A Swedish man known as “El Silencio” has been accused of running a global scam in which he sold Pablo Escobar-branded products — including cellphones, flamethrowers and cash — but never delivered them because they didn’t exist, authorities say.
Olaf Kyros Gustafsson, 31, was extradited from Spain to Los Angeles, where he was arraigned Friday on a 115-count federal indictment alleging money laundering, wire fraud and mail fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Gustafsson is accused of running a business called Escobar Inc., a Puerto Rico-registered corporation that held rights to the persona and legacy of the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Escobor was the leader of the Medellín Cartel, which became one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in history during the 1980s.
Gustafsson used these rights to market a wide range of Escobar-branded products from 2019 to 2023, often copying and undercutting the prices of other similar goods sold online, prosecutors allege.
He advertised an Escobar Flamethrower, an Escobar Fold Phone, an Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone and Escobar Cash that he touted as a “physical cryptocurrency.” None of these products actually existed, prosecutors allege.
To attract customer interest in the nonexistent Escobar Inc. products, he allegedly sent Samsung Galaxy Fold phones wrapped in gold foil to online technology reviewers. The goal was to entice customers to order the product after reading a review.
Gustafsson accepted payment using processors such as PayPal, Stripe and Coinbase. But instead of sending customers the product they purchased, prosecutors allege he would instead mail a “Certificate of Ownership,” a book or other Escobar Inc. promotional materials.
He later referred payment processors to this mailing history to fend off requests for refunds from upset customers around the world, prosecutors said. Some of the people who prosecutors say fell victim to the scam reside in Los Angeles, Gardena and Commerce.
Gustafsson is accused of using bank accounts in the United States, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates to conceal and disguise his activities.
He was arrested in Marbella in December 2023 when Spanish police and U.S. Internal Revenue Service agents raided his home on the Spanish Costa del Sol, according to reporting from the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. He then sought to evade extradition by seeking asylum in Spain, but that effort was unsuccessful, the paper reported.
In an interview with the Swedish paper, he criticized his home country for failing to protect him from extradition.
Gustafsson has been indicted on 41 counts of money laundering, 35 counts of international money laundering, 25 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, nine counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, according to the Justice Department.
He remains in federal custody and is scheduled to go to trial on May 20.
