Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician, who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthiest criminals in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death—equivalent to $70 billion as of 2022—while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is a Mexican drug lord and the former leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's friend and competitor Salvador Gómez, after the former's arrest in 1996. As confrontations with rival groups heated up, Osiel Cárdenas sought and recruited over 30 deserters from the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales to form the cartel's armed wing. Los Zetas served as the hired private mercenary army of the Gulf Cartel.
Ismael Mario Zambada García is a Mexican drug lord, co-founder and current top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate based in Sinaloa. Before he assumed leadership of the entire cartel, he allegedly served as the logistical coordinator for its Guzmán-Zambada organization, which has overseen the trafficking of cocaine and heroin into Chicago and other US cities by aircraft, narcosubs, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor trailers, and automobiles. As of early 2024, he has never been arrested or incarcerated and is the single last remaining fugitive of the List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords (2009).
Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas is a German Colombian former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medellín Cartel. Born to a German father and Colombian mother, he was the first high-level drug trafficker extradited to the United States, after which he was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020. Originally from Armenia, Colombia, Lehder eventually ran a cocaine transport empire on Norman's Cay island, 210 miles (340 km) off the Florida coast in the central Bahamas.
Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela was a Colombian drug lord and one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel. Orejuela formed the cartel with his brother, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, José Santacruz Londoño, and Hélmer Herrera. The cartel emerged to prominence in the early 1990s, and was estimated to control about 80 and 90 percent of the American and European cocaine markets respectively in the mid-1990s. Rodríguez Orejuela was captured after a 1995 police campaign by Colombian authorities and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He obtained early release in 2002, and was re-arrested in 2003, after which he was extradited to the United States. There, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, where he died in 2022.
The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, was a drug cartel that operated principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia, most notably the coastal city of Buenaventura. It rose to prominence during the 1990s, after the Cali and Medellín Cartels fragmented, and it was known as one of the most powerful organizations in the illegal drug trade. The drug cartel was led by the brothers Luis Enrique and Javier Antonio Calle Serna, alias "Los Comba", until its takedown in 2008 by the authorities of Colombia and Venezuela, with cooperation of the United States DEA.
Diego León Montoya Sánchez, also known as Don Diego, is a Colombian former crime boss and leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel. On October 25, 2002, Montoya was listed as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker on the United States Department of Treasury's Specially Designated National List.
The Gulf Cartel is a criminal syndicate and drug trafficking organization in Mexico, and perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in the country. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, directly across the U.S. border from Brownsville, Texas.
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, commonly known as "El Chapo" and "JGL", is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world.
Luis Hernando Gómez Bustamante is a Colombian drug trafficker for the Norte del Valle Cartel, who was arrested in 2004 and, on July 19, 2007 transported for extradition to the United States on charges of money laundering and drug smuggling. Gomez, also known as "Rasguño" is reported to have received his nickname after dismissing the wound caused by being grazed in the cheek by a bullet as "just a scratch". He is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota with a projected release date of 2032.
The North Coast Cartel was a drug cartel operating in northern Colombia between in 1980 and 2010, mostly controlling the area of the Colombian Caribbean coast illegal drug trade flow from other regions of Colombia and neighboring countries and local production. Its operations center was the city of Barranquilla. Other name was the Barranquilla Cartel.
Miguel Ángel Mejía Múnera aka "El Mellizo" or "Pablo Mejía" or "Rafael Mejia" is a presumed Colombian drug lord and former paramilitary leader. Along with brother Víctor Manuel he created a drug cartel called "Los Nevados" out of a former paramilitary which they bought for US$ million dollars. The cartel buys illegal drugs from Daniel Barrera Barrera another drug lord working along with both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as well as paramilitaries. The brothers have also been known to employ many ex-military and special bodyguards like Francisco Rivas Gonzales "Superman" who has disappeared, and believed to be somewhere in Mexico or Central America. Mejía-Múnera has a son who was born in December 6 in NY; he is presumed to be living with his mother in the US. Exact whereabouts are unknown. He also has two daughters whose whereabouts are unknown.
The Sinaloa Cartel, also known as the Guzmán-Zambada Organization, the Federation, the Blood Alliance, or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, international organized crime syndicate based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss, who is in charge of a drug-trafficking network, organization, or enterprise.
The Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO), also known as the Beltrán Leyva Cartel; Spanish: Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva (CBL), was a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate, formerly headed by the five Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo, Mario Alberto, and Héctor. Founded as a Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltrán Leyva cartel was responsible for transportation and wholesaling of cocaine, heroin and marijuana. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors, and engaged in human smuggling, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping, murder and gun-running.
Juarez 2045 is a 2017 American science fiction action adventure film directed by Chris Le and produced by Rocky Mudaliar. It stars Danny Trejo, Brad Schmidt and Alex Heartman in lead roles. Juarez 2045 was released on April 1, 2017 in theaters in Sandy, Utah, near Salt Lake City. The film was later released on video on demand on May 1, 2018 under the title Cartel 2045.
Narcos is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug lord Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medellín Cartel and billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine. The series also focuses on Escobar's interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and various opposition entities. Season 3 picks up after the fall of Escobar and continues to follow the DEA as they try to shut down the rise of the infamous Cali Cartel.
Abigael González Valencia, commonly referred to by his alias El Cuini, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He was also the head of Los Cuinis, an organization allied to the CJNG. Along with his brother-in-law Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, one of Mexico's most-wanted men, González Valencia reportedly coordinated international drug trafficking operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He was also responsible for managing the financial operations of the CJNG and Los Cuinis.
The Binge is a 2020 American parody film directed by Jeremy Garelick and written by Jordan VanDina. A parody of The Purge, the film stars Skyler Gisondo, Eduardo Franco, Dexter Darden, Vince Vaughn, Grace Van Dien and Zainne Saleh.
Guillermo Alejandro Pallomari González, nicknamed Reagan, is a Chilean accountant who worked for the Cali Cartel and participated in a scandal involving financial fraud during the 1994 Colombian presidential election that bestowed Ernesto Samper as winner of the respective elections. Pallomari is currently under the Witness Protection Program of the United States.
