Colombia was known as a drug center because of the Medellin cartel. Concerted efforts have eradicated this problem to make Colombia one of the best countries in South America.

The Drug Past Of Colombia

Bobby Castro is the online editor at Gringos, where he has published a number of articles about Colombia news for expats and many other topics.

The largest and most organized drug cartel in Colombia was named the Medellin Cartel. This is an organized network of drug suppliers and smugglers that has its base in Medellin, Colombia.

The extent of the drug cartel’s operations were found in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. The founders of the cartel were Jorge Luis Ochoa Vazquez, Juan David Ochoa Vazquez, Fabio Ochoa Vazquez and Pablo Escobar.

The rapid increase of illegal cocaine exportation in the 1970′s which reached its peak in 1982 when the drug surpassed coffee as the major export of Colombia, accounting for 30% of total exports. As a result, drug lords became land barons as they purchased large tracts of land in order to launder the drug money earned in the trade. This group was able to amass large wealth, massive landholdings and immense political power. Much of their wealth was put into private armies to protect the landholdings of these drug barons and protection against the Communists seeking to impose taxes.

At its peak, the cartel was able to rake in nearly $60 million per day and the total amount earned by the cartel during its operations was in the total of nearly hundreds of billions. As their influence grew, many members committed missteps that caught the attention of the government. Many were indicted because of the killings that were ordered by drug barons.

The cartel was finally demolished in 1993 through joint operations between the Colombia government, the Cali cartel, the right wing paramilitary groups and the United States government through assassination of senior officers and imprisonment. One of the most instrumental groups in the demise of the cartel was the group “Los Pepes”. This group comprised of members of the Colombian National Police trained and assisted by Delta Force units together with operatives of the US Central Intelligence Agency.

The Colombia government was able to hunt down and kill the Ochoa Vazquez brothers and Pablo Escobar. Other operatives of the Medellin Cartel were assassinated by its rival the Cali cartel group. Ultimately, the drug operations of cartels in Colombia became top security priority of the government. Now, much of the drug operations in the country have been removed but there are still pockets of individual bosses still operating the trade, albeit for local operations. This dark past of the Colombia drug cartel in the country has since been removed for the future of the country.

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• Security Issues When Traveling To Colombia
• Cartagena Colombia In A Nutshell
• Basic Etiquette in Colombia
• Applying for Visas to Colombia
• Experience the True Cultural Contrast Of Bogota

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