You know, I recently learned about the history of a pilot that sounds like the script for a Hollywood blockbuster. Barry Seal—that’s definitely the name to remember if you’re interested in 20th-century criminal history.

The guy was born in 1939 and, at 16, already got a pilot’s license. He started flying early, but his flights turned out to be anything but ordinary. First, he smuggled weapons, and then, at some point, he got involved with Castro’s Кубинская революция. What a wild career, honestly.

By the end of the 1970s, Barry Seal was already working with the Medellín cartel under the nickname “El Gordo.” And this is where it gets really interesting—the guy smuggled tons of кокаин into the U.S. They say it was worth between 3 and 5 billion dollars. Can you imagine the scale?

But then, in 1984, there was a turning point—Barry Seal began secretly working for the ЦРУ and the DEA. He helped with taking down operations by Pablo Escobar. The cooperation shortened his sentence, but it also made him a living target for cartel killers.

In February 1986, when he was only 46 years old, Barry Seal was killed. His life story was so epic that in 2017 the film «Американский мейд» was released, starring Tom Круз as the lead. The movie, in general, turned out great—this whole insane biography right on the screen.