Cali Cartel

The Cali Cartel is a large Colombian cartel based in the Colombian city Cali. It rivalled the Medellin Cartel. It also formed Los Pepes together with Cartel de la Sierra and Autodefensas. Los Pepes was later also funded by the Potosino Cartel, which led to an improvement of relations between the Cali Cartel and Potosino Cartel. It was formed by four businessmen, Gilberto Orejuela, Miguel Orejuela, Chepe Santacruz and Pacho Herrera.

History

Formation of the Cali Cartel

The Maldeira Cartel has influence in most of Middle America and South America. Giovanni Maldeira sent Arnold Rothstein and Vito Changretta to administer drug production in Colombia. This led to severe distrust and disliking by the local drug lords. Gilberto Orejuela was a capo serving the Maldeira Cartel. He deemed himself worthy of controlling Colombia. He started plotting against Giovanni Maldeira together with his brother Miguel Orejuela. They also started collaborating with Chepe Santacruz and Pacho Herrera. They started targetting Arnold Rothstein and Vito Changretta. Chepe Santacruz followed Rothstein and threatened him. Santacruz told Rothstein to leave Colombia. Rothstein feared for his life and went to the airport to leave to the Germanic Zone of America.

Collapse of the Maldeira Cartel

However, Jose Gacha, a rising local drug lord, sent two hitmen to kill Rothstein out of anger for him being in control of Colombia. Rothstein was attacked outside of the airport. His three bodyguards were killed. Arnold Rothstein survived by fleeing the scene. Regardless, the assassination attempt was a shock to the newly forming Cali Cartel as they thought they were going to receive the blame. The attempt prompted Vito Changretta to strike back against local gangs to no avail of killing the two hitmen. The attempt on Rothstein caused a lot of confusion amongst the members of the collapsing Maldeira Cartel.

In the meantime, the Sinaloa Cartel had broken off from the Maldeira Cartel. The Potosino Cartel quickly followed after. The Maldeira Cartel was collapsing which prompted a group of drug lords and businessmen to commence working together in Medellin. It's main drug lord was Pablo Escobar. He, together with his cousin Gustavo Gaviria wanted to form a Medellin Cartel. Jose Gacha and Carlos Lehder also became co-founders. The Ochoa brothers, Jorge Ochoa and Juan Ochoa also co-founded the cartel, whilst their other brother Fabio Ochoa joined the cartel later.

The news of an exponentially growing amount of separate cartels and criminal organizations forming caused severe unrest in the Maldeira Cartel leadership. Vito Changretta was visited by Bonito Changretta in Colombia. Bonito Changretta took over operations. Vito Changretta warned Bonito it was dangerous and that they should leave the area. Bonito Changretta was not experienced in the drug business in Colombia. Vito Changretta attempted leaving Colombia by going to a different airport but was attacked by hitmen. Vito's guards fought back fiercely, causing numerous civilians deaths. The hitmen were killed and Vito Changretta quickly fled the country and went to the Germanic Zone of America. Arnold Rothstein also left the country swiftly.

The failed attempts on both Arnold Rothstein and Vito Changretta coupled with Maldeira's failure of management of his cartel prompted Bonito Changretta to start thinking of leaving Colombia with his men. He urged Luca Changretta to seize control of the Maldeira Cartel. Luca Changretta did so and started a coup against Maldeira. This caused Maldeira to no longer be in charge of the cartel and the Maldeira Cartel commenced collapsing. Various cartels such as the Milenio Cartel, Eladio Cartel and Tijuana Cartel also declared independence. Maldeira's grip on Middle America fell and his grip on South America was very loose. Bonito Changretta was happy with the coup but decided to start leaving Colombia.

With the lack of Maldeira's presence in Colombia, Colombia started becoming more democratic and less corrupt. Though the Medellin Cartel was formed, violence rates and deaths remained low. Pablo Escobar was making a name for himself in the country, hoping to become president. He gained a lot of public support. This prompted Gilberto Orejuela to also start thinking of officially forming the Cali Cartel. Gilberto Orejuela appointed himself as the first Don, Miguel Orejuela the second Don, Chepe Santacruz the third Don and Pacho Herrera the fourth Don. However, Miguel, Chepe and Pacho had similar ranks whilst Gilberto publicly outranked the others.

Though the dons wanted it, Gilberto Orejuela delayed the official formation of the Cali Cartel. This ended up in their favour, as Bonito Changretta commenced one last crackdown on opposing gangs. Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel was one of the gangs on Bonito's list.

Maldeira's Crackdown on the Medellin Cartel

Pablo Escobar met up with the other dons of the Medellin Cartel at a hotel. They did this to officially form the Medellin Cartel and start really working together. Bonito Changretta, together with an army of about 50 men walked into the hotel and held everyone at gunpoint. Bonito Changretta taunted every don present and hit some people. He also shot a few sicarios. The Medellin dons insulted Bonito as he was leaving. This caused Bonito to become severely angry. He shouted back at them angrily and left. That same day during the evening, Bonito Changretta gathered about 250 mafiosi and shot up several labs and hotels belonging to the Medellin Cartel. None of the dons were harmed. However, high amounts of casualties were still made, many of whom were sicarios, wives and children of sicarios or dons and numerous civilians. Bonito's mafiosi and he himself left the country. This was considered a big hit to the Medellin Cartel.

Formation of Cartel de la Sierra

The Orejuela brothers decided to stay under the radar after this incident fearing the same fate as Pablo's Medellin Cartel. Despite of the setback the Medellin Cartel faced, it was still growing rapidly which led to the Cali dons to start increasing drug production. The Medellin Cartel's growth made the Cali dons envious and they started collaborating with Jose Gacha, a former high ranking don of the Medellin Cartel. Some considered him second in command, behind Pablo Escobar. Jose Gacha defected from the Medellin Cartel shortly after the formation of the Medellin Cartel and formed his own criminal syndicate, Cartel de la Sierra. They had large amounts of intelligence on the Medellin Cartel. Mostly the locations of the Medellin labs were important information many gangs wanted their hands on. However, the Cali Cartel started improving it's relations with Cartel de la Sierra and received the intel.

The Triple Alliance

Cartel de la Sierra and the Cali Cartel started an alliance to battle the Medellin Cartel. The Orejuela brothers invited Gacha to join their cartel. However, Gacha owned a cartel now and had his own businessmen. Despite this, Gacha looked into the request. Later, Gacha declined the request but still wanted good ties with the Cali Cartel, which the Orejuela brothers didn't mind. They were happy to be just allies.

The Cali Cartel started receiving more intel on the Medellin Cartel not only through Cartel de la Sierra, but also a capo of the Medellin Cartel, Diego Murillo. Diego Murillo decided to aid the Cali Cartel because of distrust of his leader, Pablo Escobar. Pablo did not know Diego Murillo was working alongside the Cali Cartel. However, due to his setbacks, Pablo was furious and started publicly acting extremely violent towards the Cali Cartel. This led to the Cali Cartel and Cartel de la Sierra aligning with a group called Autodefensas. Autodefensas is a right wing paramilitary. Diego Murillo had connections to it's leaders, the Castaño brothers.

The Autodefensas group, also known as AUC, agreed to align with Cali Cartel and Cartel de la Sierra. The new triple alliance started fighting Medellin more violently. The triple alliance formed Los Pepes. Los Pepes is a violent organization tasked solely with going after Pablo Escobar. Los Pepes is mostly funded by the Cali Cartel and Cartel de la Sierra. It's soldiers and sicarios are funded by the AUC. Los Pepes was successful in killing large amounts of people close to Escobar. Pablo Escobar's Cartel was falling apart swiftly because of Los Pepes. The Mexican Potosino Cartel also started aligning with the Triple Alliance and Cartel de la Sierra.

Downfall of the Medellin Cartel

Pablo Escobar killed one of his own capos called Gerardo Moncada. Pablo thought Gerardo was stealing his money. His brother Camilo Moncada decided to collaborate with the triple alliance and Los Pepes. Camilo Moncada provided the triple alliance and Los Pepes with intelligence on the locations of labs belonging to the Medellin Cartel. Los Pepes destroyed most of these labs within a week.

Pablo Escobar went into hiding after this event, leading to the dissolution of the Medellin Cartel. Los Pepes dissolved and continued as los Defensas. The Cali Cartel and Cartel de la Sierra continued with their alliance. The Potosino Cartel continued having good ties together with primarily Cartel de la Sierra.

The Cali dons saw this as a victory. They turned the Autodefensas and Camilo Moncada against each other. Autodefensas quickly got rid of him. It is unsure whether he died or escaped. However, his business did collapse. Autodefensas returned to the jungle. The Cali Cartel and Cartel de la Sierra were the only two large cartels left in Colombia.

Pablo Escobar's Death

Pablo Escobar was still being hunted by the Colombian government. The Cali Cartel also threatened Pablo, though they had no idea where Pablo remained. Eventually, using equipment provided by Germania, police officers located an area where Pablo resided. This was due to Pablo contacting his family through radio. After some days Pablo was found. A large gunfight erupted where Pablo and a bodyguard were shot and killed. His death was celebrated throughout the country and the Cali Cartel.

Rise of the Cali Cartel

However, Pablo Escobar's death was not good for the Cali Cartel as now the government publicly denounced the defunct Los Pepes and commenced going after the Cali Cartel. The Cali Cartel had no rivalry anymore and made deals with some members of the Eladio Cartel. The Eladio Cartel was the main cartel in the city El Paso, which was on the border of the Germanic Zone of America and the Neutral Zone. The Cali Cartel started transporting large amounts of cocaine to some members of the Eladio Cartel to transport it over the borders.

Primarily Herculano Tortuga, Alejandro Ramirez and Leopoldo Ledezma were allied to the Cali Cartel. They transferred the drugs over the border and took a small share of the profit. Later on, the Cali Cartel also started negotiations with the Juarez Cartel. The Juarez Cartel had the most influence in the city Ciudad Juarez. One of it's dons, Amado Carrillo, also started working alongside the Cali Cartel.

The Pending Surrender

Gilberto Orejuela announced a large party which many members and associates of the Cali Cartel visited. At this party, Gilberto announced the surrender of the Cali Cartel after six months. Many members and associates were shocked. After the party, the gentlemen of Cali met up and confronted Gilberto. Gilberto and his brother Miguel Orejuela appreciated the idea. Chepe Santacruz didn't mind the surrender. Pacho Herrera disliked it, as he wanted to continue the illicit business. However, Pacho eventually agreed with the surrender as well.

The pending surrender was a plan for most of the high ranking Cali Cartel members to get away with their crimes of running an illicit business. They would surrender their illegal assets and be allowed to keep their legal assets. The large scale money laundering operation which was already active was increased much more so the high ranking members of the Cali Cartel could receive a large sum of money after the surrender.

Gilberto Orejuela's Arrest

File:Gilberto Orejuela.jpg

Gilberto Orejuela, the leader of the Cali Cartel.

The Cali Cartel was growing larger. Eventually, some corrupt cops serving the Cali Cartel were tracked down by Schutzstaffel forces and followed to Gilberto Orejuela's hideout. Gilberto Orejuela was arrested and brought to a jail. Miguel Orejuela took control of the cartel after Gilberto's arrest. Miguel started disliking the surrender. Chepe Santacruz still didn't mind surrendering or continuing the illicit business. Pacho Herrera was glad to continue the illicit business as well.

Rivalry

The North Valley Cartel saw Gilberto's arrest as a weakness of the Cali Cartel and immediately started rivalling the Cali Cartel. They also viewed Miguel Orejuela as a weak leader. Pacho Herrera started a violent campaign against the North Valley Cartel for personal reasons.

Miguel Orejuela's Rule and Arrest

File:Miguel Orejuela.jpg

Miguel Orejuela, the brother of the leader of the Cali Cartel, Gilberto Orejuela.

Miguel Orejuela ruled the Cali Cartel shortly. During his rule, he was often attacked and tracked down by Schutzstaffel and Colombian police forces. Gilberto Orejuela still contacted Miguel in jail. He told Miguel not to start a war against the North Valley Cartel. Nevertheless, Miguel started the war against the North Valley Cartel. Miguel was also later on arrested. The war against the North Valley Cartel got out of hand and North Valley gunmen killed David Orejuela, Miguel's son. Though Miguel did not obey Gilberto's wishes and orders, Gilberto forgave Miguel.

The Surrender

Chepe Santacruz and Pacho Herrera were the two remaining gentlemen of Cali. They were ordered to surrender by Gilberto and Miguel. They surrendered and went to jail as well. Guillermo Pallomari was the chief accountant for the Cartel and had critical evidence to sentence the leaders of the Cali Cartel to fair prison sentences. After a bit, Guillermo Pallomari was arrested and in exchange for benefits he had to give up all information he had on the Cali Cartel. This information showed that the president was corrupt and working for the Cali Cartel, that a large number of politicians, policemen and others were also working for the Cali Cartel and put the gentlemen of Cali in prison. Under pressure, the president of Colombia extradited Gilberto Orejuela and Miguel Orejuela to the Germanic Zone of America. Pacho Herrera remained in prison. Chepe Santacruz escaped from prison and aligned himself with remaining members of the Cali Cartel. He was the only member of the gentlemen of Cali to remain a leader of the Cali Cartel.

Cali Cartel Members

The Cali Cartel is ruled by Gilberto Orejuela, known as the number one don. The second is Miguel Orejuela, his brother. Chepe Santacruz is third in command and Pacho Herrera is fourth in command. These four dons call themselves "the gentlemen of Cali". The gentlemen of Cali are in charge of the other members who in turn manage the sicarios and labs.

Dons:

Gilberto Orejuela
Miguel Orejuela
Chepe Santacruz
Pacho Herrera

Capos:

Diego Murillo

Heads of Security:

Jorge Salcedo
Carlo Cordova

Accountants:

Guillermo Pallomari
Franklin Jurado

Head Sicarios:

Dario Castillo
Arias Navegante

Lawyers:

Bernardo Gonzalez