In what is reportedly his first interview since his 1988 arrest, the man who became Pablo Escobar’s pilot has shared a stunning revelation. Tirso “TJ” Dominguez initially rejected a job offer from the infamous Colombian drug lord, content with the $4 million he was already earning each month flying for a rival. However, in a new podcast, Dominguez explained how he ultimately changed his mind. The notorious Patrón, or boss, made him an offer five times higher: an incredible $20 million monthly salary.
“I had 30 Lamborghinis, and I dressed well,” Dominguez recalled of his subsequent lifestyle on the eight-part podcast Cocaine Air. “They brought me the car that matched the shirt that I decided to wear that day.” His interview with host Johnathan Walton, granted after serving over a decade in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, offers a rare, first-hand look into the motivations for working with one of history’s most feared criminals. Before Colombian special forces killed him in 1993, Escobar was directly involved in countless murders, kidnappings, and bombings.
Dominguez told Walton his path into drug smuggling began in the late 1970s out of desperation. After his father, a South Florida real estate developer, died suddenly from cancer, the family’s project to build a sugar mill in Haiti was left in jeopardy. At just 20 years old, Dominguez said two ruthless Miami bankers then scammed him out of $100,000 and denied him a $14 million loan his father had already secured. To raise capital for the mill, he learned to fly airplanes, earning money by smuggling marijuana from the Bahamas and Colombia into the United States.
His career took a dangerous turn when he accidentally dropped an $800,000 marijuana shipment into the wrong boat. Consequently, his suppliers kidnapped him and threatened his family, demanding he make them whole immediately. The only quick solution, according to his account, was to fly a planeload of cocaine for another supplier. “I never wanted to get into cocaine because cocaine [smugglers] were the bad guys…doing all the killing,” Dominguez stated on the podcast. “I don’t condone drugs. I’ve never done any drugs. I was the victim of a con which actually pushed me in the direction that I ended up in.”
Nevertheless, that first cocaine flight netted him a cool $1 million, enough to repay the furious marijuana suppliers. The lucrative return was enough to convince him to fly cocaine full-time. He quickly built a reputation for being punctual, professional, and, most importantly, for never losing a shipment. Inevitably, his flawless record captured the attention of Escobar, who attempted to recruit him for his cartel.
Initially, Dominguez, also known as Tito, remained unimpressed. He was satisfied with his four monthly flights at $1 million each. “I’ll be honest with you—Pablo Escobar didn’t mean anything to me,” Dominguez admitted. “I [was] full of myself. I walk on water, you know? I’m making $4m a month. What the hell’s wrong with that?”
Escobar then dramatically increased his offer, proposing four flights a month at $5 million per trip. Dominguez found the $20 million monthly total—equivalent to about $60 million today—impossible to refuse. At that point, he began flying exclusively for Escobar. Eventually, even Escobar found the fee too steep and started paying Dominguez in cocaine instead. This shift transformed Dominguez from a simple smuggler into a dealer. He began managing the entire operation himself—flying the product, selling it, laundering the money, and investing the profits without middlemen. “I did what no other smuggler had ever done in the history of smuggling,” he bragged to Walton.
On the podcast, Dominguez reads from a memoir by Escobar’s brother and accountant, Roberto, which confirms TJ had a fleet of 30 airplanes and was a “main transporter” for the cartel. At his peak, Dominguez owned a mansion, a charter plane and boat business, a housing development, an exotic car dealership, and even a company that sold cellphones when they cost $5,000 each. He also raised a pet mountain lion named Top Cat.
But his empire collapsed in April 1988. Federal investigators, armed with rifles and helicopters, swarmed his Florida mansion and arrested him. Prosecutors charged him and 12 associates with smuggling over five tons each of cocaine and marijuana into South Florida between 1984 and 1985. Authorities argued his businesses were fronts for the drug ring, seizing two dozen luxury cars and five airplanes worth nearly $3 million.
In 1991, Dominguez pleaded guilty to distributing narcotics and money laundering. He was imprisoned for 13 years, two of which were in solitary confinement after a fellow inmate reported his plot to escape. Dominguez had managed to buy a helicopter from his cell and planned to have a pilot fly him over the prison fence to a waiting car.
Now 73, Dominguez told the podcast he believes his debt to society is paid and he aims to become a legitimate entrepreneur. “Failing is when you quit,” he said of his new chapter. “You’re going to fall? You fall forward. That means you gained two steps already. The glass is always half full for me.”
12 June 2025
