Fabio Ochoa Vásquez (born May 2, 1957) is a former leading member of the cocaine cartel in Medellín, along with his older brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis. His role briefly made him a billionaire. After serving a short prison sentence in Colombia, he was arrested and extradited to the US in 1999 and is…
John Jairo Arias Tascón (1961 – June 13, 1990), known as Pinina, was a member of the Medellín Cartel . He rose to power in the cartel’s military wing and was accused of hundreds of murders. He was considered fifth in the cartel structure. He also had eight wives and children according to the actor who recited…
Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez (April 15, 1962 – February 6, 2020), also known by the alias “Popeye” or “JJ”, was a Colombian hitman, who was part of the criminal structure of the Medellín Cartel until his surrender to the Colombian legal system in 1992. Within this structure, he claimed to be a lieutenant in command of half…
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. The founders were brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela and José Santacruz Londoño. They broke away from Pablo Escobar and his Medellín associates in 1988, when Hélmer “Pacho” Herrera…
Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela (January 31, 1939 – May 31, 2022) was a Colombian drug lord and one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel . Orejuela formed the cartel with his brother, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela , José Santacruz Londoño and Hélmer Herrera. The cartel rose to prominence in the early 1990s and was estimated to control approximately 80 and 90…
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Orejuela (born August 15, 1943) is a convicted Colombian drug lord, formerly one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel, based in the city of Cali. He is the younger brother of Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela. He married Miss Colombia 1974, Martha Lucía Echeverry. Cali CartelThe Rodríguez brothers and “Jose” formed the Cali…
José Santacruz Londoño (also known as Chepe Santacruz; October 1, 1943 – March 5, 1996) was a Colombian drug lord. Along with Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela , Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela and Hélmer Herrera Buitrago, Londoño was a leader of the Cali Cartel . Cali CartelLondoño and the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers formed the Cali Cartel in the 1970s . They were primarily involved in the marijuana trade. In…
Francisco Hélmer Herrera Buitrago, also known as “Pacho” and “H7”, (August 24, 1951 – November 6, 1998) was a Colombian drug trafficker, fourth in command in the Cali Cartel , and believed to be the son of Benjamín Herrera Zuleta. Early yearsHerrera grew up in the Colombian city of Palmira, in the Valle del Cauca department. In high school,…
Juan Carlos Ortiz Escobar (died 2002), also known as Cuchilla, was a Colombian drug dealer and high-ranking member of the Cali Cartel . Ortiz-Escobar was a cousin of former Medellin Cartel boss , cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar . After the capture of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, the leader of the Norte del Valle cartel on August 7, 2007, Brazilian authorities discovered that…
Los Pepes , a name derived from the Spanish expression “Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar ” (“The Persecuted by Pablo Escobar”), was a paramilitary group composed of enemies of Pablo Escobar. They waged a small-scale war against the Medellín Cartel in 1993 , which ended the same year after Escobar’s death. The group was financed by the Cali Cartel and led by…