Cali, Colombia

The Cali Cartel was another cartel supposedly linked to the legendary “XII Santos” that based their operations in Cali, Colombia and the Valle del Cuaca Department. The foundation is traced back to the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and several other affiliate members. Unique to this cartel is the background from which the foundation members come from. Their social status was much higher than any other average drug trafficking cartel leader, something quite unusual. For their background, the cartel was dubbed “Cali’s Gentlemen.” The cartel initially used kidnapping and ransom, under the group name Las Chemas, to gain enough monetary support to being funding for drug manufacturing and smuggling. At first their business dealt with marijuana, but soon shifted to the more profitable cocaine.

Differing from most other drug smuggling cartels, the Cali cartel preferred to rely on bribery and favors to gain influential power within the Colombian government and other powerful political circles, as well as regular citizens important to the organization. The Cali cartel believed that the threat of violence would suffice when it came to political groups. However, the cartel did participate in “social cleansing” of several hundred thousand “deseachables”: prostitutes, street children, petty thieves, homosexuals, and the homeless. This again reflects the group’s social background and their belief that they were above most others. Although this group mostly maintained operations in Cali, their roots to the “XII Santos” shows how movement has spread the drug related violence throughout Colombia.

Picture: Rodriguez Orejuela brothers