Colombia

Colombia is a country in South America that was the world's primary source of Cocaine during the 1980s and has been profoundly shaped by drug trafficking, particularly through the operations of the Cali Drug Cartel and the Medellín cartel. Colombian drug cartels supplied the cocaine that flowed through Norwin Meneses's and Danilo Blandón's trafficking networks in Los Angeles and San Francisco.¹³

Drug Trafficking and Political Influence

The Cali Drug Cartel, led by figures like Gilberto Rodriguez and Jose Londono, controlled a vast portion of the world's cocaine trade. The cartel's influence extended to the highest levels of Colombian government, with allegations that the newly elected president, Ernesto Samper Pizano, accepted $3.7 million in campaign funds from Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, effectively aligning him with the drug lords.¹

Michael Abbell, a former U.S. Department of Justice official, was indicted for laundering money for the Cali Drug Cartel. Surveillance reports indicated his frequent visits to Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela's home in Bogota, Colombia. The law firm of Kaplan, Russin and Becchi, where Abbell worked after leaving the DOJ, had offices in Bogota.¹

Michael Riconosciuto claimed that Robert Booth Nichols paid Abbell to "crowbar" the extradition of Cali Cartel leaders, as they were considered "intelligence people." This suggests a complex interplay between drug trafficking, intelligence operations, and political influence within Colombia.¹

Cartel Connections

The journalist Gary Webb described Meneses as the Cali cartel's representative in Nicaragua. Blandón's cocaine sources included the politically connected Suarez family in Bolivia and the Ochoa family in Colombia, founders of the Medellín cartel. Marcos Aguado flew weapons from the Salvadoran military to the Colombian cartels.³

Supply Pipeline

Cocaine arrived in the United States through multiple routes controlled by Colombian traffickers. Colombian pilots flew cocaine to Costa Rica and Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador, where it was loaded onto Contra-connected aircraft bound for the United States. Blandón arranged with Colombian suppliers to give Ricky Ross large amounts of cocaine on credit.⁴

Financial Operations

Michael Riconosciuto also mentioned the "Workers Bank" in Colombia in the context of money laundering operations for the Wackenhut people. He claimed to have set up "virtual dead-drops" for this bank, a method to circumvent ACH reconciliations on a daily basis, indicating sophisticated financial illicit activities originating from or passing through Colombia.¹