Thinking about it and looking at my own experiences, I'd say it made sense. I grew up in a mob town. Local mobsters used intimidation on the locals to keep them in line. What happens? No loyalty. Get the community on your side, like Escobar did, and when you need it, you've got the necessary bolt hole to hide in. And he needed that a few times.
I learned well. When I was in Phoenix local drug dealers used intimidation and it worked on most of the people. Being a law abiding citizen, I intimidated the dealer's. They stayed away. When one tried moving in my circle, they went to jail. They knew touching me or my family was worse than letting me go untouched. I couldn't be intimidated, and they never tried to buy my loyalty. They just waited until I had a chance at a better place and moved. Next day, they found two bodies in the house next door. Two killings acroos the street within a week. Because they were able to intimidate the residents.
But the arrests continued because they couldn't buy loyalty. One reason why my family remained unscathed. Nobody was afraid enough to go after us because if me. I never had to open carry. Nobody knew my fire power. I made sure they knew I worked with the police.
What would have happened if they had promoted loyalty in the community? I might not be here. But they didn't.
Escobar, locally, promoted loyalty and got it. It took rival gangs, working with clandestine agents, to finally bring him down.
