The Cali Cartel: New Kings of Coke

Now that Pablo Escobar is behind bars, the Cali cartel controls the lucrative -- and deadly -- business of putting cocaine on America's streets. Here is how drug sellers do it -- and why it is so hard

To their admirers, they are Horatio Alger heroes, poor boys who worked their way out of the slums and backwaters of the Cauca Valley. Onetime delinquent Jose Santacruz Londono studied engineering, went into construction and emerged as Don Chepe, a billionaire whose marble citadel looms high above the sugarcane fields of Cali, the country's third largest city.

Down the road, in the new-rich suburb of Ciudad Jardin, is the modern compound of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela. Nicknamed the "Chess Player" because he runs his business -- and life -- with cold calculation, he parlayed youthful jobs as a drugstore clerk by day...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!