The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.
The Medellín Cartel was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major "drug cartel" and was referred to as such; due to the organization's upper echelons and overall power-structure being built on a partnership between multiple Colombian traffickers operating alongside Escobar. Included were Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha and Carlos Lehder. Escobar's main partner in the organization however was his cousin Gustavo Gaviria who handled much of the cartel's shipping arrangements and the more general and detailed logistical aspects of the cocaine trafficking routes and international smuggling networks which were supplying at least 80% of the world's cocaine during its peak. Gustavo, also known as León seems to have also had a strong hand in the cartel's unprecedented acts of narcoterrorism, right alongside his cousin Pablo and was considered to be second in command of the cartel and therefore one of Colombia's most wanted men, with both him and Escobar having arrest warrants pending from other nations where their criminal activity had spread to, such as in Spain and the U.S. Meanwhile, Pablo Escobar's brother Roberto Escobar acted as the organization's accountant. The cartel operated from 1976 to 1993 in Colombia (Antioquia), Bolivia, Panama, Central America, Peru, the Bahamas, the United States, as well as in Canada.
George Jacob Jung, nicknamed Boston George and El Americano, was an American drug trafficker and smuggler. He was a major figure in the United States cocaine trade during the 1970s and early '80s. Jung and his partner Carlos Lehder smuggled cocaine into the United States for the Colombian Medellín Cartel. Jung was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1994 on conspiracy charges, but was released in 2014. Jung was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the biopic Blow (2001).
Brian O'Dea is a Canadian businessman, author, television personality, and former drug smuggler. He is best-known for a large marijuana smuggling enterprise he masterminded in the mid-1980s. Set up to move marijuana in bulk from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Northwest and California, between 1986 and 1988, O'Dea's organization successfully smuggled 76 tons of marijuana worth about $300 million into Washington, transported it to California, and distributed it throughout the United States.
Griselda Blanco Restrepo, known as the Black Widow or Cocaine Godmother, was a Colombian drug lord who was prominent in the cocaine-based drug trade and underworld of Miami, US, during the 1970s through the early 2000s, and who has also been claimed by some to have been part of the Medellín Cartel. Blanco was assassinated in Medellín on September 3, 2012, aged 69.
Jon Pernell Roberts, born John Riccobono, was a noted drug trafficker and government informant, operated in the Miami area and was an associate of Colombia's Medellín Cartel during the growth phase in cocaine trafficking, 1975–1986. After his arrest, he was able to avoid a lengthy prison sentence by becoming a cooperating witness and proactive informant for the federal government. He was the author with Evan Wright of American Desperado.
Max Mermelstein was an American drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the late 1970s and early 80s, who later became a key informant against the organization. In the words of James P. Walsh, the U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles CA, Mermelstein "was probably the single most valuable government witness in drug matters that this country has ever known." He became a "weapon for the government." Reputed to have smuggled 56 tons of cocaine worth $12.5 billion into the United States, Mermelstein was described by his attorney Tom Johnston as "just a nice Jewish guy who got into the wrong industry."
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.
rakontur is a Miami-based media studio founded by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman in 2000.
Cocaine Cowboys 2, also known as Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' With the Godmother, is a 2008 documentary film sequel to Cocaine Cowboys (2006). Directed by Billy Corben and Lisa M. Perry and produced by Rakontur, the film features Charles Cosby, Nelson Andreu, and Jorge "Rivi" Ayala and the Colombian-born "Cocaine Godmother", drug lord Griselda Blanco.
William Cohen, better known by the stage name Billy Corben, is an American documentary film director. Along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he is co-founder of the Miami-based studio Rakontur, which has created films such as Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, The U, and The U Part 2.
Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja is a 2011 documentary by director Billy Corben and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben through their Miami-based media studio Rakontur. The term square grouper was a nickname given to bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes in South Florida in the 1970s and 1980s.
Alfred Spellman is an American film and television producer who co-founded the media studio rakontur.
Mickey Munday is an American former drug trafficker and former associate of Colombia's Medellin Cartel during the growth phase in cocaine trafficking, 1975–1986. Munday was featured in the 2006 Rakontur documentary, Cocaine Cowboys.
Drug barons of Colombia refer to some of the most notable drug lords which operate in illegal drug trafficking in Colombia. Several of them, notably Pablo Escobar, were long considered among the world's most dangerous and most wanted men by U.S. intelligence. "Ruthless and immensely powerful", several political leaders, such as President Virgilio Barco Vargas, became convinced that the drug lords were becoming so powerful that they could oust the formal government and run the country.
The Miami drug war was a series of armed conflicts in the 1970s and 1980s, centered in the city of Miami, Florida, between the United States government and multiple drug cartels, primarily the Medellín Cartel. It was predominantly fueled by the illegal trafficking of cocaine.
Jorge Ayala-Rivera, also known as "Rivi" is a Colombian criminal who is best known for his work as a hitman for Medellín Cartel leader Griselda Blanco.
Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami is a 2021 six part docuseries chronicling the rise and fall of Miami drug lords Sal Magluta and Willy Falcon. The two were eventually indicted in one of the largest drug cases in United States history, accused of illegally smuggling 75 tons of cocaine into the country. The series is directed by Billy Corben who previously directed three Cocaine Cowboys features.
Salvador "Sal" Magluta is a Cuban American former drug kingpin and powerboat racer who, along with his partner Willy Falcon, operated one of the most significant cocaine trafficking organizations in South Florida history. The duo became known as Los Muchachos, Spanish for "the boys".
The cocaine boom was a stark increase in the illegal production and trade of the drug cocaine that first began in the mid to late 1970s before then peaking during the 1980s. The boom was the result of organized smugglers who imported cocaine from Latin America to the United States, and a rising demand in cocaine due to cultural trends in the United States. Smuggling rings of Cuban exiles organized trade networks from Latin America to Miami that streamlined the import of cocaine to the United States. Americans also began favoring less of the drugs popular in the 60s counterculture such as marijuana and LSD, and instead began to prefer cocaine due to a mystique of prestige that was developing around it. This increase in cocaine trade fueled the rise of the crack epidemic and government sponsored anti-drug campaigns.
