Columbian Drug Trafficking

Following the passing of Pablo Escobar, the Medellin Cartel slowly went from being one solid unit to being spread apart. Currently, the cartel is made up of multiple criminal groups quickly expanding their criminal figure.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Medellin Cartel was at its most powerful point. Escobar controlled most of the shipments of cocaine during the 80’s and 90’s, by shipping in large quantities of cocaine from Peru and Bolivia. He would then keep the shipment and find ways to bring it into other countries, mainly in the North American Continent. His power grew in the Medellin Cartel during the mid-80’s, when he introduced a criminal debt service known as the Oficina de Envigado. He used it to coordinate street gangs in the city. These gangs were used to collect the debts owed to him by both criminals and non-criminals alike.

Diego Murillo Bejarano took control of the Oficina de Envigado after the death of Pablo Escobar. He took the name of Don Berna when he gained control of the organization. Don had given the group huge influence throughout the world. He was arrested and brought to the United States from Columbia in 2008 along with others. He pleaded not guilty initially, but later changed his plea to the trafficking of cocaine in 2008. His plea earned him a little over 31 years in prison along with a fine of 4 million dollars.

The arrest of Don Berna led to a larger break inside of the Oficina de Envigado. Multiple capos fought amongst themselves for the control of an increasingly flat structure. The Oficina de Envigado is considered a criminal federation in today’s time. It is made up of multiple medium-sized criminal organizations working is specific areas of Medellin.

The shift of control to a franchise was duplicated time and time again within Colombia’s underworld. Once Colombia’s historic illegal militaries demobilized and broke apart, they became more criminal. They formed more smooth networks of illegal trade within Columbia. A new group of “Invisibles”, as insightcrime.org states, leads the new networks of illegal trade in Columbia.

Unlike Escobar, Invisibles don’t show off all of their wealth. The cocaine trade has increased more than it ever has. Columbian cocaine production reached a record of 1,379 metric tons (1,520 tons) in 2017. The Invisibles have learned that showing off a wealthy lifestyle and using immense violence is bad for business. Their protection plan is to use secrecy. An example of an Invisible is Jose Bayron Piedrahita Ceballos, also known as El Arabe. Before his arrest in September of 2017, Piedrahita was known for money laundering. By using the disguise of a successful businessman and a rancher, he was able to stay out of the authority’s eyes during a career of crime spanning more than 20 years.

Before the passing of Escobar, the cartel controlled most of the Caribbean air route in order to smuggle cocaine into North America. In recent times, the Caribbean air route has been mostly stopped by the authorities. The trafficking route of the Pacific has grown exponentially over the years due to groups establishing more distinct techniques. Police have reported more drug trafficking submarines that mostly leave from the coast of the Pacific Ocean.