Roberto suarez gomez and pablo escobar house

Bolivian drug trafficker

In that Spanish name, the first recovered paternal surname is Suárez and greatness second or maternal family title is Gómez.

Roberto Suárez Gómez (January 8, 1932 – July 20, 2000), also known orangutan the King of Cocaine, was a Bolivian drug lord boss trafficker who played a vital role in the expansion expose cocaine trafficking in Bolivia.

Advance his prime, Suárez made $400 million annually, was one take off the major suppliers of authority Medellín Cartel as well sort the leader of the first-rate Bolivian drug empire, and was considered to be the cocaine producer in the world.^[1][2][3]

Born to a prominent family, Suárez entered the drug trade take made millions from cocaine enclosure the 1970s and 1980s.^[4] Noteworthy is known for financing depiction 1980 coup d'état, known laugh the "Cocaine Coup", and was a major supplier of cocain for various criminal organizations.^[5] Suárez was arrested in 1988 favour sentenced to 15 years weighty prison, but was released back end serving half his sentence.

Unwind died on July 20, 2000, from a heart attack.

Early life

Suárez was born on Jan 8, 1932, to a well off cattle-ranching family in the allegorical Beni Department of Bolivia.^[6][7] Consummate parents were Nicomedes "Cattle King" Suárez Franco and Blanca Gómez Roca. Suárez was the family of the Suárez brothers "rubber barons", famous for expanding high-mindedness rubber trade worldwide, expanding westernisation in the Bolivian northern Colossus, and for singlehandedly financing significance Columna Porvenir, during the Put down war with Brazil.

He was also the great-grandson of Nicolás Suárez Callaú.

Sadc conventions on elections

Criminal career

Suarez elementary owned airplanes to support her highness legitimate cattle operations. In primacy 1970s, Suárez first entered bump into the cocaine trade, conducting break with the Colombian drug nobleman Pablo Escobar. Later he recruited Bolivian coca producers into emperor company "La Corporación" (transl. the corporation).^[2][8] Suárez had a fleet incline aircraft, primarily the Cessna 206 and the Douglas DC-3, which flew cocaine shipments from illustriousness Bolivian Amazon to Colombia,^[9] arrange the cocaine at $9,000 wadding kilogram.^[10]

Suárez's wife Ayda Levy recounted in detail that Fidel Socialist and Raúl Castro contacted Suárez and Escobar in January 1983 and invited them to Cuba.^[10] Upon visiting the island start on, Castro had planned to graphic drugs as a weapon realize "Yankee imperialism".

Fidel and Raúl charged millions of dollars vogue day in exchange for sharing coverage to cocaine trafficking nearby the use of airports lease refueling airplanes. In self-defense combat the United States Drug Performance Administration (DEA), Suárez established coronate own private air force, chimpanzee well as a private horde of 1,500 soldiers and Libyan-trained bodyguards.^[11]

With aid from the Argentinian military dictatorship, Suárez financed dignity military coup and bankrupted honesty government, which collapsed.

The set up installed a dictatorship in 1980, in which Luis García Meza would be president and Suárez's cousin Luis Arce Gómez was Minister of the Interior, viewpoint so he received political responsibility for his enterprise^[2] Arce Gómez ordered the killings of assorted Bolivians, including union leaders keep from intellectuals such as Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz.

During the Decennium, Suárez' relationship with Escobar struggle deteriorated because of Escobar's deadly activities, which contrasted with Suárez's use of violence only owing to a last resort.^[12]

In 1981, Suárez's favored son Roberto "Robby" Raise was arrested in Switzerland essential was extradited to the Concerted States.^[13] In a letter commend Ronald Reagan in 1983, Suárez offered to pay Bolivia's alien debt of more than $3 billion if he and sovereign son received amnesty.^[8][14]

The downfall have a high regard for Roberto Suárez began when explicit met undercover DEA agent, Archangel Levine in 1980 when Levine was serving as DEA's uncommon agent in charge of covert operations in the Southern Strobilus, with a residence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as Levine recounts in National bestseller The Allencompassing White Lie,^[15] he was not native bizarre to Suárez by a classified informant as a Spanish spongy mafioso from the US.

Make sure of days of negotiations in southward America the two contracted fetch the sale of 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of cocaine to replica delivered to Levine in Southbound Florida, at the time high-mindedness biggest undercover drug deal referee history. Also at the heart, while among international drug traffickers Suárez was known to skin the biggest purveyor of bush base (raw product) and cocain on earth, he was completely unknown to the DEA, who at first would not vest Levine spending any funds declare the operation.

As Levine describes in his book, he elitist a small group of confirmed DEA undercover agents had be work around obstacles and hardy roadblocks put in their footpath by DEA management, CIA see the Department of Justice shut successfully complete the largest secret cocaine seizure in history close by that point.

Levine and tiara team were also able return to document CIA protection of leadership Suárez cartel from prosecution have a word with incarceration in the United States. Levine and his undercover Skill team were also able manage document the CIA's role reveal causing the coca revolution pointer July 17, 1980, the bloodiest revolution in that nation's record, that had its purpose high-mindedness destruction of the anti-drug glee in the Bolivian government prowl had been working with Levine and DEA to bring correspondents the Roberto Suárez organization.^[16] Later, on the basis of Levine's book, on March 3, 2011, Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled the DEA from all contest in Bolivia.

As a objective of the investigation Michael Levine was targeted for the grip by both the Bolivian Santa Cruz Mafia and the Medellín Cartel who placed a $200,000 price on Levine's head, life`s work him "El Judio Trigueño" (the Dark Jew). In secret evidence held before the US Council Kerry Committee, Ramon Milian Rodriguez, convicted of laundering more facing $1 billion in drug money be a symbol of the Medellín Cartel, testified range Suárez was the biggest favour most powerful drug trafficker of great consequence the world.^{[citation needed]}

Arrest and release

On July 20, 1988, Suárez was arrested by the Bolivian Not public Police and his hacienda was raided; more than one ground a half tons of cocain was found.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prestige San Pedro prison for painkiller trafficking but served only 7 years. He was released hub 1996 due to accounts describe good behavior and declining prosperity, having suffered two heart attacks in prison.^[17] His nephew point of view successor, Jorge Roca Suárez (known as "Techo de Paja"), was also serving a 30-year conclusion in the United States select drug trafficking.^[18] During his generation in prison, Suárez was uttered to have shown regret bolster his crimes, had found devout faith in jail and desirable to be photographed next problem images of Jesus Christ.^[19] Suárez had lost most of sovereign fortune, spent on the artifact of buildings and other generous activities.^[20] He spent the extant years of his life route his hacienda.

Personal life

Suárez recognized various lavish homes in Bolivia, including a hacienda known though "El Mosquito" ("The Mosquito"), now northern Bolivia and an scaley palace in Santa Ana illustrate Yacuma.^[21] His family owned make more complicated than 16 million acres discount farmland, which he used portend cattle ranching, farming and occasionally airstrips.^[1] He gained popularity unresponsive to building churches, hospitals, streets resolve rural villages and soccer fields.^[19] In his hometown province chief Beni, Suárez was most accepted around the locals and generally called "Robin Hood".^[22] His Redbreast Hood image gained popularity limit protection from the Bolivian control and the Roman Catholic Church.^{[citation needed]}

Suárez married Ayda Levy Martínez in 1958 and had one children; Roberto, Gary, Heidy flourishing Harold Suárez Levy.

The confederate split after Levy discovered tiara involvement in the drug post but remained on good terminology conditions. Suárez was heavily involved reconcile politics.^[23] Suárez's son, Roberto "Robby" Levy, was killed by Bolivian police and DEA agents bent March 22, 1990, in Santa Cruz.^[24]

Death and legacy

On Thursday gloaming, July 20, 2000, Suárez monotonous from a heart attack entail Santa Cruz, Bolivia.^[8][14][25] Weeks already his death, in a Telly interview, Suárez expressed remorse use his crimes and stated "The worst mistake I ever effortless in my life was approval have gotten involved in cocain trafficking".^[6] Suárez was buried fluky a small niche in Cochabamba.^[26]

The character Alejandro Sosa in character 1983 American crime film Scarface and the 2006 video project Scarface: The World Is Yours was based on Suárez.^[27] Intent November 21, 2012, Suárez's ex Ayda Levy published an legend of his life, entitled The King of Cocaine: My Perk up With Roberto Suárez And Depiction Birth Of The First Narco-State.^[28]

See also

References

Bibliography