Five gals and three dudes.
That can be tricky. Overall, smooth, but there were a few moments when it almost came off the rails. Ah, whatever.
I hosted my quarterly mastermind this past weekend in Medellín, Colombia. It ran from Thursday to Sunday. Good times, good conversations, new focuses.
On Friday, I took the group to meet one of the most notorious criminals in history. I sat on the couch next to him with his ex-wife on the other side.
“How did y’all meet?” I asked the ex-wife. He doesn’t speak English. I don’t know if he even speaks. A letter bomb blinded him and destroyed 60% of his hearing. That must have sucked.
“I met him in prison. We were married three months later,” she smiled.
We were in a tiny apartment that was 100 degrees. There were a dozen or so workers scampering around. Above my head was a gemstone portrait of two notorious men…
Pablo Escobar and Brando Vito Corleone from The Godfather movie.
Next to me was Roberto Escobar, Pablo’s brother who is one of the only people still alive from the downfall of the Medellín cartel in the '80s and '90s. Brown pants, brown shoes, brown shirt, and a washed out yellow baseball hat. Oh, and odd-looking clear glasses.
He didn’t move, speak, or look around. At 77 years old, he is slow and blind. The only reason he is alive is because he turned himself in and was in prison for 14 years. A prison with a casino, spa, and plenty of parties. He paid to build it.
His brother, Pablo Escobar, did not turn himself in and was killed the day after his 44th birthday where he, according to witnesses, ate cake, drank wine, and smoked weed. The military shot him on the roof trying to escape.
Roberto’s ex-wife, sitting with us, was Miss Colombia and currently in her early 40s.
Here are a few facts about Roberto Escobar who ran the most notorious drug cartel in the history of the world with his brother Pablo Escobar.
He spent $2500/month on rubber bands to hold the cartel money (30 billion in the 1980s)
He had 142 planes, 20 helicopters, 32 yachts, and 141 homes and offices, plus several submarines.
While in prison, he was blinded in one eye from a letter bomb that was sent to him.
His pilots made $500K per day flying back and forth to the US.
While hiding, his daughter got sick, and he burned $2 million in cash to keep her warm.
Roberto hated "Narcos" so much, he sued Netflix for $1 billion, claiming unauthorized usage of content.
The Medellín cartel supplied 80% of the entire world's cocaine.
In December 2019, Escobar announced a folding phone, the Escobar Fold 1. The phone was priced at $349. Escobar said "I have told many people that I will defeat Apple — and I will”
He started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to impeach Donald Trump and said this: “My brother Pablo killed hundreds of judges and thousands of policemen. But this time we will do it the legal way, peacefully.”
Although he sat there frail and old, I could still sense his power. The man standing at the edge of the couch was Pablo’s longtime bodyguard. The woman in the kitchen was their chef for the past 30 years. They all had eyes on Roberto, and if he nodded, they moved quickly.
It was fascinating.
His ex-wife spoke English, so I asked her…
“What made you fall in love with him when you visited the prison? What was it about him?”
A huge smile formed on her face. She looked down at Roberto and said…
“Adrenaline.”
At my mastermind, we discussed virtues and vices. Virtues like courage, self-control, temperance, justice, wisdom, and love. However, one that I am currently contemplating is…
ZEST
To live with zest. To live alive. Full of enthusiasm and energy.
To live with…
adrenaline.
Trey