Dwalin that's Jon Roberts, aka John Riccobono, claims to be related to the Riccobono family, although it's not confirmed.
I know what he said, and I don't know what to make of it. Look, it depends on how you see it... the Medellin cartel was not THAT different from, say, the NY 5 families. The cartel was made up of a couple of different partners who used the same smuggling routes. Pablo was one of them, Carlos Lehder was another, The Ochoa family of course was a big power, but so was the Castano's, along with El Mexicano (the mexican, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha). These were the main Medellin players. To say who was the REAL power behind the cartel is a complex question. Pablo was the most notrious and filthy rich, but he was constantly engaged in politics and the in war against the government, and ultimately, narcoterrorism. Pablo did have a lot of money but he was also spending so much on his stuff that at any point, I doubt he actually had more than 2-3 billion dollars together. Maybe less.
When he died, he had WAY less than that. Meanwhile the Ochoas had a lot more and still do. So in a way the Ochoas had it better, less heat, more money, a more established power base because they were an old traditional rancher family. The old man, Pablo was respectful of him, but I doubt he had direct control over Pablo, don't think it was the kind of relationship where Fabio Sr could order Pablo around, because they were all partners... it's a business at the end of the day, and they are all dealers, and everybody can do as he pleases. What I'm trying to say is that there was no structure like inside of an Cosa Nostra crime family, but rather it was more horizontal and equal between the partners, although their power varied, some bigger than the others.. one had a lot of money, one had an army of killers, one had the right connections, one had the most labs, the most established routes, etc.
Gerrylang, I can get access to Brotherhoods, it was a great book I know. But for the moment I don't have it, but except for that and Casino, I pretty much have most of the mob books out on ebook, kindle, whatever.
