Cali Cartel
The 'Gentlemen of Cali' who broke with Escobar.
The Cali Cartel was a Colombian drug cartel based in Cali and the Valle del Cauca, founded by the brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela with Jose Santacruz Londono. They broke away from Pablo Escobar and his Medellin associates in 1988, when Helmer Herrera joined what became the four-man board that ran the cartel.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
- Years active
- 1975–1995
- Ethnicity
- Colombians
- Territory
- South America
- Central America
- Miami
- New York City
- Spain
- Leaders
- Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela
- Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela
- José Santacruz Londoño
- Hélmer "Pacho" Herrera
- Membership
- 2,500 – 6,000
- Activities
- Drug trafficking
- bribery
- money laundering
- racketeering
- Rivals
- Medellín Cartel (defunct), Norte del Valle Cartel (defunct)
Reader's Guide
Its founders came from a higher social background than most traffickers of the time, which earned the group the nickname 'Los Caballeros de Cali', the Gentlemen of Cali. At its height, from 1993 to 1995, the cartel was said to control over 80% of the world's cocaine market, and law enforcement considered it the most powerful criminal organisation in the world. The third and final season of Narcos follows the Cali Cartel, with Pedro Pascal's DEA agent Javier Pena given the task of bringing it down.
More in Cartels & Criminal Organizations
Elsewhere in Narcos
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced