The Medellin Cartel (1 Jan 1976 Jahr – 1 Dez 1993 Jahr)

Beschreibung:

The Medellin cartel, formed in 1976 and widely agreed to have ended in 1993 with the death of Pablo Escobar, was one of the most powerful narco trafficking and narco terrorist organisations not only in Colombia, but on the planet, becoming one of, if not the largest cocaine trafficking empire on the planet. The amount of power and influence held by the cartel at the peak of their powers was completely unimaginable, with their use of violence and intimidation even being able to affect laws and legislation in the country, who’s activities and influence in the sale of cocaine in the united states prompted involvement from the US government and DEA (drug enforcement association) in order to harm the efforts of the cartel.

The group originated in the mid 1970s, where local traffickers, mainly in the marijuana trade, observed the high demand and potentially massive profits that came with selling cocaine in the United States. The pioneer of this initial cocaine trafficking was Pablo Escobar, who’s operation began with individual traffickers moving Colombian cocaine, processed inside apartments in lower income areas of Medellin, into the United States, mainly Miami and New York, by sneaking it onto flights. A major advantage for traffickers at the time was how easy it was to pack large amounts of cocaine into suitcases leading to extraordinarily high profit margins. The massive growth of Escobar’s cocaine empire led to extraordinary growth, with Escobar joining forces with the Ochoa brothers, a family from a powerful agriculture and business background, who would take charge of the cartel’s organisation and internal structure. As the cartel grew, its operations became more and more elaborate. Multiple tons of coca base from other South American countries, mainly Bolivia and Peru would come to be processed in massive, hidden jungle labs, as opposed to inside apartments. These jungle labs were absolutely massive operations. Having multiple airstrips, electricity and water systems and dormitories, they were able to process massive amounts of cocaine, with the largest of these laboratories, Tranquilandia located in the sparsely populated jungles of Caqueta, had billions of dollars of cocaine moving in and out on a daily basis. Laboratories were not the only changes that came with the expansion of the cartel's operations. The smuggling routes of the Ochoa brothers, as well as that of traffickers Carlos Lehder and Geogre Jung, led to the main routes for trafficking passing through the caribbean, where cartel owned islands in the bahamas would serve as refuelling stops for small planes to transport cocaine from Colombia and into the United States. At its peak, it was estimated that over 750,000 people, in Colombia and abroad had links to the Medellin cartel in some way, whether they be involved directly in their operations, such as their many armed soldiers or Sicarios, or simply as someone who complied with their activities and facilitated their illicit business. At its peak, the cartel brought in an estimated 420,000,000 usd per week, making Pablo Escobar the seventh richest man on earth for multiple years during the cartel’s peak.

The impact of the Medellin cartel in Colombia from the 1970s to the 1990s was absolutely monumental. Not only did the cartel hold a massive amount of money and power, but they were also prepared to take drastic measures to protect their power and influence with no regard for the law. This involved acts of terrorism against the Colombian government in response to extradition laws, and vigilante justice against guerilla groups, most notably after the kidnapping of a family member of the Ochoa members by M19, which led to a brief wave of violence directed towards the marxist guerilla. Despite the cartel’s criminal and repulsive actions, figures such as Pablo Escobar were not nearly as hated as one would expect. To many in Colombia, mainly his hometown of Medellin, Escobar was seen a Robin Hood figure of sorts, due to his efforts to aid the lower classes, who felt neglected and disrespected by the government, who had done little to improve their lives. To them, Escobar had done more for them than the government ever had, with Escobar spending millions building houses, hospitals, parks, schools, football stadiums and churches for the impoverished people of Medellin.

In order to put an end to the violence caused by the cartel against government institutions and civilians in response to extradition laws, In 1991, Escobar would negotiate a deal which involved him being placed in a prison of his own design, named la Catedral or the cathedral. In his custom prison, it was agreed that he would be able to build the prison however he pleased, bring in anybody he wanted, have access to any facilities he wanted and complete immunity from any outside force, leading to his prison being nicknamed “Hotel Escobar” due to the luxury of his living conditions. However, after a failed attempt from the army to infiltrate the compound a year later, Escobar would escape, leading to a massive manhunt across the Medellin area, as well as increased efforts against the cartel and its operations.

The Medellin cartel would eventually begin its slow downfall in the late 80s and early 90s after Pablo Escobar’s escape from prison, which led to increased efforts against the cartel from the government, as well as from rivals, mainly the Cali cartel, who became involved in creating los PEPES, standing for perseguidos por Pablo Escobar, or “Persecuted by Pablo Escobar” in english, a vigilante group which inflicted violence on the cartel as well as Escobar himself, with the violent and criminal activities of the group being deliberately ignored by the Colombian government and DEA due to the impact they were having on Escobar’s operations. By this point in time many of the founding members of the cartel were dead or in prison, with Carlos Lehder arrested in 1987, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha killed in 1989, and the Ochoa brothers surrendering to the Colombian government in exchange for a lenient prison term. The cartel is mostly agreed to have met its complete demise in December of 1993, where after a long and violent manhunt, Pablo Escobar would be found hiding in a house in central Medellin and shot while attempting to flee.

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