Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Lost Billions Because Of Cash-Eating Rats

There’s a renewed interest in Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the so-called “King of Cocaine,” thanks to Netflix’s bloody and promising but flawed Narcos. If you find the Red Viper tracking a guy who at his peak was responsible for smuggling 15 tons of cocaine into the U.S. EVERY DAY fascinating, you may want to check out his brother Roberto’s 2009 book, The Accountant’s Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel, which chronicles Pablo’s meteoric rise and inevitable fall (22-year-old spoiler: He was shot and killed by the police).

Here’s one noteworthy passage, via Business Insider:

“Pablo was earning so much that each year we would write off 10% of the money because the rats would eat it in storage or it would be damaged by water or lost.” (Via)

That’s approximately $2.1 billion annually. $2.1 billion! If I saw a rat eat $20, I’d track the thing down, and try to retrieve the Jackson. Escobar saw losing all that cold, hard cash as an unfortunate though necessary drawback of not being able to deposit a billion dollars at the local Chase.

Narcos season two, now with more currency-eating rats.

(BroBible via Business Insider)

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