THE STORY SO FAR

In the middle of the night, hours before DEA and FBI agents are to arrest Internet drug dealers in a worldwide sweep, Temple grad student Akhil Bansal senses something is wrong and races from his Roxborough apartment to catch a plane back to India. Today's installment begins as Akhil flees. It is April 19, 2005.

ROXBOROUGH

The driver had the SUV's engine running.

Akhil Bansal hustled from his apartment, rolling a black canvas suitcase into the cool, clear night.

He carried $1,500 and a printout of an hours-old airplane ticket to India.

It was 1:39 a.m. on April 19, 2005.

The day's events swirled in Akhil's head: He had exams at Temple University in 11 days. An online-pharmacy client had been arrested in New York. That morning, Akhil's father had instructed him to flee "as soon as you smell trouble." That evening, Akhil discovered his bank accounts frozen. His mother called to say his father had fallen ill again.

Akhil put the bag in the car. His fiancée, Foram Mankodi, trailed behind, barefoot, into the glare of the parking lot's bright lights.

The driver, fellow student Prakash Bhavnani, wearing only plaid boxers and an undershirt, slid into the passenger seat.

Akhil got behind the wheel.

Foram shuffled back to the apartment and waved goodbye.

Akhil was headed for Detroit, where he had reserved a Ford Escape. He planned to drive the rental across the border to Toronto, where he would catch a nonstop to New Delhi.

He hit the accelerator.

Fifty yards ahead, a gray Ford Taurus jerked into the middle of the road, blocking the SUV's path. Akhil squinted into the car's headlights.

He saw a young man in jeans and an untucked polo shirt bolt from the car. The guy leveled a large black pistol at him.

"FBI! Let me see your hands!"

DOWNINGTOWN

DEA supervisor Jeff Breeden was asleep in his suburban Philadelphia home. As far as he knew, agents would be assembling at 5 a.m., an hour before Akhil's planned arrest. He did not know the FBI was already out there.