Money seemed to be enough to get Carlos Ghosn out of Japan [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ghosn#Flight_from_Japan

But money was not enough to prevent the two men who freed him from being extradited to Japan.

Money was enough for those men to accept the possibility of being extradited to Japan.

I might go. But I'm not sure an out of shape balding programmer would be much help.

It's appealing to try to help this person, though. Maybe other people feel the same.

We'll use you as a distraction. You can walk up to the guards and fake a heart attack. Larry, Moe & Curly will then sneak behind the guards. I promise, it will not be an episode of Keystone Cops.

For sure I do.

The main problem is that a paramilitary group (us) has a disadvantage vs a government agency (them). They have the people, the equipment, and the home territory. There's also the language barrier; most of the people we'd recruit wouldn't be able to blend in, which is crucial for an op like this.

There's also the question of logistics. It would be hard to transport weapons across country borders. The most likely way to do it might be to start the op in a neighboring country. But if you want to drive, you'll probably be stopped at a checkpoint. Walking isn't very appealing. I suppose you could parachute in, Fortnite-style, but that's pushing the boundaries of believability. Plus that Mig they sent to intercept the civilian plane might have a few things to say about that.

That poor guy. I wish there was something to do for him.

It's been done:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Wings_of_Eagles

Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Eagle

> Imagine thinking that money solves such problems.

Money (ie, power) creates and solves such problems; it just doesn't do that under the sun.

I mean Mark Prince has shown that he and his family's companies are happy to murder for hire. That's probably a good starting point if you want killers that operate with at the support of a major Western government.

> Or maybe some professional CIA-as-a-service corporation?

Actually I'm pretty sure there are PCMs who could handle it.

Crowdfunding mercenaries to go against nation states would be very cyberpunk.

Executive Outcomes returned this last year, IIRC. They pulled off some extremely crazy thing in Indonesia a long time ago, and still have access to top talent.

An actual useful reason for crypto (other than money laundering)

Yeah it's not like you were going ask Shadowrunners for a refund.

you act as if you've never watched a heist movie