The Colombian Cartel (コロンビア・カルテル Koronbia Karuteru), also blended in with the Manisarera Cartel (マニサレラ・カルテル Manisarera Karuteru) in the anime, is a Colombian organized crime syndicate based in Latin America, particularly in Bucaramanga, Colombia.[1] The Manisarera Cartel, which was a separate cartel in the manga, was based in Venezuela.
Structure and leadership[]
The Colombian Cartel is led by Boss Pasturia, also called "jefe" by his subordinates.[2] In Roanapur, the Thai branch of the cartel was led by Abrego, who was later replaced by Gustavo. Among Roanapur's crime syndicates, the Colombian Cartel was one of four groups that used to be a member of the Council of liaison between the Colombians, Hotel Moscow, the Hong Kong Triad, and Cosa Nostra.
History[]
The group primarily participates in drug trafficking and murder. Moreover, Los Mivas Coffee Company was the Colombians' front company in Roanapur.[3] In the manga, the Colombian Mafia and the Manisarera Cartel are two different forces,[4] but in the anime they are combined into one as the Manisarera Cartel. Additionally, the Colombian Cartel is a different organization from the Medellín Cartel, the latter which was eventually crushed, causing FARC to ally with the Colombian Cartel instead.[1] The Manisarera Cartel was originally based in Venezuela,[5] whereas the Colombian Cartel operates in Colombia. Nonetheless, as part of their alliance with FARC, the Colombians kept tabs on Roberta, who lives in the Lovelace family mansion in Venezuela.
Rasta Blasta[]
In the manga, the Thai branch leader of the Manisarera Cartel was a completely different individual from Abrego (since the Manisarera and Colombian Cartels were two different groups). In the anime, Abrego replaces the unnamed leader and even copies his physical appearance, but Abrego's physical appearance in the anime does not match his manga appearance (i.e., shaggier hair) until the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA.
In the mid-1990s, there was a long, ongoing feud between the Lovelace family and the cartel since the latter wanted to take over the Lovelaces' land upon learning their land was discovered to be rich in minerals like lutetium. When Diego Lovelace openly refused to be intimidated by the local Venezuelan mafia, the Manisarera Cartel arranged for the kidnapping of Diego's son Garcia Lovelace. To get Garcia overseas, the cartel had the Lagoon Company ship Garcia aboard their boat to bring him to Hat Yai.[6] Diego was reluctant to send his maid Roberta to rescue Garcia, but he eventually allowed her to rescue his son.[7] Accordingly, she found several cartel members in Valle de Ocelotl, Venezuela and killed them, learning from one gangster that Garcia was shipped to Thailand. When Roberta arrived in Roanapur, she asked around where to find the Colombians. Because he heard about someone in a maid outfit asking about the Colombians, the Thai branch leader of the Manisarera Cartel and some of his men went to the Yellow Flag and confronted her, demanding to know what business she had with them.[8]
Roberta responded that she came on behalf of the Lovelace family and had to be "rude," making the cartel members burst out laughing. As Roberta shot the various members in a bar firefight, the Manisarera leader soon realized that Roberta was not a mere maid, but the Bloodhound of Florencia. He tried to fight back but was injured by Roberta's incendiaries.[9] He managed to survive the ordeal but was soon captured by Hotel Moscow. At the harbor, Balalaika told Roberta that the Manisarera Cartel's base in Venezuela was being destroyed as they spoke in an effort to dissuade her from continuing her rampage. In the end, Roberta went home with Garcia and the Manisarera Cartel's influence greatly waned.[5]
Bloodsport Fairy tale[]
Abrego, who in the manga was with the Colombian Cartel rather than the Manisarera Cartel, attended an emergency Council meeting between the leaders of Roanapur's crime syndicates. There, he denied that his forces were involved in the recent killings of Hotel Moscow members, telling Balalaika that he thought he and her were on good terms at that point and he was in no position to fight her or others.[10]
El Baile de la muerte / Roberta's Blood Trail[]
When rumor spread that Roberta was returning to Roanapur, Abrego ordered his men, including Gustavo, to gather intel about Roberta's whereabouts as well as her appearance since the Colombians did not know much about her maid persona. Gustavo visited the Yellow Flag and came across Revy, who briefed him on Roberta's physical appearance because he clarified that the Colombian and Manisarera Cartels were two different groups.[4] Someone in a maid outfit did enter the bar; it was not Roberta but instead Fabiola Iglesias, who requested that the Lagoon Company pirates come with her to Sankan Palace Hotel. Seeing that he could use Fabiola to find Roberta, Gustavo approved of José grabbing the maid upward while the others searched her briefcase only to find candy inside, making them laugh. In turn, the young maid asked them if they would torture her if she refused to cooperate, but Gustavo calmly assured her that he would not torture a child. Satisfied at his answer, Fabiola deployed the knife on her shoe's tip to stab José in the testicles, angering the cartel members.
Slowly walking up to the young maid, Hidalgo prepared to frisk her for weapons. Consequently, Fabiola began a firefight when Revy purposefully pushed a bottle of Bacardi onto the ground, using shotgun shells (or buckshot in the anime) against the men. Panicking, Gustavo used Bao's telephone to call Abrego at their front company, but a different man informed Gustavo that Abrego was at the Maplao market with a girlfriend. Gustavo yelled at him that there was another maid at the Yellow Flag, urging him to inform Abrego.[3] At the same time, Gustavo again used Bao's phone to call for reinforcements, much to Bao's anger. Arriving outside the bar as Fabiola kept fighting the men unharmed, Chico and Marrero waited for further orders from their boss. When the line went dead, Chico thought that Gustavo was killed and yelled at Marrero to use his high-powered machine gun. Preparing the weapon, Marrero fired at the bar, but Fabiola took cover and went unharmed whereas other Colombians inside got hit by friendly fire. Needing to reload his weapon, he urged Borge to take several guys with him and charge inside.
Frustrated, Fabiola granted mercy to the remaining Colombians to take their men and flee. She then fired a grenade at the ceiling, blocking Borge and his men. Marrero began to re-fire, but Fabiola jumped out of the way and fired another grenade at a car outside, flipping the vehicle onto Marrero. Terrified, Chico ordered everyone else to retreat and regroup, quickly entering a car from the passenger side. As the driver drove away, Chico called Abrego and claimed that Gustavo was killed in the one-sided firefight. Before he could elaborate that a child, not Roberta, was the culprit, Fabiola launched a grenade at the speeding car, blowing the vehicle off the road.[11] Furious, Gustavo pointed his pistol at Fabiola, but Revy in turn glared and pointed her Cutlass at his head, forcing him to begrudgingly flee the scene.[7]
Later the next night, he accompanied Abrego to a Council summit hosted by Mister Chang at The Golden Swingin Night Club to figure out what actions each mafia in Roanapur would agree upon for dealing with Roberta and the U.S. Army's presence in the city. When Abrego and Gustavo spoke with each other in Spanish about the situation, Ronnie the Jaws told them to speak in English, but the two men clarified that they were staying on topic. Abrego sternly declared that he needed to kill Roberta so that his cartel could strengthen their relations with FARC, adding that FARC only allied with his group due to the Medellín Cartel's decline. Laughing at his gutsy proclamation, Balalaika had no problem with his possible armed response to Roberta; in contrast she suggested that they kick out the U.S. Army to prevent them from crushing Roanapur's drug trade. Still adamant, Abrego replied that he did not want to mess with the U.S. Army since he could end up like Pablo Escobar, elaborating that he was set on killing Roberta. Chang warned Abrego that he should move carefully, but the latter decided that he would move forward anyway.[1]
Soon, he heard from the Colombian Cartel's headquarters from Boss Pasturia and agreed to team up with Alberto Camarasa and his reinforcements from FARC, who still had a bounty on Roberta for her betrayal. While tending to his own children, Pasturia ordered Abrego not to attack any U.S. soldiers since they would face retaliation from the United States if they did so, warning him to omit the U.S. Army's presence from Camarasa.[2] Despite this alliance, Abrego hid the fact from the FARC soldiers that Roberta was in Roanapur specifically because of the U.S. Army, creating distrust between Alberto and Abrego once the former discovered it.[12] Irritated by Abrego's deception, Alberto called Abrego to ask the latter why he did not tell him about Grey Fox, and he responded that they only needed to go after the maid, but Alberto replied that he would not allow any obstacle, especially U.S. soldiers, to interfere with his mission. Finally, Alberto finished the call by insulting Abrego as just an arrogant gangster and hung up. Infuriated, Abrego kicked the table in front of him and shrieked that the cartel would be in colossal trouble if Alberto and his men killed even one U.S. troop. Because Abrego was making a mess of things, Gustavo disappointingly pulled out his pistol, implying that he purged Abrego.[13] The phone call and subsequent purge were not included in the anime adaptation.
L'homme sombre[]
It is mentioned by Mister Chang during another meeting between Roanapur's crime lords that Gustavo could not attend since he traveled back to Latin America to help the Colombian Cartel against the U.S.A.'s war on drugs as well as to fight the Nuevo Laredo Cartel's prospects to encroach on their territory in Latin America. The Triad boss added that the control of drugs in the region leaned toward the Nuevo Laredo Cartel, in contrast to the dwindling Colombian Cartel.[14]
El réquiem de los Desalmados[]
When the Colombians' power further declined as a result of the Nuevo Laredo Cartel becoming stronger than them, the Colombian Cartel pulled their forces out of Roanapur. As a result, they lost their seat on the Council, which was taken by Fernando Lobos of the Nuevo Laredo Cartel.[15]
Trivia[]
- Gustavo's purge of Abrego in "El Baile de la muerte" is similar to Lobos's purge of Elvis in the "Greenback Jane" arc.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 53: El Baile de la muerte Part 10
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 57: El Baile de la muerte Part 14
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 46: El Baile de la muerte Part 3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 45: El Baile de la muerte Part 2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 04: Rasta Blasta Part 3
- ↑ Episode 08: Rasta Blasta
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Episode 25: Collateral Massacre
- ↑ Chapter 02: Rasta Blasta Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 03: Rasta Blasta Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 11: Bloodsport Fairy tale Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 47: El Baile de la muerte Part 4
- ↑ Chapter 59: El Baile de la muerte Part 16
- ↑ Chapter 61: El Baile de la muerte Part 18
- ↑ Chapter 103: L'homme sombre Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 117: El réquiem de los Desalmados Part 1