Cartel de Medellin
| Founded by | Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez,José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, George Jung |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Antioquia Department, Colombia |
| Years active | 1976–1993 |
| Territory | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Colombians and international people out of Colombia. |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, assassinations, bombing, terrorism, bribery, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, murder, political corruption, racketeering. |
| Allies | Guadalajara Cartel, La Corporación, Gulf Cartel |
| Rivals | Cali Cartel (defunct), Los Pepes (defunct), Colombian government, DEA, CIA |
The Medellín Cartel was a ruthless, highly organized and much-feared Colombian drug cartel originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Bolivia, Colombia, Central America, Peru, and the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. It was founded and run by Ochoa Vázquez brothers Jorge Luis, Juan David, and Fabio, together with Pablo Escobar, George Jung, Carlos Lehder and José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha. By 1993, the resistance group, Los Pepes (or PEPES), controlled by the Cali Cartel, and the Colombian government, in collaboration with the Cali Cartel, right-wing paramilitary groups, and the United States government, had dismantled the Medellín Cartel by imprisoning or assassinating its members.
At the height of its operations, the Medellín Cartel smuggled tons of cocaine each week into countries all over the world and brought in up to $60–100 million daily in drug profits. For a time, the Medellín Cartel supplied at least 96% of the United States and 90% of the global cocaine market.
In the late 1970s, illegal cocaine trade took off and became a major source of profit. Drug lord Griselda Blanco distributed cocaine for the Cartel in New York City and later Miami, establishing a crime network that at its height trafficked around 300 kilos per month. By 1982, cocaine surpassed coffee. Private armies were raised to fight off guerrillas who were trying to either redistribute their lands to local peasants, kidnap them, or extort the gramaje money FARC attempted to steal.
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