I’m not going to surrender, Gilberto. That was just a dream you fell in love with. It isn’t mine. ibid. Miguel
We have a rat. An informant. They found my ledger. Narcos s3e8: Convivir, Miguel
The Castanos ran the largest private militia in Colombia … Theirs was a perpetual war. ibid.
My love, we have to get out of here before it’s too late. ibid. Cali accountant
Sometimes it’s so compromised, so corrupt, you can’t trust it. Narcos s3e9: Todos Los Hombres del Presidente
The only real victory belonged to the godfathers of Cali. Narcos s3e10: Going Back to Cali
In the 1980s Americans were using over $20 billion worth’ of cocaine a year, and one man was supplying 80% of it, becoming the world’s wealthiest criminal in history. He rewarded loyalty with riches and defiance with ruthless brutality. He wielded the kind of power that could have brought an entire country to its knees. Yet at the height of his success only one thing terrified Pablo Escobar – American justice. The Rise and Fall of Pablo Escobar, History 2019
Pablo Escobar was quickly establishing himself as a target for DEA. ibid.
An alliance with other Medellin dealers, manufacturers and smugglers that became the feared Medellin cartel. ibid.
Millions buying intense loyalty from the poor of Medellin helped Escobar to survive. ibid.
‘Pablo Escobar is a duality: some see him as Robin Hood and then there were his victims.’ Escobar Exposed I, dude, History 2019
The story of Pablo Escobar has captivated the world for over forty years, yet the truth of what occurred on the streets of Medellin and in the jungles of Colombia is shrouded in myth. ibid.
Pablo Escobar’s rise to head of the Medellin cartel in the 1980s was fast. ibid.
‘I was proud of his dreams and his projects he had at the time. I was proud of his convictions and his faith in the country. On many occasions he told me to prepare myself to be First Lady … Deep down I knew it wouldn’t happen.’ ibid. wife
For the Colombians, cocaine was not the reason the tide turned on Escobar and the Medellin cartel; it was the street violence and social turmoil. Escobar Exposed II
Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel rose to power on a wave of Colombian national pride. But with his success, extreme violence soon followed and his beloved country turned on him. ibid.
Warfare between Pablo Escobar and rival cartels had reached epic proportions. ibid.
Spain’s first city is braced for an avalanche of cocaine. The source: Colombia. The clan Del Golfo control Colombia’s lucrative coke market. Dope s3e2: God, Forgive Me For This
Coca can be harvested six times a year. ibid.
In 2017 Colombia’s cocaine yield rose 31% to an estimated 1,500 tons. ibid.
Medellin: the home of the man of whom Carlos Lehder and George Jung would revolutionise the cocaine trade: Pablo Escobar Gaviria. America’s War on Drugs II: Cocaine, Cartels & Crackdowns
Lehder is bringing in [Bahamas] $20 million a month. ibid.
Carlos Lehder is now head of logistics for Pablo Escobar. ibid.
‘Pablo Escobar was just a customer of Roberto Suarez.’ ibid. undercover agent
Barbie began working for Roberto Suarez. ibid.
For years I’ve been reporting on the UK’s veracious appetite for illegal drugs. I’ve seen the market flooded for cocaine that’s cheaper than ever. So I’ve come to Colombia where 70% of the world’s cocaine is produced to find out why. Our World: Colombia: The New Cocaine War, BBC 2020
Some areas of Colombia are facing a perfect storm. They fear the government has failed the peace process, allowing new murderous gangs to exploit the vacuum. ibid.
There’s a shadow hanging over this town: it’s rumoured to have a problem with gangs whose women drug unsuspecting victims before robbing them – the so-called Black Widow scam. Scam City s2e9: Bogota
‘With an overdose they can live you or leave you with a mental illness.’ ibid. cab-driver’s advice
1,200 Scopolamine crimes were reported to police in 2012. It’s believed this is only the tip of the iceberg. ibid.
A sleek super-charged speedboat streaks across the Caribbean on a tropical night. A staggering two tons ... of pure Colombian cocaine is crammed in the hull. Inside Cocaine Wars II: Drug Speedboats
At least eight out of ten boats make it through. ibid.
An estimated $67 billion of Colombian cocaine still moves north every year. Inside Cocaine Wars IV: Drug Mules
They may look like soldiers but these are police officers – members of Colombia’s anti-narcotics branch. Colombia’s Drug Wars, 2003
Some 90% of all illegal cocaine consumed in the US still comes from or through Colombia. ibid.
Both sides also fund their cause by producing drugs. ibid.
One man – Pablo Escobar – made this country the biggest cocaine producer in the world. ibid.
In many towns and villages outlaws have killed or driven out the police. ibid.
Around the world coffee prices have sunk to historic lows. ibid.
The coke trade’s foot soldier is the mule. ibid.
During the 1980s the Medellin Cartel smuggled 15 tons of cocaine a week, worth more than $400 million, into the United States. The majority entered the country through southern Florida. The Infiltrator 2016 starring Bryan Cranston & John Leguizamo & Benjamin Bratt & Diane Kruger & Yul Vazquez & Ruben Ochandiano & Juliet Aubrey & Amy Ryan & Olumpia Dukakis & Joe Gilgun et al, director Brad Furman, caption
What if we chased the money, took it to the bad guys, the real power at the top? ibid. Bob
The economy is addicted to drugs. ibid. baddie
‘The Crazy One’ was one of the fiercest and most feared narco-traffickers in the world.’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e2: The Animal, National Geographic 2023
‘If you think I’m bad, there’s another guy out there from the north. That guy is really dangerous. He’s an absolute animal … Otoniel.’ ibid.
Cocaine: ‘Like an injection of steroids into the Colombia Civil War.’ ibid.
For Giovanni Usuga and his younger brother Otoniel, the civil war is a career opportunity. They join a right-wing paramilitary outfit which merges with the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC. ibid. caption
‘They were fighting for ownership of the drug trade.’ ibid.
In March 2010 the USA targets the Gulf Clan and designates Giovanni as a ‘kingpin’. ibid.
‘Dozens of police die at the hands of Otoniel.’ ibid.
By the time of his death, Giovanni was shipping about 2,000 kilograms of cocaine a month to the USA. Just 2 months later, in February 2012, Otoniel ships 7,000 kilograms with a street value of over $200 million. ibid.
Otoniel’s position is finally pinpointed in the mountains of northwestern Colombia. ibid.
‘The world knew about the death of Pablo Escobar and the subsequent fall of the Medellin Cartel. Many knew about the Cali Cartel … but with the fall of these two cartels why had there been no decrease – I’m talking zero decrease – in the amount of drugs leaving Colombia and ending up in the United States?’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e4: Invisible Cartel, Bonnie Klapper, Sky Crime 2020
New York, January 1997: Armed with a search warrant, Danny and Romedio raid the Tele Austin store. ibid. caption
‘There was an invisible force behind the massive quantities of cocaine.’ ibid. Klapper
The new North Valley Cartel is innovative, brutal … and stealthy. ibid.
Bustamante’s reign of fear means no-one will give him up. John Tobon needs a way to get people talking. ibid.
As the ‘snitching war’ mounts, there is speculation that Bustamante is cooperating with the El Dorado task force. ibid.
During the 1980s Colombia drug cartels expand into three main criminal conglomerates … Within the Cali Cartel a young star is rising: Juan Calos Ramirez Abadia, known as Chupeta. Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e7: Cocaine CEO, National Geographic 2023
‘Chupeta was very organised but very strict.’ ibid. cash-runner
Meanwhile Cali Cartel cocaine continues to pour into the USA. ibid.
‘It made Chupeta [Colombia] and El Chapo [Mexico] two of most powerful narco-traffickers in the entire world. ibid.
‘He became the first narco-trafficker to use narco-submarines.’ ibid. agent