Hector Noriega’s childhood had been marked by trying events. Growing up in a family in which selling narcotics was the source of income, there was always this great feeling of uncertainty. The feeling that on any day you could return home to learn everyone you love had been killed, the feeling that your father ordered the killing of the man you had just seen dead on the street, the feeling that you were going to be next. While his family was wealthy and he had benefitted from that fact early on in his life, that all changed on Cinco de Mayo, 1997. His family always held a large party in which the entire Noriega family would attend, and it was not short of luxuries. Tables and tables of foods and expensive delicacies lined the rear of the …show more content…
“You can do this. Just pick the right time when none of the watchmen will be there, grab the drop money, run back to the Jeep and you’re good. You’ve studied the routine, you know what they do, you can do this,” he thought. Knowing he could very well be killed in the process, images of his wife and son flashed through his mind, but there was no way he could let his son live the way he had. There was at least 2 million dollars in the box, enough to change the fortune of his life tremendously.
After doing a loop around the neighborhood, it became evident the cartel watchmen were on their regular routine. They knew 9:27 p.m. would be there time to rob the drop. The watchmen, who maintained lookout from 9 p.m.- 1 a.m., would receive a phone call at 9:26 every night and would disappear for about 4 minutes. This would be the time.
As the clock struck 9:26, the watchmen answered his phone as expected, and disappeared. Hector quickly sprinted from the Jeep, crowbar and duffelbag in hand, and yanked open the postbox. Yellow envelope after yellow envelope stuffed with hundred dollar bills spilled from the box as Hector packed them into the bad. His hands hectically zipped the bag shut and sprinted back to the Jeep. In a flash, Juanito and Hector disappeared unseen, just as they had