Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela (30 January 1939-31 May 2022) was a godfather of the Cali Cartel alongside Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, Helmer Herrera, and Jose Santacruz Londono, a banker, and the owner of the America de Cali soccer team. He had wide-ranging political and business connections, and his cartel controlled 80% of the American cocaine trade and 90% of the European market. In 1994, he was arrested in a raid by the Colombian police.
Biography[]
Rodriguez after his capture
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela was born on 30 January 1939 in Mariquita, Colombia, and he was the brother of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela. In the 1970s, the Rodriguez brothers and Jose Santacruz Londono founded the Cali Cartel, supplying 80% of the United States and 90% of the Europe cocaine market. Rodriguez and his brother worked as bankers and owned the largest drug store company in Colombia, and they also owned the America de Cali soccer team (which was rivals with Pablo Escobar's Atletico Nacional team). Rodriguez had three wives at the same time, visiting them on different days of the week, and he had several opulent mansions and strong ties to the business community. In 1992, he allied with Judy Moncada against the Medellin Cartel, which was taken down by the Search Bloc in 1993. However, the downfall of Pablo Escobar led to the Search Bloc focusing on the Cali Cartel, which was now the largest cartel in Colombia. On 9 June 1995, Rodriguez was arrested by a Colombian National Police squad led by Hugo Martinez while he was spending time with his wives at his mansion in Cali, and he was extradited to the USA in 2004 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, effectively a life sentence. He died in prison in Butner, North Carolina in 2022 at the age of 83.