The Norte del Valle Cartel (NDVC) formed out of remnant trafficking networks, but the organization was prone to factionalism and continued bloody conflict. Rodríguez Orejuela departed from Escobar's brash, murderous, public style while in power. With Escobar's eventual demise, the Cali cartel maintained control over the cocaine trade before combined efforts from Colombian and US authorities set about dismantling it in the late 1990s. The Cali Cartel, however, soon turned on Escobar and supported a paramilitary group that targeted his organization. The organization initially collaborated with the Medellín Cartel, divvying up cocaine markets in the US. The brothers trafficked hundreds of tons of cocaine into the US, primarily to feed northeastern markets like New York City, though they also supplied markets in Europe. His relatively low profile - at least compared with his adversary Pablo Escobar - would serve as a template for Colombia's drug traffickers to follow.īased in the western Valle del Cauca department, the Cali Cartel became Colombia's dominant trafficking force after the 1993 death of Pablo Escobar decapitated the Medellín Cartel. In recent years, his lawyers had asked for clemency due to the precarious state of his health, as a result of prostate and colon cancer, and the fear of being infected with COVID-19.Īccording to Bogota's El Tiempo, the cause of El Ajedrecista's death was a complication of cerebral lymphoma.He was one of the last remaining capos of a bygone era, leaving behind a splintered criminal underworld. Two years later he was sentenced to 30 years in prison and sent to Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina. He was later released from jail, but arrested yet again and extradited in 2004 to the United States. Rodríguez Orejuela was captured on June 9, 1995, inside a hideout he had built inside a luxurious house in the north of Cali. #Pablo escobar prison professional#The Rodríguez Orejuela brothers were owners of the professional soccer team América de Cali, which had some great players on its roster and lost three straight Copa Libertadores finals in the 1980s.Īfter Escobar's death, authorities tracked the Cali Cartel, whose members were either arrested or killed. The Cali Cartel wired US$ 6 million to fund the presidential campaign of Ernesto Samper (1994-1998), who eventually admitted reports in this regard were true but claimed that it had all happened behind his back. Unlike Escobar, El Ajedrecista and his brother, nicknamed ∾l Señor, were known for bribing government officials, seizing banks, radio stations, a chain of pharmacies, a professional soccer team, and sponsoring political campaigns. Wednesday's death at a US prison of former Cali Cartel capo Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, aka El Ajedrecista (The Chessman), who used to wage his own war against rival trafficker Pablo Escobar of the Medellín Cartel, has revived stories of the 1980s and 1990s which have been romanticized through the entertainment industry.Ĭolombian drug lords of that era seem to be following the footsteps of gangsters in the United States from the prohibition years.Įl Ajedrecista, head of the Cali Cartel together with his brother Miguel, died at the age of 83 in a prison in the United States, where he had been extradited 20 years ago on drug trafficking charges.Įscobar's violent methods forced the Cali men to adopt a defense strategy and dedicate part of their efforts to finding the rival gang leader who was eventually gunned down by law enforcement authorities on December 2, 1993. His methods were softer and more subtle than those of Escobar El Ajedrecista had funded Ernesto Samper's presidential campaign.
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