Narcos Escobar with the commander-in-chief of the Panamanian Defense Forces, Noriega

Escobar had dealings with Noriega when he worked for Ochoa and smuggled across the border between Colombia and Pakistan. At that time, Noriega was only a lieutenant officer of the National Guard stationed on the Colombia-Pakistan border, and Escobar joined forces with him to drum up smuggled goods and profit from them. At that time, Noriega's task was to "cooperate with the outside" or "ventilate the news", and finally get a "favor" from Escobar. At that time, the "benefit" was nothing more than an American Camel brand cigarette, a West German lighter, or a Swiss watch.

Noriega (Military Ruler)

By the time Noriega became commander-in-chief of the National Guard, Escobar had gone from being a smuggler to a "cocaine king." So the tide rose, and the two not only upgraded their status, but also deepened their "friendship". And the "benefit" that Noriega gets is no longer a gadget like cigarettes and watches. In addition to luxury cars and bungalow apartments, Noriega asked for a plane, and Escobar would immediately give it away. At this time, 40 percent of the cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs imported into the United States by Medellín drug cartels each year passed through the Colombian-Pakistani border and then entered the American drug market. There is no third way to get from Colombia to the United States, except through the Caribbean, from Panama to Mexico, and finally to the United States. If it enters the Panama Canal Zone, the cocaine of the Medellín cartel can be sold all over the world.

When the "goods" of the Medellín drug cartels arrive in Panama, they are protected by the Panamanian National Guard as if they were "military supplies". Those planes carrying narcotics, as long as they land at Panama City International Airport, can even enjoy diplomatic immunity on an exception, and even the US military presence in the Canal Zone has no right to inspect them. One can imagine the extent of this "friendship" between them.

In 1982, when Noriega became commander-in-chief of the Panamanian Defence Forces, his association with the Medellín drug cartels became even more extraordinary. Because in Panama, the real president at this time is he Noriega.

At the end of November 1983, after the Colombian Minister of Justice, Larra, signed the arrest warrant for the arrest of the thirteen largest leaders of the Medellín drug cartel, Escobar immediately contacted the Commander-in-Chief of the Panamanian Defence Forces, General Noriega, through the communication system of his command centre.

That night, Escobar, together with Ochoa, took several other leaders, boarded his cute "lark", left the Tranquilandia base, and fled to Panama overnight.

Relying on modern night flight equipment, the "Skylark" flew at an ultra-low altitude over the jungle of the Cordillera Mountains, evaded the radar network of the Colombian border guards, and flew out of the Colombian-Pakistani border in less than an hour and landed safely in the Panamanian border town of Haque.

At this time, the captain of General Noriega's personal guard was already waiting at Haq airport with three bulletproof cars painted with the logo of the General Headquarters of the Wehrmacht. As soon as Escobar and his party stepped off the plane, three sedans immediately greeted them, and then gave them a green light all the way, secretly taking them to the underground reception room of the Wehrmacht General Headquarters, where they were greeted by their old friend General Noriega.

After Noriega hugged Escobar and Ochoa and others, he laughed heartily and said:

"How? What do you think of this place, old friend? ”

Ochoa smiled, looked at Escobar, and then said to Noriega:

"Brother, it seems that we have become your military advisers, and my feelings are first and foremost: security."

But Escobar said in a loud voice:

"Safe fart! I just felt suffocated. You see, there are no windows, no mountains, no water, no trees, and no dungeons. ”

Noriega laughed again and said:

"Well, then, I might as well hand you over to the Americans, and they might as well find you a prison with mountains, waters, and trees. I think their Marion Prison, known as Alcatraz Island in the middle of the ocean, is quite good, and you can hear the earth-shattering sound of the waves all day long. Look how it is, Pablo! ”

Escobar also smiled and said:

"It's also a good place for you, General! If we enter the 'Alcatraz' in Marion, the Americans won't let you go, you say! ”

Noriega did not laugh again, but said very seriously:

"Old friend, don't say anything more, don't feel panicked, let's play here for a few days first, even if I invite you and your friends to be guests, okay?"

"To put it mildly," said Escobar, "what a price it costs us to be here for a day!" I can't wait to slaughter the old miscellaneous hair of Nala with one sword! ”

Noriega said: "I can understand this, you are doing big business, and the loss of a day is incalculable. However, it is useless to rush lightly, and we have to discuss a solution. ”

"Yes, brother, you have a point." Ochoa continued, "The best we can get right now is to find a way to get this guy Lara to get his arrest warrant back." ”

When Escobar heard this, he couldn't help but sneer: "I said dude, don't dream, you know best what kind of person Lara is, will he do this?" ”

At this time, Noriega thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, you two, I don't think Ochoa's idea is impossible. Lara is great, of course, but he still has a president at his head, and I've heard that Mr. Quarta doesn't have a bad impression of you. ”

"It's not bad," Escobar said, "that damn extradition treaty with the Americans was completely manipulated by Lara, and he was the one who made the extradition list." ”

"That's easy," Noriega said, "because the president of your country is not the same as the president of our Panama. Our president is in the palm of my hand, and if I want him to be him today, he will not dare to wait until the day after tomorrow if he wants him to step down. And your president still has some real power, and it is still okay to deal with ministers or parliament. However, to accomplish such a big thing, you have to be willing to spend some money and give some blood. ”

Ochoa said: "Mr. General's opinion is really unique, as long as they can get us back to legal cocaine production and trade, they can make an offer, Pablo, don't you?" ”

"Okay, as long as we can rebuild a Bogotá city as you said!" Escobar said magnificently.

When Noriega heard this, he also said seriously:

"If you really want to pay such a big price, I can contact Quarta and ask him to send a representative to negotiate with you, and I will be a witness."

"Okay, you can contact first." Escobar said to Noriega.

"It's better to do it as soon as possible." Ochoa also added.

Noriega nodded, and then instructed his captain of the guard to arrange for Escobar and his party to rest, and said to the captain of the guard: "You must protect these friends of mine as you defend me, and if you make a mistake, I will not let you go." ”

"Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief!"

The captain of the guard of Noriega gave a military salute very solemnly, and then arranged to go.

The day after Escobar and his entourage fled to Panama overnight, General Noriega had his first phone call with Colombian President Cuarta.

On the phone, Noriega solemnly said to President Quarta: "Mr. President, as a leader of a friendly neighbour and a personal friend of you for many years, I advise you to sober up. There are two points I would like to draw your attention to: first, you have been able to stay in the presidency until today, and it should be said that it is the 'cocaine dollar' of Pablo and others that kept you from being asked to step down by your people, and second, you have signed the Extradition Treaty with the United States for four years, and I admire your wisdom in not signing any extradition order during those four years. Mr. Lara was a man of loyalty, but he was a minister after all. Ministers only think about things that are within the purview of ministers, and you are the president, and the president should think more about things that belong to the president of a country in addition to the things that belong to every minister. Your term is running out, do you still hope to get you re-elected by extraditing a few drug traffickers? I don't think that's possible. ”

Noriega is a clever lobbyist. Although the first call did not get Quarta to immediately agree to negotiate with Escobar and others, it did cause Quarta to order all government forces entering the base in Tranquilandia to cease operations and to be stationed in place.

This result was quickly transmitted to the leaders of the Medellín drug cartel, who were in exile in Panama, through the command center of the Tranqui landia base. Escobar was overjoyed to hear this, and he and Ochoa had to admire Noriega's skills and ask him to continue to communicate with Quarta.