Amengual Cartel

There was a time in the early 2000’s when Nicaragua claimed to be free of large-scale narcotics trafficking. In fact, one of the nation’s most brutal counternarcotics operations was carried out under the orders of a military official named Julio Césan Amengual.

Along with the country’s attorney general, over the first decade of the 21st century a series of prosecutions put many crime bosses out of business. Cocaine export was almost completely eliminated from the country.

But by 2020, another, more sophisticated lucrative business rose in its place. Opiates were the drug of the masses. The WHO called the addiction an epidemic. Julio Amengual’s investments transformed the pharmaceutical industry in Nicaragua. By the time he retired from the military, he was simultaneously hailed a national hero and planted the seeds for powerful cartel fit for the modern era.

Julio had three daughters and two sons. The elder son became a lawyer and followed in the footsteps of his father’s close family friend, the former attorney general. The second son learned the intracicies of the shipping business, meanwhile, and worked to expand distribution of the all-too-legal pharmaceuticals at their fingertips.

From there, the family expanded in size, influence and power. The head of the cartel eventually fell to the shoulders of a man named Andres Amengual, Julio’s grandson, who took on the moniker “El Tiburón” (The shark). His love for the creatures was the inspiration as was the massive shark tank aquariums commissioned by his mother at the various family estates.

Andres was the eldest of three siblings: a sister and brother followed after him. The night he was killed, a niece was caught in the crossfire. He never intended to actually harm the girl. Family was blood, but the Americans wouldn’t know that. The threat was his undoing, however. Jay Carpenter called his bluff and killed Andres in cold blood – likely traumatizing the girl he was trying to save in doing so.

After his death, Andres’ younger brother, Zacarías Secada Amengual, vowed to take over the family’s business, adopt the moniker of El Tiburón, and seek revenge.

In 2046, following the events of Duality, Amengual was killed by Jay Carpenter in retribution for the murder of his sister and parents.

Jay just stared into the man’s eyes, glowing brighter with each passing minute from the above dawn. He memorized their look as he held him down. The power drilled its work, and Zacarías wreathed beneath him, torturous screams echoing across the jungle, but he was imprisoned. Jay just stared, jaw tight, saying nothing, and absorbed every second of life leeching from those eyes. When the fight stopped and the haunt glossed, he swallowed finally, and released the body of its prison.

He just stood there, covered in Zacarías blood. It was mixed in with his own. His mother’s. The spatter of his father’s. It was anticlimactic, finally killing the man that chased him for all these years. It was over, but among the empty haunts, Axel’s voice was loudest.

’War is all we know.’

The power churned, aching to be used, but with deadpan decision, it was the trio of gunshots that punched the air with finality. Two to the chest. One to the head.

Duality

Known players:

• Thiago Amengual – youngest son of Zacarías Secada Amengual.
• Ryker Petrovic – mediator between the Amengual cartel and Moscow-based Yakuza
• Jay Carpenter – Rifleman of the MARSOC Raiders that killed Andres Amengual at their base of operations in Nicaragua.
• Unnamed Pentagon official – From whom the order to strike the Amengual operation and take Andres hostage for questioning by US Officials originated.