Menendez Cartel

The Menendez Cartel is a criminal organization operating in Nicaragua that Raul Menendez used to gather money via drug and arms trafficking in the 1980s and merged with the terrorist organization Cordis Die sometime before 2025.

History[edit | edit source]

Jose Luiz Menendez was once an ordinary man taking care of two children. After an earthquake in 1972 and paralleling economic troubles, the family lost everything and resorted to the drug trade to make money.

The cartel was originally run by Jose, who gave the gang a god-like reputation in the criminal underworld, then CIA successfully assassinated him in 1982. His son Raul was there at that time, but he wasn't considered as a target, so the unnamed CIA Operative left Raul to escape. After the death of his father, Raul gained full control of the cartel.

1980s[edit | edit source]

The cartel continued activity in Nicaragua under Raul's leadership and managing to keep the high reputation. Due to this high rep Raul managed to obtain connections to people in high places such as Soviet Colonel Lev Kravchenko, East Berlin crime boss Anton Volkov, and even Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. They also have connections to Perseus since at least 1982 through the evidence based on the claim that they helped moved weapons into to the United States in an exchange for assisting in breaking out a cartel allied member from custody in Miami in a note from Stitch.

However such friends in high places and his reputation caused him to gain attention from the CIA, just like his father. On September 25th, 1986, the CIA sent in Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson to capture Menendez with assistance from the Panamanian Defense Forces. After intense fighting throughout Raul's mansion, the CIA hit squad searched the house to find Menendez who eventually cornered him in his sister Josefina Menendez's room where a belligerent Woods threw the grenade that would kill Raul's sister and give Raul a new hatred for the Americans like never before; thus setting the scene for the rise of Cordis Die.