NCJ Number
123930
Date Published
1990
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This transcript of a television documentary on drug trafficking and law enforcement in Colombia uses interviews with various strategic figures in the drug cartels and law enforcement to profile the drug war in Colombia.
Abstract
An interview with Maza, the chief of Colombia's internal security police, talks about the attempts on his life by Medellin drug cartel members. An interview with Bill Moran, a Miami lawyer who has represented some of the top members of the Medellin cartel notes that drug trafficking in Colombia was not viewed as a problem in that country until the violence began to affect people there. An interview with an unidentified Colombian trafficker focuses on the huge amounts of money made in drug trafficking. The narrator discusses how various major cartel families, notably Gacha, Ochoa, and Escobar have spent lavishly, impressing citizens and public officials with their wealth and power. An interview with Carlos Lehder, one of the founding bosses of the Medellin cartel now serving a life sentence without parole in a U.S. prison, addresses the cartel's involvement in politics, the ease with which the cartel has bought political leaders and military officers, and the strategy to kill public officials who fight rather than cooperate with the cartel. The operations of the Cali cartel are also discussed. It has maintained a lower profile than the Medellin cartel and has also battled the Medellin cartel over markets. Other topics discussed include the logistics of opening a Colombian drug market in the United States, how Colombian drug profits are invested and laundered, and the interaction of the drug cartels and the major guerrilla groups in Colombia.