The Power of the Dog is a 2005 crime/thriller novel by American writer Don Winslow, based on the DEA's involvement with the War on Drugs.

[1] Winslow's novel describes three decades of the United States' war on drugs by following several main characters: The DEA agent Art Keller; Adán Barrera, who controls large parts of the drug trade from Mexico to the United States of America; the sex worker Nora Hayden; and Sean Callan, a gangster from the streets of New York.

Trying to avenge his colleague, Keller discovers massive involvement of the US and the Mexican governments in drug trade operations.

[4] The Power of the Dog starts in 1975 and follows the DEA's War on Drugs and various aspects of Operation Condor, with the CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking being central to the book's plot.

In 2015, 20th Century Fox paid $6 million for the film rights to both The Power of the Dog and its sequel, The Cartel, with Ridley Scott producing.