In response to the violent drug wars that have raged on throughout Colombia for years and years and have also become so standard within the country that its citizens have become numb to the wars’ effects, an initiative named Plan Colombia was proposed (and later legislated) by Colombian President Andres Pastrana in 1990 during a speech given in Bogota. The name Plan Colombia also refers to US legislation put into effect to try to repress efforts of drug smuggling and help solve the violence that continues to plague Colombia. The US considers its Plan Colombia as part of the on going “war on drugs” to reduce illegal drug trade.
President Pastrana outlined several goals within his administration’s plan, including social and economic regeneration, weaning Colombia’s economy off of its dependence on drug trade, putting a stop to armed conflicts related to illegal drug trade, and constructing an anti-drug strategy. Some controversial components of this plan are the aerial administration of herbicides (because of damage done to legal crops) and the manner in which Colombian security forces were trained. This initiative has received much aid and support from the US, a reflection upon how much the Colombian illegal drug trade and resulting violence has impacted the US.
Movement is indeed an important theme to consider in Colombia’s struggle to quell the violent drug trade not only within its borders, but internationally as well. Colombian cartels have expanded business all over the world, notably so in the US, and taken with them ideas, people, culture, violence, influence, and product. The best way it seems to stop this movement is to stop it at the source: Colombia.
Picture: President Pastrana giving speech in Bogota
Canada is another popular way by which Colombian drug cartels have attempted (and have greatly succeeded in years past) to smuggle Colombian drugs into the US. Boats will leave Colombian ports bearing the fruits of other labors, such as food and flowers, and head to Canada carrying more than they claim to. The drugs will either be mixed into other products, chemically diluted and meant to be easily extractable later, or packed away in hidden compartments. Cartels have networks set up in Canada who receive the shipment, prepare it for entrance into the US, and send the drugs happily along to the consumers. The Canadian border was one of the most easily facilitated ways to smuggle drugs into the US. One famous Colombian drug dealer, known to be affiliated with the Medellin Cartel, is Bernardo Arcila who settled in Toronto around 1972. He remained in business for several years and managed to escape back to Colombia when Canadian authorities were inches away from arresting him.
Canada is yet another great example of the movement theme in Colombia’s violent drug war. Of course, again, there is the actual movement of the product itself. Here though also exemplifies the movement of people and culture through drug smuggling. Although no violence is specifically mentioned with Arcila, undoubtedly some did happen that was linked to his operation and undoubtedly his presence had an effect on where he ran his operations in Toronto. Once again the problems related to Colombia’s drug war have migrated into other regions as they expand their business.
Picture: Drug smuggling routes
Small airplanes are just one of the ways drug smugglers manage to sneak to their lucrative products across international borders, in particular US borders. Before this innovation often human mules were used or small quantities were packed in luggage sent through commercial flights. The use of small, private aircraft allowed a much larger product quantity to be shipped. Norman’s Cay is a Bahamian Island around two hundred miles off the coast of Florida. When the Medellin Cartel was in full swing, high ranking authority Carlos Ledher used this island as his own playground. He bought up large pieces of land, even a hotel, and constructed an airstrip that was heavily guarded by men and attack dogs. Ledher eventually succeeded in harassing and running off residents and visitors until he effectively became king of the island. The Bahamian government did nothing to stop him as it was believed they had accepted bribes from Ledher to stay out of his business. In July 1980 a yacht was found straying around the island, and on board authorities found blood stains and a corpse. In 1982 the Bahamian government finally started to investigate the island with pressure from the US authorities.
This island reflects the movement theme in Colombia’s violent drug war in two ways. First it gives insight into the movement of the product itself and how it has worked its way into the US in years past. Second it also reflects the violence that has become a standard practice in Colombia expanding to other locations and effecting citizens not related to Colombia or to the drugs at all. The cartels desire for globalizing their product sends not only drugs but violent means as well.
Picture: Carlos Toro, known pilot for Medellin Cartel
The Black Tuna Gang was most active in the 1970s for smuggling marijuana into Miami from their Santa Marta base. The group covered their operation by presenting a facade organization that exported petroleum, sugar, and coffee and was led by Raul Davila-Jimeno. Although their existence on American soil did not last long, only a stay of around 16 months, they were able to bring in about five hundred tons of marijuana to the US.
This gang is an essential example of the expansion and movement of Colombia’s drug war, in this case to the United States. Miami has become a central hub in the trafficking of drugs onto American land. Because of it being an ideal port location, it naturally has also become well known for the use of drugs as well. As if Colombia exporting drugs to Miami were not enough, the country has also shipped along its increasing drug related violence. Several Colombian gangs are active in this coastal Florida city; this starts competition for consumers. To these gangs, the best way to get rid of competition is to eliminate their existence completely.
Picture: Black Tuna Gang medallion
Although Colombia is perhaps now most well known around the world for its growing and distributing of massive amounts of Cocaine, the country entered into the world of drugs through marijuana. Some researchers trace the appearance of marijuana to the United States. It is said that some American drug traffickers came to Colombia by way of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and brought with them the means to start growing and producing marijuana. They gave seeds to the peasants to start plantations and also provided sufficient funding and any specialized equipment and training needed to make the plantation a success. The Colombian economy at that time was stagnant and those in need saw this as an opportunity to become monetarily successful. This event was the beginning of drug trade relations with the US (marijuana was not supplied in abundance until the late 1960s when US patrons searched for a new supply source and found it in Colombia).
Now Colombia is recognized around the world as a drug hub and a large majority of drug cartels and gangs around the world have originated from Colombia, such as the Black Tuna Gang which was based out of Santa Marta and active in Miami, Florida.
Picture: 30 year old "colombian gold" (marijuana) grown by local indians
The North Coast Cartel is the last of the four cartels believed to be derived from the legendary “XII Santos.” Their base of operations is located in the city of Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It was headed by Alberto Orlandez-Gamboa, nicknamed Caracol (meaning “snail”), until his arrest in June 1998. During his reign at head of the cartel he was known to be as unmerciful and remorseless as Pablo Escobar of the Medellin Cartel. Although Caracol could have waged war on other drug trafficking organizations operating near his established headquarters or even on the same portion of coast, he instead decided to use his power and dominance to his monetary advantage. Neighboring cartels and smaller groups respected his power and business and were therefore willing to pay the supposed tax he charged them in order to ship from the North Coast. In essence, Caracol completely controlled the area through the threat of his wrath if any were to disobey his wishes and rules. His retributions were so feared that other organizations even asked his permission before carrying out an assassination.
Here we see another element of movement in the Colombian violent drug wars that has yet to be directly identified: fear. If fellow drug smuggling operations were afraid of Caracol, it is without a doubt that regular citizens in the area lived in fear of this man and obstructing his operations. His reputation had spread throughout the region, doubtlessly having serious effects on the lives of the Colombian North Coast dwellers. Again, the consequences of the violent drug wars in Colombia reach farther and farther out into the world.
Picture: Alberto Orlandez-Gamboa ("Caracol")
The Norte Valle Cartel draws its history back to the legendary “XII Santos” but settled in the north of the Valle del Cuaca Department of Colombia and still bases its central operations from that location. The Norte Calle cartel did not become well known or prominent until the late 1990s after other famed cartels the Cali Cartel and the Medellin Cartel began to disintegrate. Today the Norte Cartel is one of the mightiest and most recognized groups not only inside Colombia’s borders but all over the world. As with most other cartels from Colombia, they mostly deal with cocaine, and their largest consumer is the US.
This institution’s reach extends deep into many other organizations mostly to provide their own protection. They are linked to both right-wing and left-wing illegal armed groups - known to the rest of the world as terrorist groups. The Norte Cartel strongly believes in the wielding of violence whenever necessary if it is for the benefit of their own cause; murdering rivals, punishing those who can not or will not pay, and torturing those believed to be informants or double agents. The violence even infiltrates their own organization as changes in leadership caused massive and ferocious gang warfare that led to the deaths of over 1000 people throughout the region. Violence is part of drug smuggling that reflects upon the movement trend related to Colombian’s drug wars as it spreads from the source uncontrollably.
Picture: Drug Lord, Diego Montoya, of the Norte Cartel
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
The Medellin Cartel, one of the major cartels in Colombia supposedly linked to the legendary “XII Santos,” was in large scale operation in the 1970s and 1980s. The cartel was established by Pablo Escobar along with the Ochoa Vazquez brothers Jorge Luis, Juan David and Fabio. Although the central base of the cartel’s operations was located in Medellin, Colombia, they rapidly expanded their enterprise to clientele all over Colombia, Peru, and Central America. As with most drug smuggling businesses, the majority of their product was manufactured for US patrons. This consumer led to more bases in Canada and even some in Europe.
Drug smuggling cartels take great pains to keep their undertaking hidden from authorities. The Medellin Cartel was no different. Deep threads of infiltration into governments through bribes, threats, and other displays of violence helped to keep the high ranked officials of the cartel safe. They openly waged “total and absolute war” with the government of Colombia, murdering and assassinating many top political leaders, government affiliates, and any other persons in the way of their success. The cartel used bombing, car bombing, and heavy artillery gunfire to accomplish their violent goals. It is estimated that this cartel was responsible for near 3,500 deaths. The Medellin Cartel is an excellent example of the violence associated with drugs and its movement into other nations by expanding business.
Picture: Pablo Escobar
This Virtual Field trip was designed in effort to explain and perhaps shed some light on the ongoing violent drug wars taking place in Colombia and other locations associated with Colombian drug exports. This presentation references the geographic theme of movement. Movement here does not just refer to the spread of the physical drug product, but rather the spread of ideas, people, culture, violence, influence, and product from a couple isolated Colombian origins to the expansion in Colombia itself and also to other countries. This field trip focuses on the expansion into US cities and how the drug trade and industry has become so widespread and dominant in Colombia. It will also explore some methods for smuggling drugs from Colombia to the United States.
The origins of marijuana, the first major drug to be trafficked from Colombia to the US, will be discussed at a later stop, but first examine the supposed origins of the drug cartels, or drug gangs, themselves. According to stories, a now extinct (or so believed) society called the XII Santos made up of twelve men distinguished among their peers is the root of cartels in Colombia. They rose to power and gained much wealth and respect from the commoners. To them, the XII Santos were indeed saints, men who loved their country and gave back extremely charitably. To mark each man of the society, rings were made that displayed the roman numerals one through twelve on the outside and each person’s own numeral on the inside. It was said that these rings were then passed down to the next heir, welcoming them to the secret society. These men of power were believed to have led or had much power within four main cartels located in Colombia: the Medillin Cartel, the Cali Cartel, the Norte del Valle Cartel, and the North Coast Cartel.
Picture: Blocks of cocaine being confiscated in Colombia.
