In the rough waves of the South Atlantic in February 2016, an Argentine coast guard ship approached a squid-jigging vessel illegally fishing inside the nation’s territorial waters. As the Argentines approached, the boat winched its equipment aboard and quickly fled north. The Argentines ordered the boat to stop and then fired a warning shot, but it escaped across the watery border with Uruguay and headed into international waters. Before it disappeared, the coast guard took note of the ship’s name and flag of registration: the Hua Li 8 of China.

Across the Atlantic, at Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France, Alistair McDonnell had already heard about the incident before Argentina formally requested his help. At the time, McDonnell, a graying Brit of Irish descent, was with Interpol’s Glo

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