The Cornerstone Report: Volume 3, Issue 2

Demise of the Cali Cartel

Gilberto Rodiguez-Orejuela shown during his arrest and subsequent extradition to the U.S. where he is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

A long-running investigation of the Cali drug smuggling cartel culminated in September 2006, when cartel leaders Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela pled guilty in the Southern District of Florida to conspiracy to import over 200,000 kilograms of cocaine, and a forfeiture count for $2.1 billion.

The 15-year investigation under ICE’s leadership is a testament to the agents’ and prosecutors’ tenacity, innovation and good old-fashioned detective work.

The investigation began in 1991 when a drug-sniffing dog at the Miami seaport alerted to a massive shipment of cocaine concealed in concrete posts. Continual surveillance over three months, and several controlled deliveries of drugs in Miami and Texas, resulted in agents executing seven search warrants, seizing 12,250 kilograms of cocaine, and several arrests.

In June 1995, a federal grand jury in Miami issued the first RICO (racketeering) indictment against the Cali cartel, charging 59 defendants, including the cartel’s four kingpins (Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela, Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela, Jose Santacruz-Londono and Helmer Herrera-Buitrago), 10 defense attorneys and several hit men.

The indictment charged the Cali cartel with importing 200,000 kilograms of cocaine and laundering $2 billion from 1983 through 1995. Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela were apprehended and jailed in Colombia in 1995. Santacruz and Herrera were later killed.

Although the defendants were imprisoned by Colombia in 1995, they continued to run the cartel from prison by working through Miguel’s son, William Rodriguez-Abadia, and others.

In September 2003, ICE agents obtained an indictment against 11 cartel defendants, including the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers, for their recent drug and money laundering activity. A superseding indictment was obtained in January 2004, with more than $2 billion in assets being sought.

In November 2004, extradition requests were approved, and several months later the brothers were extradited to the United States, where they were sentenced to 30-year prison sentences, marking the end of the infamous Cali cartel.

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Cornerstone is U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) comprehensive investigative initiative for fighting financial crime, trade fraud and intellectual property crime.

The Cornerstone Report is a quarterly bulletin highlighting key issues related to ICE financial and trade investigations.

The Cornerstone Report covers a broad range of topics related to financial investigations and potential vulnerabilities in the financial and trade sectors.

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