DEA Says Cali Cartel "The New Kingpins of Cocaine"

INTERNATIONAL January 1995

In a new report the Drug Enforcement Administration outlines how Colombia's Cali Cartel has emerged as the dominant cocaine trafficking group in the world (Drug Enforcement Administration, The Cali Cartel: The New Kingpins of Cocaine, Nov. 1994).

After the death of leader Pablo Escobar in 1993, the Medellin Cartel was left disorganized. The rival Cali Cartel, a cooperative of five independent trafficking organizations, is now considered the major supplier of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe and "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in history."

The 11-page report describes the major leaders of the cartel, the drug processing and smuggling operations, and the structure of Cali's cocaine business in the United States.

[To obtain a copy of this report, contact the Drug Enforcement Administration Publications Unit, Intelligence Division, at 202-307-8726.]