---
layout: static-informational
title: Paul Calder Le Roux
blurb: "Author of E4M disk-encryption software, Suspected author of TrueCrypt, Former criminal empire boss (in a very Crypto-Anarchist sense), DEA informant, Currently in US Custody"
permalink: /people/paul-calder-le-roux
people-groups: [early-cypherpunk, later-cypherpunk]
---

From wikipedia:

> Paul Calder Le Roux (born December 24, 1972 in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe) is a former programmer, former criminal cartel boss and informant to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

> He created E4M, an open-source free Windows disk encryption software program, in 1999, and is a suspected creator of the open-source TrueCrypt, which is based on E4M's code. Le Roux is currently in US custody for ordering the assassinations of six people.

## Links

* [Paul Calder Le Roux on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Le_Roux)
* 27-Nov-2012 - [Body on Tonga drugs yacht identified](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/body-on-tonga-drugs-yacht-identified/4395172)
* 18-Mar-2014 - [North Korean Meth, Motorcycle Gangs, Army Snipers, and a Guy Named Rambo](https://news.vice.com/article/north-korean-meth-motorcycle-gangs-army-snipers-and-a-guy-named-rambo) by Keegan Hamilton
* 11-Dec-2014 Vice News - ['Rambo' Has PTSD: The Strange Case of an International DEA Murder-For-Hire Drug Sting](https://news.vice.com/article/rambo-has-ptsd-the-strange-case-of-an-international-dea-murder-for-hire-drug-sting) by Keegan Hamilton
* 30-Dec-2014 The Daily Mail (UK) - [Revealed, the most successful criminal mastermind you've never heard of: The real-life Bond villain behind a cocaine and gun empire spanning four continents who's now turned super-snitch](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2890164/Revealed-successful-criminal-mastermind-ve-never-heard-real-life-Bond-villain-cocaine-gun-empire-spanning-four-continents-s-turned-super-snitch.html) by Richard Shears
* 10-Mar-2016 Atavist Magazine - [The Mastermind - 7 Part Article Series](https://magazine.atavist.com/the-mastermind) by Evan Ratliff
* 30-Mar-2016 The New Yorker - [The Strange Origins of TrueCrypt, ISIS’s Favored Encryption Tool](http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-strange-origins-of-truecrypt-isiss-favored-encryption-tool) by Evan Ratliff
* 02-Apr-2016 The Australian - [The geek Paul Calder Le Roux, the guns, the drugs and the bodies](http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/the-geek-paul-calder-le-roux-the-guns-the-drugs-and-the-bodies/news-story/5e21610c24b36726cf0581f085a09163) by Mark Schliebs
* 18-Apr-2016 Vice News - [Meth, Murder, and the DEA's Mysterious Deal With the 'Most Dangerous Man in the World'](https://news.vice.com/article/paul-le-roux-joseph-hunter-rambo-the-dea-meth-and-cocaine) by Keegan Hamilton
* 31-May-2016 Vice News - ['Rambo' Gets 20 Years for Drug and Murder Plots, but His Boss's Fate Remains a Mystery](https://news.vice.com/article/rambo-joseph-manuel-hunter-sentencing-paul-le-roux) by Keegan Hamilton
* 06-Mar-2017 Star Tribune - [Surprise acquittal for two defendants in international drug trial in St. Paul](http://www.startribune.com/global-drug-investigation-lands-in-st-paul-courtroom-with-acquitttal-for-two/415486574/)
* 07-Mar-2017 Vice News - [Devil of a deal](https://news.vice.com/story/the-deas-deal-with-a-drug-kingpin-wasnt-enough-to-convict-this-israeli-businessman) by Keegan Hamilton