Cali Cartel leader Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela was the first person to hear of Pablo Escobar‘s death in 1993, the now-defunct cartel’s former head of security revealed Wednesday.
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Jorge Salcedo, “the man who brought down the Cali Cartel,” told W Radio that the first person he called upon learning of Escobar’s death on a Medellin rooftop was Rodriguez Orejuela.
According to Salcedo, Escobar’s demise was aided by the Cali Cartel who helped authorities by providing “huge amounts of money, ‘disposable’ weapons, and stolen vehicles” to develop the operation.
The Cali Cartel’s alliance with authorities over the killing of Escobar has always been speculated, yet the authorities continue to deny any links with illegal groups.
Salcedo came under the employment of the cartel in 1989 when he was ordered with the task to organize an operation to kill Escobar at his ranch using his British mercenary connections. The attempt on the Medellin Cartel kingpin was a complete failure as the helicopters carrying the troops crashed into a mountain.
In 1995, Salcedo ended his security role with Rodriguez Orejuela and his brother Gilberto after he was charged with the duty of organizing a hit on the cartel’s accountant. He surrendered himself to the DEA and cooperated with their investigations that eventually brought down the cartel.
The Rodriguez Orejuela brothers are in a Florida jail while Salcedo and his family remain in hiding in the U.S. under assumed names.