Hey @JimParedes, here’s how the Colombian drug menace was REALLY dismantled…

In this day and age, you can’t afford to be dumb. I wonder why Crocodile Jim continues to be. Fact is, it was the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents, detailed in Colombia, who managed to track down Pablo. After Pablo’s death, Colombia had to contend with the rival Cali cartel.

The Cali cartel bosses were more sophisticated criminal minds than Pablo. Pablo was dealt a blow when his cousin and chief lieutenant, Gustavo Gaviria, was arrested and killed by the chief of Search Bloc, Col. Carillo. What follows is the end of the Cali cartel after most of their leaders were arrested and extradited to the US where they also cut deals with the DEA.

The cartel itself fought against the FARC and M-19 communist insurgents by funding the vigilante group, Los Pepes. Los Pepes was initially deployed to destroy Pablo’s network of cocaine labs and warehouses all over Colombia. They also assassinated the sicarios loyal to Escobar. As late as 2006, a sister of former Colmbian President, Cesar Gaviria named Leticia, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Bogota.

It is alleged that the Norte del Valle Cartel was formed after an event where the brothers Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, leaders of the Cali Cartel, came to an agreement with the Colombian government that if they surrender themselves and their organization to the Colombian justice system they would be given perks as imprisonment in Colombian prisons for not more than 5 years and with the promise of no expropriation of their large amount of property. It is stated that they organized a meeting with their lieutenants, main subordinates and junior partners in the business, to inform them that the decision has already been taken to stop all the illicit business immediately.

There were members who refused to this sudden dissolution, including Carlos Alberto Rentería Mantilla, Juan Carlos Ortiz Escobar, Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía, Diego León Montoya Sánchez and Orlando Henao Montoya. Those who wanted to continue with the business were the ones who shaped the Norte del Valle Cartel (North Valley Cartel).

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RG San Luis as posted on Facebook.