Abrego (アブレーゴ Aburēgo) was the leader of the Colombian Cartel's Thai branch.
Appearance[]
Abrego was a lean Hispanic man with short dark hair and a thin mustache, also wearing sunglasses and a suit. In the anime, his hair was slicked back, but in the manga and the OVA, his hair was shaggier. He carried a pistol for a weapon.
History[]
In the anime, Abrego was the head of the Manisarera Cartel since the anime had the Manisarera and Colombian Cartels combined into one group. In the manga, the branch enforcer of the Manisarera Cartel was a different man since they were a cartel based in Venezuela, whereas Abrego was a leader in the Colombian Cartel with a completely different appearance.
Rasta Blasta[]
In this arc for the anime, Abrego was used in lieu of the Manisarera Cartel enforcer in the manga. He had Garcia Lovelace abducted to use as leverage against the Lovelace family, ordering Lagoon Company to deliver the boy to Hat Yai. At the same time, Roberta came to Roanapur to rescue the boy and asked around town where she could find the Colombians. Hearing about a maid going around town and asking about the Colombians, Abrego and his men went to the Yellow Flag, where he saw her sit at the counter, angrily demanding that she tell him what her business was with him.[1]
Consequently, Roberta pulled out her arsenal of weapons and started killing Abrego's men, prompting him to hide from her fierce firepower. When he saw Garcia hiding with the nearby Lagoon crew under a table, he asked Dutch why the "package" (Garcia) was at the bar rather than at the agreed upon destination. When Roberta was shocked to see Garcia and was taken off guard, Abrego came out with a gun pointed at her, saying that he recognized her as the Bloodhound of Florencia. Joking that not even Jesus Christ could have predicted her return, he added that he knew about the $400,000 bounty put on her head, proudly proclaiming that he would become a lieutenant in the cartel if he brought her head back to Colombia. Unfazed by his threat, Roberta bid him goodbye by dropping several grenades from her dress, scaring him and the remaining cartel members out of the bar as the grenade explosions tore the bar apart.[2]
Later the same night, when Hotel Moscow soldiers forced Revy and Roberta to stop fighting, Balalaika showed the captured Abrego to Roberta, telling her to stop her rampage since Garcia was safe and the Manisarera Cartel's base in Venezuela was being destroyed.[3]
Bloodsport Fairy tale[]
Abrego attended a Council meeting between the other crime lords of Roanapur, including Balalaika, Mister Chang, and Verrocchio. Inside the meeting room, they discussed the recent murders of Hotel Moscow members by unknown assailants. Balalaika demanded that Abrego look at her, but he responded that he had no involvement in the murders and thought that he had good relations with Hotel Moscow.[4] The meeting soon adjourned, and it was later revealed that Verrocchio was the one who hosted the murderers Hänsel and Gretel.
El Baile de la muerte / Roberta's Blood Trail[]
When Roberta returned to Roanapur to hunt down American soldiers of the Grey Fox team, Abrego ordered Gustavo to find the maid,[5]. At the same time, he went to the Maplao market with his girlfriend.[6] However, Gustavo's pursuit ended with most of his men being injured by Fabiola Iglesias at the Yellow Flag, forcing him to flee.[7] After his subordinate's failure, Abrego had Gustavo come with him to a Council meeting at The Golden Swingin Night Club between Roanapur's crime lords. Inside the nightclub, the four bosses discussed how to deal with Roberta and Grey Fox's respective presences. While Ronnie the Jaws recommended they let the two sides fight in a controlled area, Abrego sternly proclaimed that he needed Roberta's head to stabilize relations between the Colombian Cartel and FARC. Balalaika had no problem with his request because she was only concerned about the U.S. Army due to their potential to crush Roanapur's drug trade. In contrast, Mister Chang advised Abrego not to make any moves, but the latter was adamant in his desire to kill Roberta.[8]
Soon, Gustavo received a call from Boss Pasturia in Colombia and gave the phone to Abrego. Speaking with Pasturia, he confirmed to him the arrival of FARC's Sumasas Brigade and their advisor Alberto Camarasa in Roanapur to help the Colombians find and kill Roberta. Not wanting trouble from the U.S. military, Boss Pasturia ordered him to omit the U.S. Army's presence in Roanapur from Camarasa since he knew that the FARC guerrillas hated American soldiers as much as they hated Roberta, and importantly he did not want to start a war with the U.S. government due to FARC's potential clash with the U.S. Army. Knowing the consequences of failure, Abrego agreed.[9]
While trying to hunt down Roberta, Camarasa realized that Roberta's enemies were U.S. Army soldiers, angering him since Abrego deceived him. The brigade leader called Abrego to ask the latter why he did not tell him about Grey Fox, but the branch leader emphasized that they only needed to go after the maid, retorting that he already had Marulanda's approval. Nonetheless, Camarasa replied that he would not allow any obstacles, be they "cartel gangsters" or especially U.S. soldiers, to interfere with his mission. Once Camarasa ended the call, the infuriated Abrego kicked his table in anger since his cartel would be targeted if the FARC soldiers fought the American troops. Because Abrego was making a mess of things, Gustavo disappointingly pulled out his pistol, implying that he purged him from the cartel.[10] The phone call and subsequent purge was not shown in the anime; the purge was later confirmed via Gustavo's leadership in the "L'homme sombre" arc.[11]
Trivia[]
- In a popularity contest during the 10th manga collection release, Abrego ranked 44th (tying with Alfred and Filano) with 4 votes.[12]
- In a popularity contest during the 12th manga collection release, Abrego ranked 67th (tying with several characters) with 1 vote.[13]
- The purging of Abrego by Gustavo bears similarity to Lobos purging Elvis in the "Greenback Jane" arc.
References[]
- ↑ Episode 08: Rasta Blasta
- ↑ Episode 09: Maid to Kill
- ↑ Episode 10: The Unstoppable Chambermaid
- ↑ Chapter 11: Bloodsport Fairy tale Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 45: El Baile de la muerte Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 46: El Baile de la muerte Part 3
- ↑ Chapter 48: El Baile de la muerte Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 53: El Baile de la muerte Part 10
- ↑ Chapter 57: El Baile de la muerte Part 14
- ↑ Chapter 61: El Baile de la muerte Part 18
- ↑ Chapter 103: L'homme sombre Part 2
- ↑ http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest/
- ↑ http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest_12/