Title: Medellín Cartel - Wikipedia
Headings: Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
Contents
History
Relations with the Colombian government
Fear of extradition
Alleged relation with the M-19
Assassinations
Legacy
In popular culture
See also
References
Further reading

Content: At the height of its operations, the Medellín Cartel smuggled multiple tons of cocaine each week into countries around the world and brought in up to US$60 million daily in drug profits. Although notorious for once dominating the illegal cocaine trade, the organization, particularly in its later years was also noted for its use of violence for political aims and its asymmetric war against the Colombian government, primarily in the form of bombings, kidnappings, indiscriminate murder of law enforcement and political assassination. At its height, the Medellín Cartel was the largest drug cartel in the world and smuggled three times as much cocaine as their main competitors, the Cali Cartel, an international drug-trafficking organization based in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. At this time, the Medellín Cartel was generating over $20 billion annually. Contents
1 History
2 Relations with the Colombian government
3 Fear of extradition
4 Alleged relation with the M-19
5 Assassinations
6 Legacy
7 In popular culture
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
History
Griselda Blanco
Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha
Pablo Escobar, Boss of the Medellín Cartel
In the late 1960s, illegal cocaine trade became a significant problem and became a major source of profit. Drug lord Pablo Escobar distributed cocaine for the Cartel in New York City and later Miami, establishing a crime network that at its height trafficked around 300 kilos per day. By 1982, cocaine surpassed coffee as the chief Colombian export. Private armies were raised to fight off guerrillas who were trying to either redistribute their lands to local peasants, kidnap them, or extort the gramaje money Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC) attempted to steal. At the end of 1981 and the beginning of 1982, members of the Medellín Cartel, the Colombian military, the U.S.-based corporation Texas Petroleum, the Colombian legislature, small industrialists, and wealthy cattle ranchers came together in a series of meetings in Puerto Boyacá and formed a paramilitary organization known as Muerte a Secuestradores ("Death to Kidnappers", MAS) to defend their economic interests, and to provide protection for local elites from kidnappings and extortion. By 1983, Colombian internal affairs had registered 240 political killings by MAS death squads, mostly community leaders, elected officials, and farmers.