Escobar’s Pilot Makes Millions & Escapes Prison | Roger Reaves

Roger Reaves describes how the Medellin Cartel, including Pablo Escobar and Jorge Ochoa, structured itself as an 'insurance company.' They guaranteed the delivery of product to Miami for $10,000 per kilo, promising to replace any lost shipments 100% if they were busted between Colombia and Miami. This model centralized control and mitigated risk for smaller traffickers, drawing in massive quantities of product from Peru and Bolivia.

Reaves states, 'The cartel was an insurance company. If you would give them your product... they would guarantee to be delivered in Miami to your contact for $10,000. If it was busted anywhere between Colombia and Miami, they would replace it in Colombia 100%.' He notes they handled '100 tons' through this program.

Reaves faced life-threatening situations, including his plane being riddled with 80 bullet holes by Mexican Federales during takeoff, resulting in severe injuries and a miraculous escape on a donkey. He was later arrested in Mexico and subjected to brutal torture, including having hot chili inserted into his rectum and nearly dying from formaldehyde poisoning after being held in a cell with a deceased, embalmed body.

He recounts, 'They put 80 bullet holes in there across... the Mexican Federalis on my takeoff. They killed a man. They shot the man foot nearly off my me. I lost my toe, top of my head, my kneecap.' Later, 'they put hot chili up my rectum... and then after a few more a week or two, I was in a cell just 5 foot square... they brought a black man in... and they put him on a meat hook on the wall... I almost died from the from the formaldahhide poisoning.'

Despite the immense wealth and 'adventure,' Reaves expresses profound regret for the 33 years he spent in prison, particularly the 19 years he went without seeing his wife, Mari. He laments missing key family milestones like his children's weddings and graduations, and his wife's battle with cancer, all while he was incarcerated. His return home was marked by shyness and the poignant realization of lost time.

Reaves states, 'I really regret leaving my family for 33 years... I regret the life that I didn't live. 33 years in prison is a long, long time.' He describes his wife's reaction to his return: 'We were shy... Of course is a nice hug. And she said, "Get those prison clothes off."... I couldn't look at them. I wasn't there when she was 50. I wasn't there when she was 60. I wasn't there when she was 70. I wasn't there when she had cancer and had to go through all that hospital stuff with it all by herself.'

Reaves criticizes the current US prison system, calling it a 'cesspool' where half the inmates are mentally ill and the system incentivizes arrests and convictions over rehabilitation. He proposes radical reforms: establishing trade schools within prisons where inmates can earn their freedom by mastering a skill, and allowing inmates to donate organs for reduced sentences, acknowledging the potential for abuse but emphasizing the need for an 'honest system.'

He states, 'This whole system's got to be changed from the ground up.' He proposes, 'put right in the middle of America a trade school... when you become a plumber, class A, you can walk out of here, no parole, nothing. That's your That's your sentence.' He also suggests, 'I'll give up my kidney for 10 years off of my non-perole period.'