Robert Mazur’s book “The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel” takes readers inside the inner workings of one of the most feared Drug Cartels of the 20th century.
It also explains how it led to the demise of the world’s 7th largest privately held bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
In a time when drugs were being shipped across the world and crime stemmed from Latin America thanks to Pablo Escobar, Robert Mazur’s life was put in danger as he helped expose and stop this world wide crime spree.
Mazur explains in his book how he managed to infiltrate the Medellin Cartel under an assumed name -while working undercover as a Federal Agent – and exposed the inner workings to the Medellin Cartel by gaining the trust of their top workers.
“My life was always in jeopardy, I was always crossing every T and dotting ever I to insure my identity would not be exposed; as that would cost me my life and the entire operation,” says Mazur.
As Mazur learned how the Cartel kept their lifeline of money flowing, he would send that information back to Washington D.C. The actual source for the illegal money laundering was the bank.
In an elaborate set up Mazur faked a wedding in Tampa, FL inviting all the top executives and operatives to the event. Waiting for them were federal agents who busted over 20 of them, bringing down the 7th largest bank in the world.
Sadly this kind of illegal activity takes place all over, and continues today; most recently the scandal with Wachovia Bank, which was later bought by Wells Fargo.
In his book Mazur takes you through his entire undercover life that spanned over 5 years from the inception of his mission to the conclusion; and talks about life after as he still lives in danger.
