In Ganglands season 2, Mehdi and Saber team up to fight a new enemy in the form of Almeida, a prosecutor who adapts to his situation and sees how he can come out on top.
Mehdi, Tony, and Liana execute one last heist, where they target Chris, steal his diamonds, and kill him. During the heist, they also injure Chris’ client, Javier, who turns out to be the son of the leader of Los Soles.
Seventy percent of cocaine in Antwerp comes through Los Soles. With Javier injured, his father sends his right-hand man, Almeida, to take care of the business and the person who injured Javier.
Upon arriving, what Almeida didn’t know is that Javier’s father had already allowed his son to start working with Sofia and Saber regarding their cocaine supply. A disappointed Almeida killed the negotiator who was carrying out this deal on behalf of Javier.
Almeida pins the murder of the negotiator on Sofia and Saber, and he begins targeting them along with Mehdi, the person responsible for injuring Javier.
Almeida’s nature
Almeida is quite clever, and he doesn’t think twice when it comes to making difficult decisions. At first, he seems like a person who is very loyal to Javier’s father. The hasty decisions he makes also look like they are for Los Soles’ own good, even when he lies to his boss.
Apart from being cunning, Almeida is also a master manipulator. In order to get inside information on his targets, he seeks help from Commissioner Herman.
When she tries to keep him away from Chris’ case, assuming that his knowledge about south-American cartels is just theoretical, he goes on to convince her that Mehdi is working for Los Soles, although he is the one who is.
To prove his point, he sends his most loyal associate, Valeria, to attack Herman’s sister and give her a message, suggesting that it’s an attack from Los Soles, who are asking Herman to stay away from Mehdi.
Almeida’s trick works, and Herman starts sharing everything related to Mehdi and Tony with him, which Almeida uses to his advantage.
Almeida’s secret motive
It is later revealed that Almeida has his own agenda. He is shaping things according to his needs and is somewhere trying to win his boss’s trust.
Almeida dreams of running Los Soles one day, but with Javier alive, his dream will never come true. Therefore, to convince Javier’s father that he is the right man for this job, Almeida tries to show him how incompetent his son is.
To work with Sofia and Saber was Javier’s choice, and by killing their negotiator and pinning the murder on Sofia and Saber, Almeida wanted to prove that Javier was wrong about choosing them. He claimed that if he was in Javier’s place, he would have quickly recognized that Sofia and Saber are not trustworthy.
Almeida’s past
Amidst the battle with Mehdi and Saber, Almeida once tries talking straight to his boss about replacing him. He tells Javier’s father that he has no children and that he often remembers how they were plunged into the acid.
Javier’s father, on his side, then reminds Almeida that he has already taken care of the monsters who did this. Furthermore, Almeida had promised to never forget the same.
Almeida can’t blame Javier’s father for choosing his son. Now all Javier’s father expects from Almeida is to stay loyal to his son too.
Almeida’s death
Almeida breaks down while talking to his boss about replacing him. When Valeria arrives, he wipes his tears and asks her if she will continue to be by his side when he goes up against Javier and his father. She says yes, and Almeida starts working out a plan of his own.
Almeida kills Javier’s son, forcing his father to come to the country. He once again pins the murder on Saber. Almeida sends his soldiers with Javier’s father when he goes to take care of Saber.
Valeria promises to get rid of Javier’s father along with Saber’s family. Not everything goes according to plan. Saber comes clean about not killing Javier, forcing Valeria to hold Javier’s father at gunpoint and tell the truth.
Saber’s wife shoots Valeria down before she could kill Javier’s father, who starts seeing the whole picture. He then offers Saber and Mehdi a deal. He will allow Mehdi to escape with Liana on a jet and Saber to run his cocaine empire in all of Europe if they take Almeida down.
Mehdi is told to get rid of Almeida, but Commissioner Herman stays ahead of them as she immediately arrests Almeida after figuring out that he ordered the killing of Tony’s family, as he was the only one apart from everyone at the precinct who knew about their location.
Though Almeida manages to escape the precinct with a loyal associate, Mehdi and Liana follow him to the airfield, from where he is planning to take off.
Almeida tricks Mehdi and holds him at gunpoint. From behind, Liana comes, and when Almeida claims that she doesn’t have what it takes to kill a person, Liana proves Almeida wrong by shooting him several times to death.
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