Cartel History, Geography & Globalization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pablo Escobar
• December 1,1949 – December 2, 1993
• Colombian drug lord & exclusive cocaine trafficker
• Head of the Medellin Cartel
• The “Robin Hood” of Colombia- many people looked up to him as a hero. Escobar gave to the poor communities of Colombia. Build schools, hospitals and churches throughout Comombia
• In 1989 Forbes Magazine named Escobar as being one of the 200 billionaire in the world with an estimated net worth close to U.S $30 billion dollars (equivalent of US$58 billion in 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medellin Cartel
• Founded in 1976 in Medellin, Colombia
• Years active: 1976- 1993
• Founders: Pablo Escobar, Ochoa family: Jose Luis, Fabio & Juan Davis Ochoa, Carlos Lehder & Rodriguez Gacha
• Territory: Colombia
• Manufacture and distributed Colombian cocaine
• Exported cocaine through Mexico & Caribbean routes & into the U.S.A
• For a time the Medellin Cartel supplied at least 84%-90% of the United States and 80% of the World wide cocaine market.
• Criminal activities: Drug trafficking, money laundering, assassinations, bombing, extortion, bribery, kidnapping, murder, political corruption, arms trafficking, racketeering, terrorism.

 

Geographical Map:

The “dark side” of Globalization:
• Mexico is the “hub” of the underground globalization drug market
• Mexican cartels desire to control transportation routes
• Transit points usually link Mexico with Latin American drug producing nations such as Colombia & Peru, and the U.S, to which the majority of drugs are smuggled
• Mexican cartels are responsible for 90% of the U.S cocaine market & key producers of marijuana and methamphetamines
• 90% of guns seized in Mexico including high-powered semi automatic rifles, originated in the U.S
• Mexican cartels are active in more than 1,000 cities
• 450,000 Mexicans now rely on the international drug trafficking as their primary source of income

 

1985: The abduction, torture and murder of U.S DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena

37-year-old U.S DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was on assignment in Mexico working undercover posing as a potential buyer to narcotics traffickers. His main mission was to investigate who these drug lords were, what kind of drugs they were dealing and in what quantities. On February 7, 1985 Camarena was abducted outside of the heavily protected U.S Consulate building in Mexico. His friend, Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mexican pilot used by the DEA was also abducted separately on the same day.
The Regan Administration put great pressure on the government of Mexico. The United States Customs Agency took the unprecedented step of all by closing the border to traffic from Mexico.

 

 

 

30 days after the Camaren was abducted, his body was found along with the pilot turned up in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Their beaten and cut up bodies were dumped on the roadside.

 

 

 

The three men identified as having ordered the kidnappings, torture and murder of Camarena & Zavala were Ernesto “Don Neto” Fronseca, Rafael Caro Quintero and Migiel Angel Felix Gallardo, the heads of the then all-powerful Guadalajara drug cartel. Fronseca was arrested in April of that year, as well as Quintero who was later apprehended in a wire tap operation. Felix Gallardo was able to evade capture until 1989.

 

According to reporter Chivis of Borderlandbeat.com stated that, “Many analysts of this case believe that the killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena was a major turning point in the fight against drug trafficking throughout Mexico. In result to this case the Guadalajara cartel was broken up into splinter groups, which formed the basis of today’s powerful drug organizations. Also, this case marked a new level of shameless boldness by the cartels. To seize a DEA agent in broad daylight outside the extremely- protected U.S Consulate building, and to torment & murder him was ruthless and was further than the cartels had ever gone before at the time.”

2013 Fox News clip