Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar

Unlike most people think, America demanded for cocaine to be shipped in the United State. During his stay in Danbury during the early 70's because of car theft, he met George Jung, who was in prison for smuggling marijuana in the United States from Mexico. Since G. Jung had experience with flying marijuana to the US from Mexico in small aircraft, staying below radar level and landing in dry riverbeds, it inspired Lehder to use the same technique to smuggle cocaine in the United State. When both of them got out, they became business partners. This idea revolutionized the cocaine trade because before, they relied on humans to bring cocaine into the US, and only small quantities could be transported each time. Now, drug dealers could import up to several hundred kilos of cocaine at a time, without taking as a much risk when using a human. When Jung and Lehder finally gain enough money through drugs, they bought a small aircraft and hired a professional pilot. This introduced a completely new horizon of bringing drugs into the United States. Having an airplane, built connections and trust with the Colombian suppliers who would bribe the Bahamian government to let the plan go through their territory. George Jung and Carlos handled the transportation and the distribution of cocaine into the United States, and the Pablo Escobar and from time to time, the Ochoa Brothers handled the production and supply. During the late 70's when the business grew bigger and Lehder had sufficient money, he bought properties on an island called Norman's Cay, located 210 miles off Florida coast. This was a strategic emplacement because it could be used as a halt for bigger planes, and then put the cocaine into smaller aircraft and then the cocaine could be transported in the Florida. As Lehder got richer, he bought more and more properties on the island, and eventually built an even built 3 300-foot landing strip protected by radar, and his own army. He eventually forced the locals to leave the island so he could have total control on it. The Bahamian officials did not do any thing about it because it is believed that they were bribed. This was the most important transportation branch in the cocaine business. Nevertheless, the suppliers, especially the MedellÐ"¬n cartel, which consisted at that time Pablo Escobar, the Ochoa brothers and Gacha, also had an important supplying branch of their own: Tranquilandia. Tranquilandia was a place where the coca plants would be processed into cocaine. Nobody exactly knows who owned Tranquilandia, but in an interview with two of the Ochoa Brothers, Tranquilandia was a lab initially owned by Rodriguez Gacha who is also known as The Mexican. It was a bridge between Bolivia, Peru and Colombia. It was also a strategic emplacement because it was in the middle of nowhere in the jungle, and the only way to get there was by plane. The estimated amount that it could produce was a metric ton every two weeks, and possibly more. As the cocaine business grew, a lot more lab developed in the area, Tranquilandia became an enormous lab and since it had its own landing strip, it was used as a connection for other labs. Being in the cocaine business would get man rich in a few flights. Lehder became a millionaire in less than three trips because in the 70's a kilo of cocaine was worth 35 000$. Smuggling cocaine in the United States was seen as an interesting opportunity for many people particularly Pablo Escobar.

Greed was a primary motivation for Pablo Escobar. While he was still a teenager, Escobar became well known in MedellÐ"¬n for being a car thief. On the contrary, he ultimately changed to the drug business in the 70's, which was at that time a lot more successful then cars. Escobar was probably one of the first suppliers for the United States. It is the reason why he became an essential element to the business. Because he got rich in a short period, other dealers would copy him, but he already had the money to get even better each and every time he would supply. Like many people would say: "Escobar was to cocaine what Ford was to automobiles" and is still considered one of the most successful criminal careers. Many individuals consider him ruthless and very brutal, but in his town, he had an image of being a modern Robin Hood. He would accomplish plenty to help the poor. He would bring trucks to the ghettos of the towns he lived in, and handed out food to poor people. He built a soccer field and supported a soccer team. He would hire local people to make them build a structure, or make business for him. He even built schools and hired teachers to teach there. Rachel Ehrenfeld even states, "He did a lot of good Ð'- much, much more than the local government Ð'- than the Colombian government did." But then again, he was very cruel. He wanted to control everything, at one point he even had a chair in the Colombian congress. But most of the time he would bribe the politicians to make them execute what he wanted. Apparently, it worked very well. He would use a very specific technique: plata o plomo. (Lead or silver).Lewis Tambs who was an ambassador at that time, and Jack Blum explain very well how the bribe process would occur:

"When I was ambassador down there, a judge would be assigned a narcotics case. Within a very, very short time, a bright, young, well-dressed lawyer would show up with, first of all, a briefcase in which he would lay a plain brown envelope on the judge's desk, right? They'd tell a man, You have a choice. You can have lead, bullet in your head, or silver, some money as a payoff. And it's your call. Then the bright young lawyer would reach in his briefcase and take out a photograph album. There'd be a photo album of everybody in their lives they considered to be near and dear. Shots of their children, children coming out of their home in the morning, going to school, playing in the playground, talking to their friends. So the implication was very clear. Cooperate with us or you and your family will be dead." Since the