Medellín Cartel
| Founded by | Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, Griselda Blanco, George Jung, Carlos Lehder, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Antioquia Department, Colombia |
| Years active | 1976–1993 |
| Territory | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Latinos and international people out of Colombia. |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, assassinations, bombing, bribery, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, murder, political corruption, racketeering. |
| Allies | Guadalajara Cartel, La Corporación, Gulf Cartel |
| Rivals | Cali Cartel, Los Pepes, Colombian government |
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of drug suppliers and smugglers originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, 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 million daily in drug profits. For a time, the Medellín Cartel supplied at least 84% of the United States and 80% of the global cocaine market.
In the late 1970s, the illegal cocaine trade took off and became a major source of profit. 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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