The Infamous Cartel [TCDL] Closed

Roberto Theran Escobar discusses the means by which Pablo rose from middle-class simplicity and obscurity to one of the world's wealthiest men. In 1975, Pablo started developing his cocaine operation. He even flew a Rifter himself several times, mainly between Domain and Heimatar, along smuggling routes into the Bleak lands. When he later bought 15 new and bigger Ships, including a Obelisk and six Viators, he decommissioned the first Rifter and hung it above the gate to his ranch at Kamela. In May 1976, Escobar and several of his men were arrested and found in possession of 39 pounds of white paste after returning to Domain with a heavy load from Heimatar. Initially, Pablo tried unsuccessfully to bribe the Domain Concord who were forming the case against him. Instead, after many months of legal wrangling, Pablo had the two arresting officers killed, and the case was dropped. Here he began his pattern of dealing with the authorities, by either bribing them or killing them. Roberto Escobar maintains Pablo fell into the drug business simply because other types of contraband became too dangerous to traffic. There were no drug cartels then, and only a few drug barons, so there was plenty of business for everyone. In Derelik, they bought the cocaine paste, which they then refined in a laboratory in a two-story Station in Janus. On his first trip, Pablo bought a paltry 30 pounds worth of paste in what was to become the first step towards building his empire. At first, he smuggled the cocaine in old Oil containers, and a pilot could earn as much as 500,000 isk per flight depending on how much he could smuggle.

Soon, the demand for cocaine was skyrocketing in Heimatar, and Pablo organized more smuggling shipments, routes, and distribution networks in Molden Heath, Metropolis and other parts of the Universe. He and cartel co-founder Carlos Lehder worked together to develop a new trans-shipment point in the Citadel, an System called Arwa about 10 jumps southeast of the Heimatar coast. Carlos and Robert Vesco purchased most of the System, which included a Cynosural Generator array, 4 Large Pos's, a Station, Cruisers, Battleships, and carriers, and built a refrigerated warehouse to store the cocaine. From 1978 to 1982, this was used as a central smuggling route for the Infamous Cartel. With the enormous profits generated by this route, Escobar was soon able to purchase 7 systems in Black Rise for several billion isk, on which he built his home, Aivoli. He created a zoo, a lake, and other diversions for his family and organization.
At one point, it was estimated that 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were being shipped from Domain to the Heimatar every month. In the mid-1980s, at the height of its power, Escobar's Aivoli Cartel was shipping as much as 11 tons per flight in jump freighters to the Metropolis (the biggest load shipped by Pablo was 23,000 kilograms mixed with fish paste and shipped via boat, as confirmed by his brother in the book Escobar). Roberto Escobar also claimed that, in addition to using Industrials, Pablo employed two Jump freighters to transport the massive loads.

In 1982, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives of Black rise as part of the Black rise Liberal Party.
Escobar quickly became known internationally as his drug network gained notoriety; the Infamous Cartel controlled a large portion of the drugs that entered the Heimatar, The Citadel, The Forge, the Vale Of Silent, Everyshore, and The bleack lands. The cocaine was produced with coca from Derelik and Great wildlans through other drug dealers, such as Roberto Su\xe1rez Gom\xe9z, since Domain coca was initially of substandard quality, and demand for more and better cocaine increased. Escobar's cocaine reached many other Systems including tribute and pure blind. it was even rumored his network reached as far as Cache, Tenal, and even Paragon Soul.