Tragedy occurred at the capitol in Bogota as former president Ernesto Samper was charged by Congress for receiving money from the Cali Cartel during his 1994 campaign. This incident was referred to as the 8000 process scandal, which came from the folio number assigned to the case by the prosecutor’s office. The money received from the Cali Cartel was to buy off people to assure Samper’s success in the second round of the Colombian election, as he narrowly lost the first round of the election. Sampers eventually won the presidency but was immediately accused by his opponent Andres Pastrana of receiving this illegal donations. At first Sampers denied his guilt in the controversy, saying Pastrana was making excuses for his loss. A collection of tape recordings were released to the public that had considerable evidence of Sampers guilt. This was just the beginning of problems facing government officials, as Attorney General Orlando Vasquez turned himself in after taking money from drug traffickers.
Picture: Ernesto Samper
In Soacha, Cundinamarca, on August 18, 1989 Luis Carlos Galan was assassinated. Galan was expected to be the succeeder to President Virgilio Barco. This was a pivotal point for the Colombian drug war, because this assassination lead to Barco pursuing the arrest of all drug cartels and also allowing for the extradition of drug suspects back to the United States to become an option. Galan’s staff got word of a group of hit-men that were out to kill Galan. Galan was advised not to travel to the town of Soacha. He was expected to attend a soccer match in Barranquilla, but Galan insisted they go Soacha and that’s where he was murdered. This “hit” was planned for fear of Galan making a deal with the United States that would end cocaine production and consumption in Colombia. This assassination was said to have been planned by drug lord Pablo Escobar of the Medellin Cartel.
Picture: Luis Carlos Galan
La Catedral is the name of a famous prison atop a mountain overlooking the Colombian city of Medellin. In April of 1991 Pablo Escobar and several members of the Medellin cartel surrendered to Colombian officials. They made a deal with the government to agree to go to prison pending they be allowed to be located in the luxury prison ranch know as La Catedral. This is just one of many example indicating the power and influence the Colombian drug cartels such as the Medellin cartel family had over the Colombian government. In July of 1992 Pablo Escobar and others escaped from their luxurious prison in which they were being held captive. Several months after his famous escape and lengthly manhunt, Escobar was gunned down by Colombian military officials and members of the Cali cartel family. La Catedral was often referred to as hotel Escobar due to all the amenities the prison featured.
Picture: La Catedral prison
The city of Cali, Colombia is the location of the headquarters of the Cali Cartel. The Cali Cartel was founded by Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, and Jose Santacruz Londono. The unique and defining characteristic about this cartel is their social background. Compared to most other notable cartels in history they have a considerably higher ranked social status by Colombian social standards, an unusual trait for lords of a drug smuggling cartel. Because of this social ranking they earned the nickname Cali’s Gentlemen. Before getting into the world of drug trafficking the group, known then as Las Chemas, was involved in several well publicized kidnappings for ransom. It is believed that these successful kidnappings and the resulting ransoms collected were the necessary funding used to start up their new business as the prominent Colombian drug smuggling Cali cartel. At first the cartel was only associated with producing, shipping, and selling marijuana but soon shifted to cocaine as it was much more profitable.
Picture: Orejuela brothers
The city of Barranquilla, Colombia on the coast is the location of the headquarters of the North Coast Cartel. This cartel is headed and run by Alberto Orlandez-Gamboa who is nicknamed the Snail. He is recognized for having a reputation similar to that of the notoriously violent Pablo Escobar. Gamboa and his cartel have controlled the region for several years now. Other minor cartels comply to the North Coast Cartel’s wishes mainly out of respect for the reputation and threat of consequences from Gamboa. He has such control over that cartels that they even pay taxes to the North Coast Cartel in order to continue to run their businesses from this profitable port city. The smaller cartels are so intimidated they are afraid to do any activity of consequence without receiving permission from Gamboa to do it. Gamboa’s control over the area is certainly inconvenient to the other cartels operating in the area but is allowed to continue due to Gamboa’s threats and the fact that the profitable location is worth putting up with the taxation and control.
Picture: Alberto Gamboa
Norman’s Cay is a small island in the Bahamas that was subject to much of the drug smuggling done by Carlos Lehder, a major drug lord of the Medellin Cartel. In the late 1970’s Lehder began to stake his claim on the island by purchasing several large pieces of property for his personal use and also for drug trafficking. In those pieces of property, Lehder purchased an airstrip, in which he used to make moving the cocaine much easier. The airstrip and surrounding properties were at all times protected by strict security that included armed patrolmen and attack dogs. This freedom from danger allowed for Ledher’s properties to become a promiscuous playhouse where drugs, sex, and constant partying became the way of life. The Bahamian government kept to a don’t ask, don’t tell policy until in 1980 when a murdered couple were found drifting offshore, and the government was forced to start paying attention to all the illegal activities taking place.
Piture: Norman's Cay air view
In his last months in office United States President Bill Clinton introduced an aid package worth roughly $1.3 billion dollars,in order to help the Colombian government with their war on drugs. This large sum of money was allocated to Colombia to mostly assist with large scale security issues that were a direct result of drug cartel related violence. The capital provided by the U.S. was much needed, because the funds were not readily available to Colombia and efforts up to that point were dismal at best, due to the lack of resources. The United States’ contribution to Colombia’s war on drugs was not only a humanitarian act, but also a necessary act in order to prevent further movement of cocaine and related violence to the United States. This aid package was not the first time the United States provided funds to Colombia as the U.S. has been involved since the very beginning of this war on drugs.
Picture: Bill Clinton
Home to the notorious Pablo Escobar, Medellin, Colombia is a mecca for cocaine users and abusers across the globe. The cartel operating out of this city is named after the city and was founded by drug lords such as Pablo Escobar, Jorge Luis Ochoa Vazquez, Juan David Ochoa Vazquez, and Fabio Ochoa Vazquez. The Medellin cartel is one of the most notoriously violent cartels. They were linked to several political assassinations., such as Luis Carlos Galan, succeeder to Virgilio Barco President at the time. They were also known for famous kidnapping in the fall of 1990, including Diana Turbay, the daughter of a former president and Francisco Santos, news editor of El Tiempo, Colombia’s most prestigious newspaper. The Medellin cartel was so brutal and malicious that they would resort to any means possible and necessary to eliminate those who stood in the way of the cartel’s goals.
Picture: Pablo Escobar
Off the coast of California and Mexico a startling new discovery has shed light upon a new method of smuggling cocaine and other drugs from Colombia to the United States. The United States Coast Guard found 11 submarine like vessels. These narco-submarines are about the size of a humpback whale and made of fiberglass and wood. The little submarines are powered by a 250 to 350 horsepower diesel engines. The fuel tanks are large enough to make the entire 2,000 miles journey to the states. To help disguise the vessel, it has been equipped with engines and exhaust systems, that allow it to pass undetected by infrared sensors used by patrolling aircraft. The design of the nacro-submarines, however are not ideal for the crew members. They typically sleep on mattresses stuck on top of pipes and tanks to make more room for the cocaine. In response to this new method of smuggling, the United States is trying to pass a law that makes it much harder to get the drug into Mexico and Central America.
Picture: Nacro-submarine
The purpose of this field trip is to discuss the violent drug wars in Colombia, in relation to the geographic theme of region and place. This theme simply refers to, any region or place that has defining characteristics. Colombia has always been know for their production of the cocoa plant and the manufacturing and distribution of cocaine all around the world. The first thing that comes to mind, when Colombia is mentioned, is cocaine production and the extremely corrupt government due to the stronghold all of the cartels have over the entire country and its politics. The negative influence the cartels have over everyone has made Colombia a less than desirable destination in the last few decades. Not only is this violent drug war a serious problem for Colombia, it’s also effecting several other nations of the world including our own. There are several different locations strongly related to this violent drug war, not only in Colombia.
Picture: Guard overseeing confiscation of cocoa plants
