Scribd
Upload
110 views1 page

Estudiante ("The Student") or Chepe Santacruz And: Hélmer Herrera Buitrago

The Cali Cartel was a powerful drug cartel based in Cali, Colombia led by the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and Jose Santacruz Londoño. At its height in the 1980s-1990s, the Cali Cartel controlled an estimated 90% of the global cocaine market and 90% of the European cocaine market, making it a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise. The cartel was renowned for its intelligence operations and connections to politicians that allowed it to evade law enforcement for many years.

Uploaded by

Joshua Wacangan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
110 views1 page

Estudiante ("The Student") or Chepe Santacruz And: Hélmer Herrera Buitrago

The Cali Cartel was a powerful drug cartel based in Cali, Colombia led by the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and Jose Santacruz Londoño. At its height in the 1980s-1990s, the Cali Cartel controlled an estimated 90% of the global cocaine market and 90% of the European cocaine market, making it a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise. The cartel was renowned for its intelligence operations and connections to politicians that allowed it to evade law enforcement for many years.

Uploaded by

Joshua Wacangan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

The Cali Cartel (Spanish: Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the

city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. Its founders were the Rodríguez Orejuela
brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, and José Santacruz Londoño, also known as "Chepe". They broke
away from Pablo Escobar and his Medellín associates in the late 1980s when Hélmer Herrera, also
known as "Pacho", joined what became a four-man executive board that ran the cartel.[2]
With connections to British and Israeli mercenaries, allies among countries, countless spies and
informants in the government, and its vast intelligence and surveillance network throughout the city
of Santiago de Cali, the cartel was once renowned and compared to the Soviet KGB by the US Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), which called it, "One of the most powerful crime syndicates in
history", later dubbed "The Cali KGB".
At the height of the Cali Cartel's reign, they were cited as having control over 90% of the world's
cocaine market and were said to be directly responsible for the growth of the cocaine market
in Europe, controlling 90% of the market there as well.[3] By the mid-1990s, the trafficking empire of
the Cali Cartel was a multibillion-dollar enterprise.[4][5]
The Cali Cartel was formed by the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and Santacruz, all coming from what
is described as a higher social background than most other traffickers of the time.[6] The recognition
of this social background was displayed in the group's nickname as "Los Caballeros de Cali"
("Gentlemen of Cali" or "Cali's Gentlemen").[3][4][7]
The group originally assembled as a ring of kidnappers known as Las Chemas, which was led by
Luis Fernando Tamayo García. Las Chemas were implicated in numerous kidnappings including
those of two Swiss citizens: a diplomat, Herman Buff, and a student, Zack "Jazz Milis" Martin. The
kidnappers reportedly received $700,000 in ransom, which is believed to have been used to fund
their drug trafficking empire.[8]
The assembled group first involved itself in trafficking marijuana. Due to the product's low profit rate
and large amounts required to traffic to cover resources, the fledgling group decided to shift their
focus to a more lucrative drug, cocaine.[8]
In the early 1970s, the cartel sent Hélmer "Pacho" Herrera to New York City to establish a
distribution center. This action came during a time when the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) was not fully pursuing cocaine and viewed the drug as less critical than heroin;
at one point[when?] they released a report stating cocaine "is not physically addictive ... and does not
usually result in serious consequences, such as crime, hospital emergency room admissions or
both".[8]
The Cali Cartel leadership comprised Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela El Ajedrecista ("The Chess
Player"), Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela El Señor ("The Lord"), José Santacruz Londoño El
Estudiante ("The Student") or Chepe Santacruz and Hélmer Herrera Buitrago Pacho. Some top
associates were Victor Patiño Fomeque El Quimico ("The Chemist") or La Fiera ("The
Beast"), Henry Loaiza Ceballos El Alacrán ("The Scorpion"), ex-guerrilla José Fedor Rey,
and Phanor Arizabaleta-Arzayus.[9]

You might also like