What would it take to turn down $4 million a month?
For Tirso “TJ” Dominguez—once a hotshot pilot for drug traffickers—it was the promise of five times more from none other than Pablo Escobar.
In the new podcast Cocaine Air, Dominguez breaks his silence after decades.
He reveals how he went from a grieving 20-year-old—duped out of his inheritance—to the kingpin’s go-to pilot.
“I had 30 Lamborghinis,” he tells host Johnathan Walton.
“They brought me the car that matched my shirt.”
His lifestyle? Absurd. His earnings? Mind-blowing—$20 million a month at one point.
What Was The Offer?
Initially, TJ resisted Escobar’s offer.
“Pablo didn’t mean anything to me,” he says. “I was making $4 million a month.
What the hell’s wrong with that?” But the price was too tempting.
Soon, he wasn’t just flying coke—he was selling, laundering, and investing it.
He built a criminal empire complete with exotic cars, private jets, and a pet mountain lion named Top Cat.
But the high didn’t last. In 1988, armed agents stormed his mansion.
He served 13 years—two in solitary after plotting an escape via helicopter… from inside prison.
Now 73, Dominguez says he’s moving forward.
“You fall? Fall forward,” he says. “That means you’ve gained two steps already.”
Because sometimes, even a drug smuggler wants a second act.
