(RepublicanNews.org) – A drug trafficker who tried to rip off his overlords by concocting an elaborate heist of their product has died of natural causes. Natural to the drug trade, that is. A video uploaded to Twitter on August 29th showed the demise of 68-year-old Reinaldo Fuentes at the hands of cartel middle management.
In the 48-second clip, Fuentes can be seen lying zip-tied on the deck of a small boat. None of his executioners are visible outside the odd shoulder that appears in-frame, but one can be heard telling everyone to make sure their faces remain covered. Fuentes is conscious in the clip, though he never utters a word and seems resigned to his fate.
After a few seconds, the Venezuelan is hoisted up and bent over the boat’s railing. Lifting the older man off the deck took effort on the part of the criminals because they had fastened an anchor around his waist. A brief push is followed by a splash, and then Fuentes disappears beneath the waves.
What transpired before the viral clip has the makings of a movie. Fuentes was overseeing a transnational water-based shipment of some 450 pounds of cocaine. The trafficker fabricated a story about being pursued by regional Coast Guard authorities and having to toss his stash overboard.
After conveying the loss to cartel leadership, he took a crew back out on the water and collected the booty. Fuentes then organized his own sale elsewhere, effectively cutting out his bosses. The cartel wrote the loss off as breakage until one of Fuentes’ co-conspirators snitched. He was kidnapped not long after.
The Venezuelan’s death was atypical in the sense of his advanced age within a violent industry and the fact that his murder involved little blood, with cartels being known for their heinous execution methods. A 2019 report from nearby Mexico showed that the drug war was so all-encompassing it had altered the country’s overall life expectancy.
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