El Tarantula Cartel

The El Tarantula Cartel was a criminal organisation based in Central America dedicated to the export of weapons, drugs, indentured workers and other illegal substances for profit. For a long period they were the largest of the crime organisations in the region before their leadership was assasinated just prior to the El Paso incident.

## El Tarantula Cartel

### First Appearance

Patron Saint of Crime #1 (15th August, 2013)

### Former Leaders

Julian Boccanegra, Daniel Santiago (El Tarantula)

### Members

Bruja, Dronekiller, Stone, Styx, Elias Wormwood

### Former Members

Maya Grady, El Grande, Ian Montgomery, Juliet Tomasi, Valarie Sosa, Malik Rassouli, Model 71 Recon Droid

### Purpose

Export and Import of Illegal Substances for Profit

## History

### **Early Years**

The origins of the El Tarantula Cartel can be traced back to the 1970s and a man named Daniel Santiago, who referred to himself as 'the Tarantula'. During the 70s, Santiago worked covertly for the CIA as an agent in Mexico tasked with identifying communist agents hoping to cross the border, under the guise of a criminal entrepreneur. While Santiago stopped numerous agents from crossing, life running drugs and guns suited the man and he left the CIA and started a small gang of like minded men in the highlands of Guatemala. By the 1980s this gang had numerous men and women working for Santiago and the organisation spread northwards into Mexico and towards the US border.

Whilst initially stopped at the banks of the Rio Grande, by 1985 the El Tarantula Cartel had managed to set up shop in New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana, either buying out the local criminal organisations or destroying them in violent displays in power. As he grew older Santiago became less concerned with money, and more concerned with power and land, with the cartel looking more like a paramilitary force. Ultimately this lust for power is what alienated his closest lieutenants including Julian Boccanegra, the man who would be responsible for his death.

### **The Accent of Julian Boccanegra**

The aggressive onslaught of the El Tarantual Cartel reached its climax in a large scale gang war in Los Angeles, with regular abductions and assassinations occurring throughout the summer of 1991 right up until Santiago's death, with each month seeing more and more of his men becoming dissatisfied with the lack of profit to be made in murder and mayhem. In the end, Santiago put himself in a position where even his bodyguards were ready to turn on him, and on one late September evening, Boccanegra ambushed Santiago's car, shot him through the hip and then strung him up onto a highway marker before setting him alight as a sign that the old master was dead. Whilst many feared that this event signalled a rise in gang violence, the opposite occurred, with Boocanegra taking the majority of the Cartel back to the shadows, at least until he had enough products (both drugs and arms) to start making a profit again.

Basing himself, and by extension his organisation in El Paso, Julian set up partnerships with other syndicates and cartels, most notably the recently formed Dragon's Tooth Triad based in Hong Kong and Maccau. And while violence did occasionally flare up, Boccanegra wasn't the monster his predecessor had been, with an uneasy peace settling over the regions the El Tarantula Cartel was based. This partially was the result of Boccanegra and his associates buying the loyalty of numerous officials across all law enforcement bodies to keep his men out of jail. While the expansion in the 80s and early 90s was the product of violence and intimidation, the growth of the 2000s was down to good business sense and ultimately turned the El Tarantula Cartel from a paramilitary terrorist organisation into the leading drug cartel in North and Central America.

### **Infiltration and Assassination**

While few in the EPPD seemed to be too concerned about the enduring power of Boccanegra, a select group worked up a plan to dismantle the entire El Tarnatula operation in the United States. It involved sending an undercover agent into the organisation to gather evidence about the entirety of the El Tarantula operations, effectively allowing a mass arrest under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act. To that end, a little known stunt actor and adopted sister of the lead officer James Grady was hired to infiltrate the criminal empire under the guise of the Patron Saint of Crime or Siwang. By targeting police officers and other officials, Boccanegra was forced by the officials he had corrupted to take control of this assassin, either by killing her or bringing her on side. In the end Boccanegra, not wishing to waste an asset, went for the later, something that would be his downfall.

Over the next few months, Siwang would integrate into the El Tarantula Cartel, and with the skills she brought with her, the profit of the cartel increased, despite attracting the attention of numerous deadly foes such as Onca, Danika Sedova and the Crusader, all of who had targeted Grady's criminal persona for termination. In the end, Siwang had gathered enough intelligence on the gang, but ultimately kept it to herself until she could convince Ian Monntgomery, the man she had fallen in love with, to leave the cartel with her before everything came crashing down around them. In the end this delay cost everything, with the arrest of Boccanegra occurring a few days before his death at the hands of the Mayan spirit of revenge Onca.

### **The El Paso Incident**

The death of Julian Boccanera,and the flash flood that followed his demise, plunged the El Tarantula Cartel into crisis, with the members effectively reverting back to the brutal methods that had been common place during the Santiago regime. With the arrival of reveal gang leaders in the city such as El Aquilla, The Gunsmith and the Merchant, the fighting was magnified, with El Tarantula effectively disappearing from the underworld of El Paso. Ultimately is was Julian's lawyer, Isla Fisher, who revived the cartel by blackmailing Maya Grady to return to her roll as Patron Saint of Crime, by holding her sister hostage.

As the other crime factions fought each other, El Tarantula grew unseen in the shadows as constant attrition and warfare allowed the National Guard to regain control of the city. Striking at the end of the gang war, El Tarantula thugs decimated the remaining members of the other factions and assimilated their resources into Fisher's own criminal empire.

While this should have been the triumphant return of El Tarantula, trouble was brewing in the form of the mysterious figure Peste Negra who along with Siwang launched their own assault on Isla, with Maya throwing the new Boccanegra into an fuel reservoir tank and sealing the entrance hatch. Ultimately Peste Negra rescued Fisher, and revealed himself as the original Boccanegra, who thanks to events occurring in the Mayan Underworld had escaped back to life, albeit as a ghoul. In the end the pair made a deal, with Fisher running the cartel for Julian, whilst he restored the organisations reputation in Central America.

### **New Horizons**

Fisher allied herself with Gavin Hotchkiss for unknown reasons. It's currently unknown if Julian was aware of this partnership. Julian appeared to be wining back territory taken from him after his demise from El Aquilla, even forcing the rival gang leader to flee north of the border to San Fransisco in attempt to create a new power base for his own gang.

## Members

### **Leadership**

Julian Boccanegra - Overall commander of the El Tarantual Cartel. Returned to life as an undying Ghoul after Au Puch's failed campaign to return to the surface and take over the world.

Isla Fisher - The second Boccanegra who took command of the remnants of the El Tarantula Cartel. Current Head of operations in the United States of America

### **Members**

Bruja - Former associated of Marsiposa who took over drug synthesis in Cancun, Later moved to El Paso where she swore loyalty to Isla Fisher.

Dronekiller - Assassin for hire currently on contract with the El Tarantula Cartel

Kool-o-Suchus - Australian Mercenary Captain who had been hired to retrieve a sample of Blue Diesel

Stone - Former henchman of Marsiposa who currently works as muscle for El Bruja

Styx - Former henchman of Marsiposa who currently works as muscle for El Bruja

Elias Wormwood - Eiter infused hitman that acts as a personal bodyguard for Isla Fisher

### **Former Members**

Daniel Santiago - Former CIA agent who set up the El Tarantula Cartel and led it on a violent attack on Central America. Killed by Julian Boccanegra in 1991

Cleavers Cassidy - Former Hitman who left the Cartel after they tortured him after he was discovered selling secrets. Currently working as a freelance agent

Maya Grady - Former agent known as the Patron Saint of Crime and undercover operative responsible for dismantling the El Tarantula Cartel twice. Currently working with Danika Sedova as a free lance mercenary

El Grande - Former Accountant for the El Tarantula Cartel. Killed by Onca in 2015

Ian Montgomery - Former Enforcer and Marksmen working for Boocanegra. Ultimately decided to leave the cartel which resulted in his termination by ex girlfriend Juliet Tomasi in 2015.

Malik Rassouli - Former Courier working for El Tarantula. Killed by Onca in 2014

Model 71 Recon Droid - A reactivated Recon Droid was used by the El Tarantula Cartel to acquire a sample of Blue Diesel

Valarie Sosa - Former Lieutenant and Chemist in charge of Drug Synthesis. Killed by Onca in 2014

Juliet Tomasi - Former Enforcer and Hitwoman working for Boccanegra. Left the organization to find work back in her native home of Italy