Isabel Mendoza

Isabel was born in the seventies in Medellin, Colombia. When she is six, she becomes an orphan and for some time lives a miserable life on the streets. Soon after that she is taken care of by a charity organization and two years later adopted by a rich couple in Medellin, Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza. Her stepfather, who is very fond of Isabel, was a successful lawyer, well, a crooks lawyer actually, giving legal advice to drugs barons. In these years the drugs trade flourished and the drug cartels grew and became well organized multinationals. They had their own private army, trained by former Mossad commanders. And after hard trainings Isabel Mendoza became chief intelligence. The big man at the top of their drugs cartel , Don Raul, also happened to be a big name in Colombian politics. In order to get rid of a guerilla leader Don Raul ordered to destroy his airplane. What he (probably) didn't know was that the parents of Isabel were on that plane too. Blinded by rage Isabel killed Don Raul and also an corrupted DEA officer who just had made a deal with him in his villa. Hunted by Colombian police, DEA officers and the hit men from the Medellin drugs cartels, Isabel fled Colombia.
She changes her name in Najah Cruz and joins the rebels in Tsjetsenië and is responsible for a spectacular rescue mission in the heart of Grozny. There they free the rebel leader Nahmad who was captured by the Russian army earlier. But when they got Nahmad back safely they find out his is no longer the determent rebel eager to fight the Russians. In captivity he had become an Islamite fundamentalist, ready to wipe out all infidels. Najah couldn't stay of course, and left for Cap D'Antibes (Côte DÁzur) where the exiled president of Tsjetsenië had his residence.
By then her life took another dramatic turn. She is still a fugitive and USA intelligence have her under observation, almost sure she, Najah, is the wanted fugitive Isabel Mendoza. She is kidnapped and confronted with these facts. She then is given the choice to work for a new secret anti-organized-crime organization called Insiders or well, another option really was not to be considered. She was hired to do the dirty work, because she had proven to be good at that in Colombia and in Tsjetsenië.

Series Insiders, © Dargaud 2002, French origin
Artwork taken from volume 1, Tsjetsjeense guerrilla and volume 2, Operatie Offshore

Writer: Jean Claude Bartol. Artwork: Renaud Garreta. Colors: Christian Favrelle

Dutch cover detail
Operatie Offshore

French cover detail
Opération Offshore

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