Cryptic crossword clue
Bad international spies, extremely lawless government agents, say 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word OFFICIALS

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
O
F
F
I
C
I
A
L
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "government agents, say" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case government agents, say = officials.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does OFFICIALS mean?

OFFICIALS noun
  1. An office holder invested with powers and authorities.
  2. A person responsible for applying the rules of a game or sport in a competition.

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