Players looking to become special agents for the IAA in GTA Online will have a chance at doing so by completing the Operation Paper Trail missions.
The release of the Criminal Enterprise DLC for GTA Online introduced a ton of new content, including the Operation Paper Trail missions, which give players the experience of working for the IAA as a special government agent. Initially introduced as the online multiplayer component of GTA V back in 2013, GTA Online has since developed into a massive game on its own, as the regular updates and DLCs keep expanding its world and content. The Criminal Enterprise DLC is just the latest of these updates and brings with it new vehicles, career paths, and the intriguing Operation Paper Trail quest line that will have players investigate a corrupt wealthy oil family on behalf of the International Affairs Agency.
Among the new content added with this DLC were new features to career paths that allow players to delve more deeply into occupations such as Club owner, CEO, Biker, and Gunrunner. Several vehicles were also introduced via brand-new shipments of Muscle, Super, and Sports cars. Lastly, a high-end dealership, Luxury Autos, was also added to GTA Online, providing players with access to costly brands such as Pfister, Grotti, Venus, and Pegassi.
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After the release of the Criminal Enterprises DLC, many players may have found themselves wondering how to access the Operation Paper Trail missions. In short, there’s nothing players can do but wait for Agent ULP to call, after which they can head to the IAA Headquarters in Downtown Los Santos to start the mission. There are a total of six missions related to Operation Paper Trail, and most will consist of hacking into computers or retrieving hardware for the agency. The names of these missions in order are Intelligence, Counterintelligence, Extraction, Asset Seizure, Operation Paper Trail, and Cleanup.
Many details and images regarding these missions were taken from the YouTube channel GTA Series Videos, which made a six-part walkthrough series for Operation Paper Trail that players can check out for more information. After arriving at the IAA Headquarters and getting sworn in as special field agents, players will need to get to Mason Duggan’s apartment and hack his computer. The computer is located on a desk in his bedroom, which can be found by going up the stairs and opening the first door on the right. Interacting with it will start a short hacking mini-game in which players must lock in the letters in red to form a password. After that, players must recover four pieces of hardware from the FIB, two from their Headquarters and two from their Depot.
To get inside the FIB Headquarters in GTA Online, players will need new clothes to disguise themselves as contractors, which they can do by following the white icons on the map. After heading inside, players should remember to keep their weapons holstered and head towards the elevators, which will take them to the 49th floor. The first piece of hardware can be found to the right in the Communications wing, and it's located in a small room at the end of that hallway. The other is located in the other wing, inside a box on the floor of an office on the right at the end of the hallway. After that, players should remember to once again holster their weapons before leaving the building and completing this mission in GTA Online.
To get inside the Depot, players will first need to find and shoot two fuse boxes on the outside. One is located over the truck parked to the right of the entrance near the chimney, and the other is on the ramp to the right of that same truck on the wall on the left. After heading inside, players will find the first piece of hardware on a desk to the right before the red storage container. The second one can be found on the opposite side of the entrance in the corner near the big “B1” sign on the wall. After getting both pieces, head outside, and follow the marker on the map in GTA Online to deliver them and complete the first mission in this series.
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This mission will have players hack two drones by staying close to them for a few seconds and discovering the location of a motel. After an unexpected event, players will find themselves having to complete a complicated-looking puzzle. The trick here is to use the yellow nodes to direct the light to destroy blue nodes while avoiding damaging the red ones. Players may also see a unique-looking gray node with a yellow arrow that keeps rotating. That arrow indicates the direction in which it will reflect the beam, so players must time it correctly to achieve their goal. After beating the puzzles, take the van to the marked location to complete the second mission in GTA Online.
Extraction will require players to locate and extract Agent Johnson and can be one of the most difficult to handle since she sometimes will have trouble spawning correctly, but also due to the amount of enemies players will be facing. While players will need to enter the agent's vehicle to unlock the GPS locations that they'll need to investigate, they do not need to use that vehicle for the rest of the mission and can instead request an armored one, which will help immensely. After getting to the correct location, players will find a shootout between Duggan personnel and Cartel members. The best thing to do here is to find Agent Johnson quickly, get her inside the vehicle, lose wanted levels and get to the marked location on the map in GTA Online.
For this mission, players will be tasked with taking out multiple antennas spread across the map and should therefore grab a sniper rifle to make this much easier. After destroying all antennas, players will then need to find a moving van and steal it. Because, players will need to drive it, damaging the vehicle should be avoided, as they can instead shoot the driver to safely stop it. After that, players will have to head towards the marked location while dealing with the enemies that will be chasing and shooting at them.
For Operation Paper Trail players should stock up on ammo and armor as it will involve a lot of fighting. Unfortunately, players won't be able to drive to the top of this building in GTA Online, so after reaching the construction site, they will need to kill guards to find a key card for the lift. The first two levels will let players remain stealthy if they so choose, which can save them a lot of bullets and health points, but after getting near the top, they will be spotted when they exit the hoist and will be forced to shoot their way through. As they reach the very top of the building, they will have a few seconds to damage the helicopter that their main target is escaping in, but will otherwise need to follow it by grabbing the nearby parachute in GTA Online and jumping off the building.
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After reaching the ground, grab a vehicle and head towards the marked location that should lead near an alleyway. Use the ladder on the right to climb the building and then another ladder to get to the top of the building on the left, where the helicopter landed. There, they will find their main target, the man with the cowboy hat, which they must kill to grab the briefcase. After that, take it and grab a vehicle to get to the marked location and complete the fifth mission in this series.
In the final mission of the series, players will be flying a helicopter in GTA Online to a hidden silo up in the mountains, where they will need to find four fuses to restore power. The first will be in the hallway opposite the circuit breaker, next to a set of wooden boxes on the left. The second fuse is on top of a green supply box in a large room with forklifts that players can get to by following the corridors. Near one of the forklifts, players will see a stack of boxes marked Supplies that they will need to destroy to reach the fuse on the workbench behind them. The last fuse can be found in the next room on the left, on a table with a black toolbox.
Spoiler: after hacking two servers a failsafe mechanism will activate all juggernauts in the area, so if players want to have an easier time in this mission, they can kill some of them before they wake up, by shooting them in the head until they collapse.
After players head back and use the fuses to restore the power, they will need to perform several proximity hacks in the server room near where they found the last fuse. After escaping the silo and mount Chiliad, players will be pursued by Clifffords’ Mercenaries, who they must kill or escape from before reaching the final map marker and finally completing all Operation Paper Trail missions introduced with the Criminal Enterprises DLC for GTA Online.
Pedro always had a passion for both writing and video games and is currently a freelance guide writer for Screen Rant. Having graduated from Aveiro University in Literature, Languages, and Culture he now seeks to put his skills to the test and hopes that readers enjoy his guides as much as he loves writing them.