Word: gilberto
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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That's the good news. The bad news is that the Cali dons are thought to be running their networks from prison. Last spring Serrano ordered his men to go into the maximum-security wing of La Picota prison in Bogota because top Cali dons MIGUEL and GILBERTO RODRIGUEZ OREJUELA were thought to be plotting a jail break. The police found evidence they had been chatting away with their aides via cell phones, hard lines, fax and the Internet. Recently, DEA officials say, the cnp raided a group of private telecommunications switching centers that the cartel leaders had organized...
...most important info I gleaned from these online encounters is that "mafia" has evolved into a blanket term applied to gangs from Tokyo to St. Petersberg, and the new generation is gaining strength. With the addition of multicultural dons--from Colombian Gilberto "The Chess Player" Orejuela to Japanese godfather Yoshinori Watanabe--'90s gangland has become a politically correct industry in which drug smuggling, racketeering and prostitution rings are all equal opportunity employers, an image which, needless to say, warrants a trip down memory lane...
...arrest of Gilberto Mora Mesa, the Cali cartel's alleged communications chief, allegedly establishes that the cocaine organization was spying on both the Colombian government and United States drug agents. But while Colombian authorities, namely embattled President Ernesto Samper, are blaming the cartel for the tapping, American officials believe blame lies elsewhere. "The American embassy is absolutely livid about this. They think the Colombian government is behind the taps," reports TIME's Elaine Shannon. "Pointing the finger at the cartel is seen as a desperate attempt by Samper to save his administration. He's terrified that the cartel's bookkeeper...
...irony of last week's sensational disclosures was that in recent months Botero, who was in charge of both the military and the national police, had been decimating the Cali cartel's formidable drug hierarchy. Behind bars after 15 years of activity were billionaire Cali kingpins Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and Jose Santacruz Londono. Botero's national police director, General Jose Rosso Serrano, is said to be on the trail of the two remaining major Cali mobsters, Rodriguez's younger brother Miguel and Helmer "Pacho" Herrera...
...that Santacruz may be hard to replace. "He has more corporate knowledge in his little finger," says a DEA agent, "than anybody else down there has in his whole body." That's why Santacruz's arrest is seen as wiping out the cartel's trade. "With the capture of Gilberto Rodr?guez Orejuela and Santacruz, the Cali cartel has crumpled," Serrano said. "I think the justice system will give the maximum penalties that a criminal like Santacruz deserves...