At the height of the Cali Cartel's reign from 1993 to 1995, they were cited as having control of over 80% of the world's cocaine market and were said to be directly responsible for the growth of the cocaine market in Europe, controlling 80% of the market there as well.^[6] By the mid-1990s, the leaders of the Cali Cartel were a criminal empire operating billions per year. The Cartel was considered by law enforcement to be the most powerful criminal organization in the world.

Organization[edit]

In the absence of a hardline policy from the DEA on cocaine, the trade flourished. The group developed and organized itself into multiple "cells" that appeared to operate independently yet reported to a celeno ("manager").^[6] The independent clandestine cell system is what set the Cali Cartel apart from the Medellín Cartel. The Cali Cartel operated as a tight group of independent criminal organizations, as opposed to the Medellíns' centralised structure under leader Pablo Escobar.^[8][12]


The Cali Cartel eventually became "the most powerful criminal organization in the world. No drug organization rivals them today or perhaps any time in history." according to then DEA administrator Robert C. Bonner.^[6][13] and was called "the biggest, most powerful crime syndicate we've ever known", by Thomas Constantine respectively.^[14]


Juan Carlos Saavedra represented the Cali KGB Cartel in Spain.^[15]


Each leader of the Cali Cartel had their own operation to run as they saw fit. There were 5 major Cali trafficking groups that were separate but also worked together when their interests aligned. This included, but was not limited to, transporting drugs to the United States and money laundering. According to a report by the DEA in 1994, the Rodriguez brothers, Miguel and Gilberto, were the most successful and powerful of the cartel's members. As such, they were also in charge of the Cali Cartel operations on a grand scale. Gilberto, known as the "Chess Player" for his ability to think strategically, oversaw the cartel's long-term plans while his younger brother handled the day-to-day operations; micromanaging every detail. While certain groups were only handling certain aspects for the cartel, the Rodriguez brothers were involved in all aspects from production to transportation to wholesale distribution to money laundering. One of the more violent of the kingpins, Jose "Chepe" Santacruz-Londono had his talent in international cocaine transportation, creating a vast network for the cocaine to get from Colombia to its final destination, most often the United States. Specifically, he had a center of US operations in New York where the DEA seized two cocaine conversion laboratories in June 1992. Next, the Urdinola brothers were possibly the most violent of the group with some estimates saying that they murdered over 100 individuals in Colombia. They also distributed cocaine throughout the United States from Los Angeles to Miami to New York City. Also, the group expanded into trafficking Colombian heroin, a product that most of the groups stayed away from. Finally, Raul and Luis Grajales, cousins by marriage, were a careful duo who tried to portray themselves as legitimate. Their operation took them to Western Europe where they tried to establish new routes from Colombia. They used Eastern Europe and old Soviet countries to route the cocaine into Western Europe.^[16] The five groups all coexisted under the name of the Cali Cartel.