Duffy was a DEA agent who tracked the Cali cartel till 1994.
Duffy and his partner Lopez worked on the Cali cartel when the rest of the DEA were fixated on the Medellín cartel. Duffy was unaware that the Cali cartel's counter-surveillance wing had flagged him and Lopez years ago. The DEA agents attempted to use Andrés Restrepo to spy at one of Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela's parties, but Restrepo was caught by the cartel.
The cartel intimidated the agents by calling them and not talking, and by sending photographs of their meeting with Restrepo. After the same photos were published in El Espectador, the DEA decided to send Duffy and Lopez back to the United States.