The Cali Cartel () was a Colombian drug cartel based in Cali and the Valle del Cauca in southern Colombia. Its founders were the 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 Herrera joined what became a four-man executive board that ran the cartel.
At the height of the Cali Cartel's reign from 1993 to 1995, they were cited as having control of over 80% of the world's cocaine market and were said to be directly responsible for the growth of the cocaine market in Europe, controlling 80% of the market there as well. By the mid-1990s, the leaders of the Cali Cartel were a criminal empire operating billions per year. The Cartel was considered by law enforcement to be the most powerful criminal organization in the world.
Foundation
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. The recognition of this social background was displayed in the group's nickname as "Los Caballeros de Cali" ("Gentlemen of Cali"). 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.
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. In the early 1980s, the cartel sent Hélmer Herrera to New York City to establish a distribution center, during a time when the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) viewed cocaine as less important than heroin.
The Cali Cartel leadership comprised members Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, José Santacruz Londoño and Hélmer Herrera. Some top associates were Victor Patiño Fomeque, Henry Loaiza Ceballos, ex-guerrilla member José Fedor Rey, and Phanor Arizabaleta-Arzayus.
Organization In the absence of a hardline policy from the DEA on cocaine, the trade flourished. The group developed and organized itself into multiple "cells" that appeared to operate independently yet reported to a ("manager"). The independent clandestine cell system is what set the Cali Cartel apart from the Medellín Cartel. The Cali Cartel operated as a tight group of independent criminal organizations, as opposed to the Medellíns' centralised structure under leader Pablo Escobar.
The Cali Cartel eventually became "the most powerful criminal organization in the world. No drug organization rivals them today or perhaps any time in history." according to then DEA administrator Robert C. Bonner. and was called "the biggest, most powerful crime syndicate we've ever known", by Thomas Constantine respectively.
Each leader of the Cali Cartel had their own operation to run as they saw fit. There were 5 major Cali trafficking groups that were separate but also worked together when their interests aligned. This included, but was not limited to, transporting drugs to the United States and money laundering. According to a report by the DEA in 1994, the Rodriguez brothers, Miguel and Gilberto, were the most successful and powerful of the cartel's members. As such, they were also in charge of the Cali Cartel operations on a grand scale. Gilberto, known as the "Chess Player" for his ability to think strategically, oversaw the cartel's long-term plans while his younger brother handled the day-to-day operations; micromanaging every detail. While certain groups were only handling certain aspects for the cartel, the Rodriguez brothers were involved in all aspects from production to transportation to wholesale distribution to money laundering. One of the more violent of the kingpins, Jose "Chepe" Santacruz-Londono had his talent in international cocaine transportation, creating a vast network for the cocaine to get from Colombia to its final destination, most often the United States. Specifically, he had a center of US operations in New York where the DEA seized two cocaine conversion laboratories in June 1992. Next, the Urdinola brothers were possibly the most violent of the group with some estimates saying that they murdered over 100 individuals in Colombia. They also distributed cocaine throughout the United States from Los Angeles to Miami to New York City. Also, the group expanded into trafficking Colombian heroin, a product that most of the groups stayed away from. Finally, Raul and Luis Grajales, cousins by marriage, were a careful duo who tried to portray themselves as legitimate. Their operation took them to Western Europe where they tried to establish new routes from Colombia. They used Eastern Europe and old Soviet countries to route the cocaine into Western Europe. The five groups all coexisted under the name of the Cali Cartel.
Activities
Trafficking The Cali Cartel would become known for its innovations in trafficking and production, by moving its refining operations out of Colombia to Peru and Bolivia, as well as for pioneering new trafficking routes through Panama. The Cartel also diversified into opium and was reported to have brought in a Japanese chemist to help its refining operation. Venezuelan General Ramon Guillen Davila ran the Venezuelan National Guard unit that was to interdict cocaine shipments and was the CIA's most trusted narcotics asset in Venezuela. He worked with Mark McFarlin and Jim Campbell, and was charged by United States authorities with smuggling 22 tons of Cali Cartel cocaine from 1987 to 1991 known as Operation North ().
According to reports and testimony of Thomas Constantine to the United States Congress, "Cali would be the dominant group in trafficking South American heroin due to their access to the opium-growing areas of Colombia." Debate over the cartel's participation in heroin trafficking remains. It is believed the cartel's leaders were not involved in heroin trading, but that close associates to them, such as Ivan Urdinola-Grajales, were, and that they cooperated with heroin distribution centers.
At the height of the Cali Cartel's reign, they were cited as having control over 80% of the world's cocaine market and for being directly responsible for the growth of the cocaine market in Europe. By the mid-1990s, the trafficking empire of the Cali Cartel was a multibillion-dollar enterprise.
After Gilberto took a trip to Spain in the mid-1980s, the cartel began to expand its activities in Europe and developed a working relationship with tobacco smugglers from Galicia, Spain. But in particular, the Cali cartel established a strategic alliance with the powerful Camorra criminal organization. Cali supplied the cocaine and the Camorra handled distribution across Europe.
Finances
In order to launder the incoming money of the trafficking operations, the Cali cartel heavily invested its funds into legitimate business ventures as well as front companies to mask the money. In 1994, it was believed the Cartel was grossing $5 billion in annual revenue from the US alone. With the influx of cash comes the need to launder the funds. One of the first instances of the Cali Cartel's laundering operations came when Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela was able to secure the position of Chairman of the Board of Banco de Trabajadores. The bank was believed to have been used to launder funds for the Cali cartel, as well as Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel. Cartel members were permitted, through their affiliation with Gilberto, to overdraft accounts and take out loans without repayment. Allegedly, Semion Mogilevich instructed Natasha Kagalovsky to wire transfer Cali cartel funds from Bank of New York accounts though Brazilian banks to offshore shell companies.
Capitalizing on this basis, Gilberto was able to found the First InterAmericas Bank operating out of Panama. In an interview with Time, Gilberto admitted to money being laundered through the bank; however, he attributed the process to only legal actions. The laundering, which Gilberto states was "in accordance with Panamanian law", is what led to the US authorities' pursuing him. Gilberto later started, in 1979, the Grupo Radial Colombiano, a network of over 30 radio stations and a pharmaceutical chain named Drogas la Rebaja, which at its height amassed over 400 stores in 28 cities, employing 4,200. The pharmaceutical chain's value was estimated at $216 million. As a consequence of the Cali Cartel's ownership of the chain, from January 1988 to May 4, 1990, it was targeted for 85 bombings by Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel, leaving a total of 27 people dead.
Violence
Discipline Political violence was largely discounted by the Cali Cartel, as the threat of violence often sufficed. The organization of the cartel was structured so that only people who had family in Colombia would handle operations that involved both Cali and U.S. sites, keeping the family within reach of the cartel. Family members became the cartel's insurance that its members would not assist government officials, nor would they refuse payment for products received. The threat of death also hung over those who made mistakes. It is believed the cartel would often kill junior members who made gross errors.
Social cleansing In his book End of Millennium, Manuel Castells states the Cali Cartel had participated in social cleansing of hundreds of ("discardables"). The desechables included prostitutes, street children, petty thieves, homosexuals and the homeless.
Along with some of the locals, the Cali Cartel formed parties self-named ("social cleansing groups") who murdered the desechables, often leaving them with signs on them stating: "" ("clean Cali, beautiful Cali"). The bodies of those murdered were often tossed into the Cauca River, which later became known as the "River of Death". The municipality of Marsella in Risaralda was eventually bankrupted by the cost of recovering corpses and conducting autopsies.
Retaliation
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the communist guerrillas struck at the drug cartels. In 1981, the guerrilla group, Movimiento 19 de Abril (M-19; "19th of April Movement"), kidnapped Marta Nieves Ochoa, the sister of the Medellín Cartel's Ochoa brothers, Jorge, Fabio and Juan David. M-19 demanded a ransom of $15 million for Marta's safe release, but were rejected. In response to the kidnapping, the Medellín and Cali cartels, as well as associated traffickers, formed the group (MAS; "Death to Kidnappers"). Traffickers contributed funds, rewards, equipment and manpower for MAS operations. Leaflets soon after were dropped in a football pitch in Cali announcing the formation of the group. MAS began to capture and torture M-19 members in retaliation. Within three days, Marta Nieves was released. The group MAS, however, would continue to operate, with hundreds of killings attributed to them.
In 1992, the guerrilla faction Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC; "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia") kidnapped Christina Santa Cruz, the daughter of Cali Cartel leader José Santacruz Londoño. FARC demanded in exchange for the safe return of Christina a ransom of $10 million. In response, the Cali Cartel kidnapped 20 or more members of the Colombian Communist Party, Patriotic Union, the United Workers Union, and the sister of Pablo Catatumbo, a representative of the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board. Eventually, after talks, Christina and the sister of Catatumbo were released. It is unknown what happened to the other hostages taken by the cartel.