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reminds me of, "Breaking Bad", very well done but despicable subject.

[dougcornelius_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Couldn't make this story up. A stoner dude grew up working a small time gun dealer with his father. He turns twenty and sets out on his own. He recruit his bodies to help win bids on government contracts. He ends up winning a $300 million contract to arm the Afghan National Army during the war on terror.

Things go wrong.

The dudes are examples of the failures of privatization of the war effort. They end up being a front for more corrupt international arms dealers and get in way over their heads.

It's an interest story weld told by Mr. Lawson. The publisher provided me with a copy of the audiobook.

[wdwilson3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Infrequently I run into a book that is well written but unlikable. War Dogs is such a book. A non-fiction tale of three pot-heads who become arms dealers during the Iraq and Afghanistan warfare, it's well researched and reasonably gripping. But, unlike The Night Manager there's no good guy here to save the day. Gun runners are war profiteers, peddling shoddy merchandise to help killing machines. In my book they rank right up there with child molesters and rapists as the worst of the worst, and deserve to be treated that way. Moreover, War Dogs shows the corrupt, incompetent actions of the Bush administration in the conduct of the wars, and that's rather stomach-churning in itself. All in all, an uncomfortable audio book for me.

[karconner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What made this story interesting was the fact that it is true. If it had not been, it would be unbelievable. The narration was good and had a good pace. This was an overall enjoyable read. If you like true stories, you will enjoy this.

I received a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[lempsterlibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this to be a fascinating read just to think how easy it was for these young men to get into selling arms for the government. This story is so far fetched it can only be true. A page turner from beginning to end. Everyone should read this book.