I am ready

My rise to the top as a drug kingpin began, as all good things do, through a literary and filmic exploration. I believe I have now completed nearly all the prequisites. From two books I read in the past couple weeks, combined with a reservoir of easily-accessible pop culture references, I developed a literary curriculum that spans the three teirs you will need to familiarize yourself with before organizing your vertical monopoly:

Colombia: Where it all begins.
Killing Pablo, by Mark Bowden: Let's start at the roots of production. Pablo Escobar has much to teach us on tactics of intimidation, coercion, and establishing an illegal business that can make even you a billionaire. It took millions of dollars, the best in technology and any number of of scary CIA Latin American death squads to kill a fat stoner with an uncomfortable sexual fetish for teenage girls and very strict regulations on the bathroom furnishings in even the most remote fincas. There is hope for all of us.

[Supplemental Materials: Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Traffic (the BBC one), Miami Vice]

The Bronx: A course in middle management.
Random Family, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: Most of my reaction to this book was comprised of the following thought process: "I hope she doesn't get pregnant, I hope she doesn't get pregnant, please use a condom you're only 12 -- Fuck." It's stressful. But there's a really detailed chapter on running a heroin business in the inner city that will give you all the knowledge you may need, and also a lot of what not to do since they all get caught.

[Supplemental Materials: Don Diva Magazine, Scarface, Blow (...me. What a shitty movie.)]

The Nostrils of the Wealthy: Where the magic meets the mucus.
Three words: Bret. Easton. Ellis.