From the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, April 8:
After they intercepted encrypted messages exchanged between members of organized crime groups, Belgian authorities seized in the port of Antwerp 27.64 tons of cocaine worth some 1.38 billion euros (about US$1.64 billion) just over the past two months, the Belgian Prosecution Office said on Tuesday
Belgian and Dutch investigators accessed the messages after cracking the encrypted communication platform Sky ECC in March last year....
....MUCH MORE
I don't care how wealthy you are, even Pablo Escobar would feel that kind of hit to the wallet.
....7. And he expensed $2,500 on rubber bands each month.
While hiding or destroying the exorbitant amount of money was one issue, the brothers faced another, more elementary problem: neatly organising the banknotes.
According to Roberto Escobar, the Medellín cartel spent an estimated $2,500 a month on rubber bands needed to hold stacks of bills together.
Source: The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel
8. Once he started a fire with $2 million because his daughter was cold.
In a 2009 interview with Don Juan magazine, Escobar's son, Juan Pablo, 38 — who has since changed his name to Sebastián Marroquín — described what life was like on the run with the King of Cocaine.
According to Marroquín, the family was living in a hideout in the Medellín mountainside when Escobar's daughter, Manuela, became hypothermic.
Escobar decided to torch $2 million in crisp banknotes to keep her warm.
Source: Don Juan magazine....
