Power became the stone in the shoe for a businessman who was seduced by the illusion of easy money, we collect some parts of the life of the capo narrated in his own words
GILBERTO RODRIGUEZ OREJUELA RODRIGUEZ OREJUELA_GILBERTO-TRASLADO–FOTOOSCARPEREZ-COLPRENSA3.JPG”paragraph”>Santiago de Cali was recognized for being the famous ‘Branch of Heaven’, its people and culture extolled it as an imposing and enormously developed city, however, in the middle of said paradise, some cherubs undertook new stories that bordered on crime; Among these was Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, who seized control of coca in Valle del Cauca and much of Colombia.
Gilberto Rodríguez arrived in Cali and gradually began to build his empire , the Valley was recognized for the development of the vast sugar mills that covered a large part of the cane fields, however, this item was not of interest to the Tolimense capo. From the beginning, his ideal linked him directly with the pharmaceutical company, which motivated him to direct his course towards this type of dynamic.
In the mid-70s the atmosphere of illegality took over the region, from the Caribbean coast the echo of the marimberos stood out; those subjects who started with the marijuana business to Maicao. However, there was a product that was not determined by many but would bring great profits to its farmers, the coca leaf began to be taken into account and Gilberto was tempted by it.
The genesis
“Between 1975 and 1984, I began to traffic cocaine from the Port of Buenaventura,” Gilberto Rodríguez recounts in a section of the book “The Secret Confessions of Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela,” which he wrote with his brother. However, the capo always argued that his arrival in drug trafficking was circumstantial, since he never considered the possibility of entering illegality.
Prior to his extradition to the United States, “El Ajedrecista” as he was also known, made several confessions to the journalist Julio Sánchez Cristo, highlighting that it was a friend who sweetened him hearing about the possibility of acquiring money in an easier way, he stated at the time that having given in to these proposals went hand in hand with his immaturity and desire for growth.
For many witnesses to his rise, it was curious, since he was a man who already had a large part of a business emporium that generated employment for thousands of Valle del Cauca. One of the most recognized was Drogas La Rebaja, which not only expanded in the department but throughout the country, also giving rise to a conglomerate of laboratories headed by Blaimar de Colombia S.A. and Kressfor.
However, not everything ended there as one of the most important purchases occurred after the acquisition of the América de Cali soccer team, a club who has been constantly questioned for putting together a luxury payroll thanks to drug trafficking, a title that he had to clean up over the years, thanks to the development of talents.
Rodríguez Orejuela also recalled his time in the media, after being part of Grupo Radial Colombian, an important media conglomerate that had several frequencies in the 1980s, as well as the tendency of the First Interamericas Bank, a banking association that was also manipulated by the capo.
Alliance with the State
“We were afraid of Pablo Escobar”, Rodríguez explained to Julio Sánchez Cristo, with the aim of capturing Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, the Cali Cartel supported the National Government to find the whereabouts of the Medellin drug lord, however, he clarified that he never had a link with the Pepes, an organization that persecuted Escobar for several months.According to ‘El Ajedrecista’, from Cali they provided a tracking system to find the place where the capo was, stating that they were the ones who handed him over to the authorities..
The chessboard
Gilberto managed Santiago de Cali at will, because in the book El Hijo del Ajedrecista, his son Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón recounts infidelities about the power that existed over the capital Valle del Cauca in times of war between cartels. According to Rodríguez Mondragón, his father used the Municipal Public Services Company of Cali (Emcali) at his whim, Well, it intercepted all the calls that were made between Cali and Medellín and vice versa, this in order to have information on any data that linked the city with Escobar.
Likewise, the narco had a taxi company that worked solely for him, these vehicles were mobilized to the airport to exclusively pick up people who came from the capital of Antioquia and take them to their destination, here the location of the citizen was obtained and possible loose data that was filtered in the conversations that took place inside the car.
The guerrilla: the lifeguard of the narco
Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón explains that his father could have been saved from extradition, thanks to the commander of the extinct FARC. Manuel Marulanda Vélez, alias ‘Tirofijo’ called his father after having served an initial sentence, the guerrilla summoned him in the jungles of Colombia in order to discuss certain specific issues and give him an important reason, this invitation was not Gilberto Rodríguez attended, since his resounding response was argued that he did not need help.
Marulanda allegedly had confidential information showing that an extradition order had already been agreed upon against the ‘ Chess player’. Rodríguez Mondragón affirms that if his father had attended said appointment, he would have been saved from extradition and would even have camouflaged himself in Colombia .