A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of
crime boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...
in charge of a
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
network, organization, or enterprise.
Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not
possess illegal goods. Rather, they are insulated from their drug trade by layers of
underlings.
Prosecutions
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
of drug lords, therefore, result usually from carefully planned infiltrations into their networks, often using
informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
s from within the organizations.
When a group of independent drug lords
collude with each other, in order to improve their profits and dominate the
illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...
, they form an organization called a
drug cartel
A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...
.
Organizational role
Since the 1970s, research on
organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
leadership (and, by extension, drug lords) has evolved. Where once studies emphasised the importance of the leader's human capital (e.g. individual traits), it has now developed to focus upon the leader's social capital (e.g. information and resource brokers, social status, access to information).
List of well-known drug lords
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Known as "El Padrino" (The Godfather) and "El Jefe de Jefes" (The boss of Bosses) was born in 1946, and is the founder and former leader of the
Guadalajara Cartel
The Guadalajara Cartel (), also known as The Federation (), was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuan ...
, the first Mexican Cartel ever established. He had strong ties with the
Cali Cartel and Escobar's
Medellin Cartel as he distributed drugs for them. He controlled almost all of the
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
in Mexico and the corridors along the
Mexico–United States border
The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
in 1970s and the 80s. Until the end of the 1980s,
Guadalajara Cartel
The Guadalajara Cartel (), also known as The Federation (), was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuan ...
headed by Félix Gallardo was one of the most powerful cartels in the world. He had a huge political involvement and bribed political authorities to protect himself and his business. After his capture in 1989 for the alleged murder of DEA agent
Enrique Camarena, Félix and allegedly the Mexican Government decided to divide up the trade he controlled as it would be more efficient and less likely to be brought down by law enforcement.
Félix Gallardo instructed his lawyer to convene the nation's top drug narcos in 1989 at a house in the resort of Acapulco where he designated the plazas (turfs) or territories. The Tijuana route would go to his nephews, the
Arellano Felix brothers. The
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...
route would go to the
Carrillo Fuentes family
Carrillo may refer to:
Places
* Carrillo (canton), the fifth division of Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
* Puerto Carrillo, a small town in Guanacaste, Costa Rica
** Carrillo Airport, which serves Puerto Carrillo
** Carrillo (beach), a beach adj ...
and to Rafael Aguilar Guajardo.
Miguel Caro Quintero
Miguel Ángel Caro Quintero (born 1963) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Sonora Cartel, a defunct criminal group based in Sonora.
Career
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) states Caro Quintero create ...
would run the
Sonora corridor.
Joaquín Guzmán Loera
Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim.
Given name
* Joaquín (footballer, born 1956) (Joaquín Alonso González), Spanish football midfielder
* Joaquín (footballer, born 1981) (Joaquín Sánchez Rodrígue ...
and
Héctor Luis Palma Salazar
Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (born April 29, 1960), commonly known as "El Güero Palma", is a Mexican former drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. After his boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo or ...
were left the Pacific coast operations, with
Ismael Zambada García
Ismael may refer to:
People
* Ismael Khalid (born 2000), American live-streamer known as Johnny Somali
* Ismael Balkhi, political activist from Afghanistan
* Ismael Blanco (born 1983), Argentine professional footballer
* Ismael Prego, Spanish Yo ...
joining them soon after and thus becoming the
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...
, who was not yet a party to the 1989 pact. Félix Gallardo still planned to oversee national operations and remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred in the 1990s to the
Altiplano
The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
maximum security prison and lost all remaining contacts with other drug lords. On 18 December 2014, federal authorities approved his request to transfer to a medium-security prison in Guadalajara (State of Jalisco), due to his declining health. He still strongly denies any involvement in the murder of Enrique Camarena. He was particularly known for using less violence and many even attribute the current bloodshed due to the turf war between
rival
A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...
cartels to the fall of Félix
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949 – December 2, 1993) was a
Colombian drug overlord. Often referred to as the "World's Greatest Outlaw", Escobar was perhaps the most elusive cocaine trafficker to have ever existed. He is considered the 'King of Cocaine' and is known as the lord of all drug lords.
In 1989, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' magazine declared Escobar as the seventh-richest man in the world, with an estimated personal fortune of US$30 billion. In 1986, he attempted to enter Colombian politics. It is said that Pablo Escobar once burnt two million dollars in cash to keep his daughter warm while on the run. Escobar was the boss of the famous
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel () was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major ...
, the most powerful drug empire to exist and is said to have had over twice the power and money of their
rivals
A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...
, the
Cali Cartel. Pablo was known as ''Paisa''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
, for his contributions to the poor, but was also known for murdering anyone who got in his way. His
carrot-and-stick
The phrase "carrot and stick" is a metaphor for when two different methods of incentivisation are simultaneously employed; the "carrot", referring to the promising and giving of desired rewards in exchange for cooperation; and the "stick", refer ...
strategy of
bribing
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
public officials in the Colombian government, and sending
hitmen
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...
to murder the ones who rejected his bribes, came to be known as "silver or lead" or "money or bullets". When the Colombian government launched a
manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
for Escobar, it needed assistance from the
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...
, the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
, the Cali Cartel, and
Los Pepes
Los Pepes, a name derived from the Spanish phrase Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar ( English: ), was a paramilitary group composed of enemies of Pablo Escobar. They waged a small-scale war against the Medellín Cartel in 1993, which ended the s ...
. On December 2,
Search Bloc
The Search Bloc () is the name of three different ad hoc special operations units of the National Police of Colombia (Policía Nacional de Colombia). They were originally organized with a focus on capturing or killing highly dangerous individua ...
killed Escobar on a rooftop.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes
As a top drug lord in Mexico, Amado Carrillo (1956–1997) was transporting four times more cocaine to the U.S. than any other trafficker, building a fortune of over $25 billion.
He was called El Señor de Los Cielos ("The Lord of the Skies") for his use of over 22 private
727 jet airliners to transport Colombian cocaine to municipal airports and dirt airstrips around Mexico, including Juárez. He was a member of the
Guadalajara Cartel
The Guadalajara Cartel (), also known as The Federation (), was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuan ...
and worked for
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ('The Boss of Bosses') and ''El Padrino'' ('The Godfather'), is a convicted Mexican drug kingpin who was one of the founders of the ...
. After Félix was arrested, Amado formed the
Juarez Cartel. In the months before his death, the DEA described Carrillo as the most-powerful drug trafficker of his era, and many analysts claimed profits neared $25 billion.
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Guzman is the most notorious drug lord of all time, according to the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...
(DEA). In the 1980s, he was a member of the
Guadalajara Cartel
The Guadalajara Cartel (), also known as The Federation (), was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuan ...
and used to work for
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ('The Boss of Bosses') and ''El Padrino'' ('The Godfather'), is a convicted Mexican drug kingpin who was one of the founders of the ...
. After Félix's arrest in 1989, Guzmán formed the
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...
along with
Ismael Zambada García
Ismael may refer to:
People
* Ismael Khalid (born 2000), American live-streamer known as Johnny Somali
* Ismael Balkhi, political activist from Afghanistan
* Ismael Blanco (born 1983), Argentine professional footballer
* Ismael Prego, Spanish Yo ...
and
Héctor Luis Palma Salazar
Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (born April 29, 1960), commonly known as "El Güero Palma", is a Mexican former drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. After his boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo or ...
. He is well known for his use of sophisticated tunnels—similar to the one located in
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulphur Springs Valley. Douglas has a Douglas, Arizona Port of Entry, border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of min ...
—to smuggle cocaine from Mexico into the United States in the early 1990s. In 1993, a 7.3-ton shipment of his
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
, concealed in cans of chili peppers and destined for the United States, was seized in
Tecate
Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico–United States border, Mexico–US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area ha ...
,
Baja California
Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
. That same year he barely escaped an ambush by the
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel (, ), formerly also known as the Arellano-Félix Cartel (, CAF), is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest a ...
led by Ramon Arellano Felix and his gunmen. After being captured in Guatemala, he was jailed in 1993 and in 1995 he was moved to the maximum-security prison called Puente Grande, but paid his way out of prison and hid in a laundry van as it drove through the gates. On 22 February 2014, Guzmán was arrested again.
He is considered a
folk hero
A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...
in the narcotics world, celebrated by musicians who write and perform ''
narcocorrido
A narcocorrido (, "narco-corrido" or ''drug ballad'') is a subgenre of the Regional Mexican corrido (narrative ballad) genre, from which several other genres have evolved. This type of music is heard and produced on both sides of the Mexico–U ...
s'' (drug ballads) extolling his exploits.
For example, Los Traviezos recorded a ballad extolling his life on the run. In July 2015, Guzman escaped a second time from a maximum-security prison through a hole in a shower floor that led to a mile-long tunnel, ending at a nearby house. A large-scale manhunt ensued. On 8 January 2016, Guzmán was captured by the
Mexican Marines.
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) is a former Mexican drug lord and the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's fri ...
(born 18 May 1967) is a former Mexican drug lord who was the leader of the
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...
and
Los Zetas
Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...
. Originally a
mechanic
A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...
in
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Bro ...
, Guillén eventually became involved in the
illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...
the Gulf Cartel before becoming its leader in 1997 by assassinating drug lord
Salvador Gómez Herrera. Guillén recruited over 30 deserters from the
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army.
The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...
's special forces unit, the ''
Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales'', to form the cartel's armed wing; this group would go on to be among the founding members of Los Zetas, another Mexican drug cartel. In 1999, Guillén and a group of Gulf Cartel gunmen
threatened two U.S. federal agents at gunpoint, which triggered a massive combined effort from American and Mexican law enforcement agencies to crack down on the leadership structure of the Gulf Cartel and led to Guillén becoming one of the most wanted criminals in the world. Guillén was arrested in Mexico in 2003 and deported to the U.S. in 2007, where he remains incarcerated to this day.
Jorge Alberto Rodriguez
Jorge Alberto Rodriguez, also known as Don Cholito, is a notorious Argentine-born, Puerto Rican and Colombian mixed drug lord from New York, who headed the 400 criminal organization, a dismantled secret cell of the
Cali Cartel. Pulled into the drug trade at age 12, he left home at age 14 to begin working for his Father,
Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela
Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela (30 January 1939 – 31 May 2022) was a Colombian drug lord and one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel. Orejuela formed the cartel with his brother, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, José Santacruz Londoño ...
, who headed the Cali Cartel. Within six years he had amassed a fortune exceeding over US$300 million by shipping drugs from Colombia to nearly every state in the U.S. He was one of the most ruthless international drug lords unknown to law enforcement or governments. During that time, the murder rate and cocaine-related hospital emergencies in the United States doubled. He was arrested on July 6, 1990, in Tallahassee, Florida and sentenced to a 25-year prison term for a number of federal violations. Following his conviction, Rodriguez continued to operate his illicit business from behind bars, importing as much as 12,500 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. each month and ordering numerous murders of informants, witnesses, in the U.S. and Colombia. He reigned and flourished while incarcerated until he was placed in court-ordered high-security isolation in 1994. According to the Bureau of Prisons, Rodriguez was released in 2012.
Marcola
Born on April 13, 1968, in
Osasco
Osasco () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo area and ranking fifth in population among São Paulo municipalities. According to the IBGE 2015, Osasco currently has the ninth highest gross do ...
(a city located in the
state of São Paulo
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
), Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, known as "Marcola" is one of the founders and the current leader of
Primeiro Comando da Capital
The Primeiro Comando da Capital ("Capital's First Command", , PCC) is a Brazilian organized crime syndicate. According to a 2023 ''The Economist'' report, the PCC is Latin America's biggest drug gang, with a membership of 40,000 lifetime members ...
(PCC), the largest and the most powerful
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian
criminal organization
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
. A
Brazilian with Bolivian origins, Marcola (whose criminal career began when he was a child, at the age of nine and currently serving a sentence of 234 years in prison for murder, drug trafficking and other crimes) is the current leader of PCC and commands this powerful crime syndicate from inside the
Taubaté Prison, one of the most infamous prisons in Brazil. Under the command of Marcola, the PCC expanded its influence outside Brazil, to having a presence in
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
and
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. The PCC is notorious for its use of violence, for its
numerous confrontations with police officers and because of
their violent conflicts over territory control and
the control of drug trafficking against another powerful Brazilian criminal organization, the
Comando Vermelho
Comando Vermelho (, ''Red Command'' or ''Red Commando''), also known as CV, is a Brazilian criminal organization engaged primarily in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, protection racketeering, kidnapping-for-ransom, hijacking of armored tru ...
(or CV), a powerful crime syndicate based in the
city of Rio de Janeiro.
Griselda Blanco

Griselda Blanco (1943–2012), known as the "Godmother of Cocaine", was a drug lord who operated between Miami and Colombia during the 1970s and 1980s. During the height of her operation, she smuggled nearly of cocaine into the U.S. every month through a network in south Florida.
She was noted for her ruthlessness and use of extreme violence, employing tactics such as publicly assassinating people in broad daylight, bayoneting a
rival
A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...
trafficker inside
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
, and inventing the
drive-by motorcycle shooting execution method.
It was estimated that she was responsible for the homicides of 200 people in Colombia, Florida, New York, and California.
Arrested in 1985 for drug-trafficking charges, she was subsequently convicted and spent almost 20 years in a U.S. prison.
She was killed by motorcycle hitmen in Colombia on 3 September 2012 as she was coming out of a butcher's shop.
Roberto Suárez Gómez
Pablo Escobar started to buy cocaine from Roberto Suárez in the 1970s when he had just created the
Medellín cartel
The Medellín Cartel () was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major ...
. Suárez started building cocaine laboratories in the middle of the Bolivian Amazon jungle and in the zone of "Los Yungas" in the end of the 1960s and created the first cocaine cartel in Bolivia called "La Corporación". At first, the Medellin cartel bought cocaine at $8,000 per kilogram ($3,600/lb). La Corporación then sold cocaine-based paste to Colombian cartels, and they finished and distributed it in the east of the United States. The finished cocaine was sold directly to Mexican cartels for distribution in the west of the United States. Suárez received untold amounts of money, but as detectives and journalists discovered the corruption between Bolivia and the U.S., the empire Suárez built began to fall. Suárez was arrested by the DEA in 1988, and Escobar took over of the production and distribution of 80% of the world's cocaine.
Rick Ross

Rick Ross (born January 28, 1960),
"Freeway" Ricky Ross, is a convicted drug-trafficker best known for the drug empire he presided over in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in the early 1980s. The nickname "Freeway" came from Ross growing up next to the 110
Harbor Freeway
Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 (SR 110) and Interstate 110 (I-110), is a state and auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of the US state of California. The entire route connects San Pe ...
. During the height of his drug dealing, Ross was said to have made "$2 million in one day." According to the ''Oakland Tribune'', "In the course of his rise, prosecutors estimate that Ross transported several tons of cocaine to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, and made more than $600 million in the process."
In 1998, Ross was sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
after being convicted of purchasing more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from a federal agent during a sting operation. Ross became the subject of controversy later that year when a series of articles by journalist
Gary Webb
Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist.
He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a reputation for investigative writing. ...
in the ''
San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' revealed a connection between Ross's main cocaine source,
Danilo Blandon, and the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
as part of the
Iran–Contra affair
The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...
. Ross's case went before the
federal court of appeals
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...
and his sentence was reduced to 20 years. He was later moved to a
halfway house
A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...
in March 2009 and released from custody on September 29, 2009.
In June 2014, Ross released his book, ''
Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography'', co-written by crime-writer
Cathy Scott
Cathleen Scott (born ) is a ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''New York Times'' bestselling American true crime author and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books '' The Killing of Tupac Shakur'' and '' The Murder of B ...
.
Manuel Noriega

For more than a decade,
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
nian Manuel Noriega was a highly paid CIA asset and collaborator, despite knowledge by U.S. drug authorities as early as 1971 that the general was heavily involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. Noriega facilitated "guns-for-drugs" flights for the
Nicaraguan
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...
Contras
In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
, whom the U.S. were heavily supporting: providing protection and pilots, safe havens for drug cartel officials, and discreet banking facilities.
[Lormand, Eric (May 8, 2007)]
"Panama: The Resume of Manuel Noriega"
personal.umich.edu He was arrested in 1990.
Ramon Arellano Felix
Ramón Arellano Félix was a Mexican drug lord who was a founding member of the
Tijuana drug cartel (a.k.a. the Arellano-Félix Organization) alongside his brothers.
Arellano Félix was allegedly one of the most ruthless enforcers in the organization and was a suspect in various murders. He had been linked by Mexican police to the 1997 massacre of twelve members of a family outside of
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada ("inlet") is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the List of cities in Baja California, th ...
. The family was related to a drug dealer that had an unpaid debt to the Arellano Félix Cartel. On September 18, 1997, Arellano Félix was placed on the
FBI's ten most-wanted list. In a sealed indictment in the
, he was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana.. Ramon and his brothers, primarily
Benjamin Arellano Felix were the undisputed leaders of the
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel (, ), formerly also known as the Arellano-Félix Cartel (, CAF), is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest a ...
and developed an intense rivalry with
Joaquin Guzman Loera's
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...
. The war between both organizations lasted more than 10 years until Ramón was killed in
Mazatlán
Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...
on February 10, 2002, by policemen allegedly on the payroll of the
rival
A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...
, Sinaloa Cártel.
Ismael Zambada García
Ismael Zambada García is a drug smuggler in Mexico and co-founder of the
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...
. Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor,
José Santiago Vasconcelos, called Zambada "drug dealer No. 1" and said the fugitive has become more powerful as his fellow kingpins have fallen, including one who was allegedly killed on Zambada's orders.
Klaas Bruinsma
Klaas Bruinsma (1953–1991) was a major Dutch drug lord, shot to death by mafia member and former police officer Martin Hoogland. Bruinsma was known as "De Lange" ("the tall one") and as "De Dominee" ("the preacher") because of his black clothing and his habit of lecturing others.
Arturo Beltran Leyva
Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva (September 27, 1961 – December 16, 2009) was the leader of the
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
drug-trafficking organization known as the
Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, which is headed by the Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo,
Carlos,
Alfredo
Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name.
Given name
Artists a ...
and
Héctor. The cartel was engaged in cocaine,
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
,
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
, and
methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...
production, transportation, and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug-trafficking corridors into the United States. and was also responsible for
human smuggling
People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ...
,
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
,
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
,
kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
,
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
,
contract killing
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
,
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
,
gun-running
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal tra ...
, and other acts of violence in Mexico.
The organization was connected with the assassinations of numerous Mexican law-enforcement officials.
Frank Lucas

Frank Lucas was a former heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the
Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle may refer to:
Places
Asia
* Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production
* Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development
* Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist sp ...
. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen,
["Mexico extradites 'unprecedented' number of drug lords to U.S."](_blank)
''USA Today.'' January 20, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2011. but this claim is denied by his South Asian associate,
Leslie "Ike" Atkinson.
His career was dramatized in the 2007 feature film ''
American Gangster'' starring
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...
.
Leroy Barnes
Leroy Antonio "Nicky" Barnes (born October 15, 1933) was a former drug lord and
crime boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...
of the notorious African-American crime organization known as
The Council, which controlled the heroin trade in Harlem, New York during the 1970s.
[The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...]
"> In 2007 he released a book, ''Mr Untouchable'', written with Tom Folsom, and a documentary DVD of the same name, about his life.
'', Barnes is portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr.
born January 31, 1963, Shanghai, People's Republic of China) is a Mexican businessman of Chinese origin accused of trafficking
. At the time of his arrest, he had $207 million in cash and 18 million Mexican pesos in his house. He claimed that he was forced by
, putatively identified as the Secretary of Labor, to keep it at his home and that this money would be used during
's presidential campaign in 2006. He is the legal representative of Unimed Pharm Chem México. The charges against him were dismissed with prejudice in August 2009 as a result of the efforts of his attorneys, Manuel J. Retureta and A. Eduardo Balarezo.
a.k.a. Dudus,
. He is the youngest son of drug lord
whose extradition had also, prior to his 1992 death in a Jamaican prison cell, been requested by the U.S.