by Austin Galt
The Marlboro Man became the first former senator to be extradited to the United States in 2003. And much to the chagrin of the DEA officer who took custody of him, Santa Lopesierra wore a red and white tracksuit emblazoned with the Marlboro logo. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
From his American jail, Lopesierra revealed that Norte del Valle Cartel boss Orlando Henao had offered $500,000 to kill the politician Álvaro Gómez. He also alleged that Ernesto Samper, who was president at the time of Gómez’s murder in November 1995, and his government officials were linked to the assassination. Samper has denied all the allegations.
Martelo was imprisoned until 2001 when he was released on provisional bail due to insufficient evidence to convict him. He disappeared but was eventually recaptured in 2005 after his model girlfriend unwittingly led police to his location. He was given a stiff prison sentence of 30 years.
Around the turn of the century, another formidable force had emerged on the mafia scene in Bogotá known as the El Dorado Cartel. By the time it was dismantled a decade later, it was reportedly responsible for over 40 percent of all cocaine consumed in the United States. Dubbed a ‘super cartel’, it worked together with all the major players in Colombia’s underworld from right-wing paramilitaries to left-wing guerrillas and other drug-trafficking operations, both small and big.
The ‘drug trafficking board of directors’, as they were called, included Luis ‘Lucho’ Caicedo, Claudio Silva and Julio Lozano, who was considered the head honcho. The three cartel leaders, who were each generally known by their first names with the respectful title of Don, all had connections emanating from the Boyacá municipality of Guateque and they were dubbed ‘El triunvirato de Guateque’ or ‘The Guateque Triumvirate’.
It was their love of football that ultimately led to their downfall. They were fans of Bogotá’s struggling Independiente Santa Fe football team. To help its cause, duffel bags full of millions of dollars in cold, hard cash began arriving at the team’s offices in 2002. Don Julio, who instigated these donations, also bought shares in the club through his family and friends. While this was initially beneficial to the fortunes of the club, it didn’t help the longer-term fortunes of its sponsors.
Don Lucho worked as a police investigator before deciding to change sides. His knowledge gained from law enforcement taught him to maintain a low profile and indeed he did. He kept the structure of the organisation compartmentalised, making it hard for authorities to see connections. As with many other drug lords, he eventually moved to Argentina as Colombian authorities turned the screws on them.
Don Claudio also worked as a police investigator in his former life. His resume, held in the police human resource department, detailed important personal information about him and, after entering the drug-trafficking world, he tried to buy it back for $10 million. His inside man was caught in the act and sentenced to several years in prison. He was known in Bogotá’s fruit and vegetable market, Corabastos, as ‘El Rey de la Papa’ or ‘The Potato King’. Needless to say, he dominated the potato market. These produce markets are a hive of criminal activity as the drugs are often hidden in food trucks and transported to and from the urban centres.
Don Julio controlled several drug routes transporting cocaine to the ports of Tumaco, Turbo and Cartagena and bound for Mexico where he had allied with the Sinaloa Cartel led by El Chapo Guzman. Lozano was also responsible for collecting money from various drug traffickers and giving it to associates who would buy the drugs from the FARC guerrillas. He was closely aligned with the major players in the emerald business and his security ring of over a dozen bodyguards was paid for by the company Perfect Emerald. Apart from his involvement in Independiente Santa Fe, he also ran his own football team in Boyacá – the Esmeraldas football club.
The El Dorado Cartel significantly increased the use of narco submarines as one of their preferred methods of transportation. The submarines cost around $1 million to build and can carry several tons of cocaine. Most were semi-submersible but with technology improvements, fully-submersible submarines are now being made.
The cartel laundered money through San Andresito businesses and large-scale residential and commercial real estate developments but there was still plenty of money left and they eventually ran out of ways to invest it. Truckloads of cash would just be put in storage houses.
It all came crashing down for the cartel in 2010 after the launch of Operation Pacific Rim. This was a Colombian police effort with international cooperation. Don Lucho was arrested in Buenos Aires in April 2010 before being extradited a few months later to the United States. He immediately began cooperating and led police to over $150 million stashed in various hiding places, including cars left in parking garages around the city. Also, $40 million of cash in shrink-wrapped plastic was discovered hidden inside a shipment of fertiliser at the port city of Buenaventura. Don Claudio was surprised by police at a farm in Meta in May 2010 and extradited to the United States the following year. Under pressure from authorities, Don Julio turned himself in to American authorities in November 2010.
The criminal investigation into the Independiente Santa Fe football club revealed the club’s auditor, who was gunned down in July 2010, previously worked for Pablo Escobar and paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso. The huge cash haul found in the cars was determined to be headed for the club’s coffers. After these revelations surfaced its main corporate sponsor, Aguila beer, pulled the plug.
The football club has had a turbulent history and was one of those denounced for its narco infiltration by Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in 1983. From the late 1970s, it was controlled by the owner of a chain of drug stores which acted as a façade for distributing ingredients for the processing of cocaine. After he was accused of drug trafficking, the Cali Cartel’s Phanor Arizabaleta came on board as an owner. His tenure featured some strange happenings, such as a game played against Deportes Quindio in 1988 where the referee blew the final whistle 13 minutes into extra time just after Santa Fe scored an equaliser. Arizabaleta later transferred some players to América de Cali without receiving a transfer fee as a gift to his boss Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela.
Pastor Perafán then took over control but before being captured he handed the team to César Villegas, the club’s ex-president who was linked to Case 8000 and sentenced to five years in prison for illicit enrichment, although he was freed two years later after cooperating with authorities. He was murdered in 2002, just when the duffel bags of cash started appearing. Its next president, Luis Eduardo Méndez, was a criminal lawyer who was extradited to the United States in 2007 and sentenced to over five years in prison for obstruction of justice in a case against an associated drug trafficker. Another subsequent Santa Fe president was a politician from Guateque who was said to be a puppet for the cartel leaders.
The fall of the El Dorado Cartel had a domino-like effect with some big-hitting narcos dropping soon after. This was likely due to information given by Don Lucho who had his prison sentence reduced to 10 years in return for his cooperation.
Pedro Guerrero, known as ‘Cuchillo’ or ‘Knife’ due to his victims having their throats slit and limbs cut off, was one of the cartel’s top associates who presided over the production of cocaine in the Eastern Plains, while also arranging its transportation into neighbouring Venezuela. He began his criminal life working for the Medellín Cartel under Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha before joining Carlos Castaño’s paramilitary organisation, eventually becoming a leading figure in the AUC’s Centauros Bloc which took part in the Mapiripán massacre.
Cuchillo was a major player in the war that broke out in 2003 between two paramilitary blocs based in the Eastern Plains – the AUC’s Centauros Bloc led by Miguel Arroyave known as ‘Arcángel’ and the Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare (ACC) or Peasant Self-Defence Forces of Casanare led by Héctor Buitrago known as ‘Martin Llanos’. The ACC, which chose not align itself under the AUC umbrella, was also known as the Buitragueños.
Martin Llanos, who assumed
the leadership of the ACC after the capture of his father in 1998, accused Arcángel of encroaching on his territory and a bloody turf war ensued for control of drug routes and coca plantations around the south of Casanare state. Arcángel was a drug trafficker who had purchased the AUC franchise for several million dollars and had returned to the region in 2002 after spending a couple of years in prison. He was supported by Carlos Castaño and, under siege, Martin Llanos retreated to one of his safe havens near Puerto López, Meta.
The war raged on into 2004 with the body count increasing at such a rate that the gravediggers could not keep up with the constant supply of bodies. It finally ended later that year, leaving over 1000 dead, including both paramilitaries and innocent civilians. Arcángel was victorious while Martin Llanos fled the region and remained invisible until his arrest in Venezuela in 2012. Despite winning the war, Cuchillo and some other leaders, such as Manuel de Jesús Piraban alias ‘Pirata’, were unhappy with the leadership of top boss Arcángel and asked the AUC paramilitary bosses for permission to kill him. Permission was granted and Cuchillo assumed the top spot.
Cuchillo demobilised in 2006 but immediately returned to his life of crime forming Ejército Revolucionario Popular Anticomunista (ERPAC) or Anti-Communist Revolutionary People’s Army which was one of several criminal bands that formed from demobilised paramilitaries who had no desire to engage in civilian life. He died on Christmas Eve in 2010 after the police received intelligence he would be holding festivities near Mapiripán. He was able to escape the initial onslaught but in a drunken stupor he accidentally fell into a river and drowned. His body washed up downstream several days later.
After the downfall of Cuchillo and his El Dorado Cartel superiors, Daniel Barrera known as ‘El Loco’ or ‘The Madman’ became the country’s top drug baron. He had out-survived many of the country’s major drug lords who had gone before him. Indeed, President Santos labelled him ‘the last of the great capos’.
Born in Guaviare, he and his brother Omar entered the drug trade in the 1980s, setting up drug laboratories throughout the region. After Omar was killed early on, Daniel avenged his death and in the process gained his nickname. He was subsequently imprisoned in 1990 but escaped after a few months, thus beginning his rise to the top.
El Loco Barrera allied with both the FARC and AUC. He would buy large quantities of coca paste from the guerrillas and was often seen entering the El Caguan DMZ during the peace talks with the Pastrana government. Barrera then processed the paste into cocaine in one of his many jungle laboratories before selling it on to buyers including the Bloque Vencedores de Arauca or Conquerors of Arauca Bloc.
This paramilitary bloc was run by Los Mellizos – Víctor Mejía and his twin brother Miguel – who bought the paramilitary franchise from the Castaño brothers in 2001. When Víctor moved to Barranquilla in the 1990s Miguel had gone to Urabá, linking up with Vicente and Carlos Castaño. Their new paramilitary group wreaked havoc across the region and were feared by the local population. They had a hatred for the guerrillas after Víctor was kidnapped by the FARC in the 1980s, and they were responsible for several massacres in Arauca.
After the AUC demobilised in 2006, the brothers formed the criminal band Los Nevados which operated along the Venezuelan border from Arauca up to the Caribbean coast. Víctor was eventually killed by Colombian police in 2008 while Miguel was captured the same year and extradited to the United States in 2009. The DEA had them listed in the top 12 most wanted drug traffickers.
Proving he was one of Colombia’s pre-eminent drug traffickers, El Loco Barrera sold cocaine to several drug-trafficking organisations, both big and small, including the Norte del Valle Cartel and the Cartel de los Llanos or Plains Cartel which had gone largely unnoticed as authorities focused their efforts on the cartels from Medellín and Cali. It was only discovered in late 1995 as authorities were hunting for Pacho Herrera from the Cali Cartel. Several of its leaders were captured in the ensuing years. One of the main protagonists on the Eastern Plains was José Evaristo Linares, known as ‘Don Eva’, who helped the FARC traffic tons of cocaine from his clandestine airstrips located just inside Venezuelan territory. He was captured in May 2012 and extradited to the United States.
El Loco Barrera formed an alliance with Cuchillo and was one of the men responsible for having Miguel ‘Arcángel’ Arroyave permanently relieved of his command of the Centauros Bloc. Despite having cosmetic surgery to change his appearance and burning his own fingertips with acid, he was caught in Venezuela in September 2012 and extradited to the United States the following year where he was sentenced to 35 years in jail.
The Alvarez Meyendorff brothers included Ignacio known as ‘Nacho’ and Juan Fernando known as ‘Mechas’ or ‘Fuse’ – likely due to his violent temper. They were some of Colombia’s top-shelf drug traffickers who amazingly went under the radar for many years. They started out in the Cali Cartel and its successor Norte del Valle Cartel before teaming up with the El Dorado Cartel. Their move to Argentina in the mid-2000s helped them to stay out of view of Colombian authorities, at least up until the capture of Don Lucho.
Older brother Ignacio, known to be the financial brains of the operation, was picked up in April 2011 upon returning from a holiday in Tahiti. Younger brother Juan Fernando, who was responsible for the transportation of the drugs, turned himself over to the DEA in Haiti in 2013.
It was the discovery of a group of accountants, who worked for the brothers and other drug traffickers, that spelt doom for them and their narco-emporium. They had set up many front companies to launder the money while buying up huge parcels of land. One such company dealt in antiquities and they would smuggle cocaine in antique furniture.
Authorities came across financial documents and intercepted phone calls between the accountants and the front people who managed the companies. The Colombian government began confiscating all their assets, totalling around $700 million, the biggest seizure of assets from drug traffickers in the history of Colombia. Many more properties in Argentina, including a string of nightclubs, were also under investigation, bringing the total value of their known properties to over $1 billion.
Also captured in Argentina in 2012 were the ex-wife of El Loco Barrera and the widow of Cuchillo. They were linked to Ignacio Alvarez Meyendorff and were both accused of sending cocaine shipments to Europe.
Another big hitter who had gone under the radar for years was Shirley Herrera known as ‘La Madrina del Narcotráfico’ or the ‘Godmother of Drug Trafficking’. Investigations into the El Dorado Cartel revealed some drug traffickers referred to her by her alias of Doña Liliana. Originating from Cali, she had worked with the Cali Cartel and Norte del Valle Cartel before partnering with Don Lucho.
Shirley was arrested for drug trafficking in Panamá in 1992; however she reportedly walked out the front door several days later after paying a $200,000 bribe. She stayed out of the spotlight for another two decades. It was the capture of a couple of drug-trafficking brothers in 2014 that put serious pressure on Shirley.
Andrés and Jorge Rengifo Valentierra ran an operation of go-fast boats transporting cocaine from the Pacific coast port of Buenaventura to Central America. One of their top clients was Doña Liliana. Seeing the writing on the wall, Shirley Herrera decided to turn herself into the DEA and cooperate in return for a lenient sentence. She was subsequently condemned to spend the next 12 years behind bars.
The takedown of the El Dorado Cartel clearly had serious ramifications for some of Colombia’s major players whom police didn’t really know much about or at least weren’t actively looking for. Through his squealing, Don Lucho went from being the country’s top traqueto to its top snitch.
*
As the year reached its culmination, Lily and I went to Villavicencio to see in the New Year at the house of one of her friends from the city which is known as ‘La Puerta al Llano’ or ‘The Gateway to the Plains’. It is cowboy country with many ranches in the region and, not surprisingly, it is known fo
r its fine-quality meats or carnes. We all enjoyed some carne a la llanera combined with some aguardiente, making it an excellent way to finish the year.
On New Year’s Day, we all ventured east to see the town of Puerto López and the surrounding area. I had no idea that we were right in the middle of the battle that had been raging between the two paramilitary blocs of Martin Llanos and Arcángel. We did see a dead body lying beside the road on the journey out, but I put that down to the festivities of the previous evening. Who knows?!
While 2003 had been a great year, 2004 was set to be a smashing one too.
19
LORD OF THE MOUNTAIN
I proposed to Lily in early 2004 during a short vacation in Panama. She said yes. First, however, I needed to ask Lily’s father for her hand in marriage. Her parents were coming to Bogotá for a week so that would be my opportunity.
Due to religious traditions, it is generally frowned upon for Colombians to live together before getting married and Lily’s parents were unaware of our living arrangements. So, I had to organise alternate accommodation for the duration of their stay. Thankfully Rusty, who was back in the country, allowed me to stay at his apartment.
We all made a day trip to Villa de Leyva, a delightful colonial town a few hours drive north. We found a restaurant for lunch and this was where it would all happen. I immediately ordered a beer to ease my nerves. I don’t think I’ve ever drunk a beer so quickly and I didn’t get down to business until I was onto my second beer. I can’t even remember what I said. I just know that her father gave us his permission. Plans were put in motion for a wedding later that year in November.
I had spoken of my intentions to my father in a telephone call several months earlier. Upon revealing the exciting information, there seemed to be a long pause on the other end of the line and I could virtually hear Dad thinking, What’s Austin doing now?! Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, he was on a plane and bound for Colombia.
