Narco Wars (2020) s01e07 Episode Script
After Pablo
1
♪
♪
♪
Reporter (over tv):
Shake this square world
and blast off to kicksville.
Nixon: Public enemy
number one is drug abuse.
Nancy: Just say, "no."
Reagan: Halting the drug
problem in america is like
Carrying water in a sieve.
Bush: Take my word for it,
this scourge will stop!
Reporter 2 (over tv): It's
now an understanding that the
War on drugs was
an abject failure.
Reporter 3 (over tv): You
have to stop and ask yourself,
How did we get here?
Trump: We will build a wall.
Woman: Woo!
(crowd cheering)
Reporter (over tv):
The opening of the biggest
Sporting event on earth.
It's called
"world cup soccer."
Toft: When escobar
was finally killed,
The members of the
task force started yelling,
"viva colombia!"
Crowd: Colombia! Colombia!
Colombia! Colombia!
Toft: It was a
celebratory cry that
Probably all colombia heard.
Toft: 1994 was an
election year in colombia.
The leading candidate
for the presidency,
To succeed president gaviria
was ernesto samper,
Who had been a senator of
colombia for a long time,
And he was in the same
party as president gaviria.
Toft: Suddenly a member
of the opponent of samper
Showed up at the embassy.
Man (over tape): Hello!
(speaking in native language).
Toft: And gave the
ambassador a tape.
Man: Mhm.
Toft: It contained a
conversation between a
Cartel member and a
campaign manager of samper,
Addressing monies
for the campaign.
Man: Mhm.
Toft: We had this evidence
that a cartel was basically
Interfering with an election.
To me, this was the smoking gun.
♪
Shedd: Gilberto
rodríguez orejuela and
Miguel rodríguez orejuela were
the heads of a cartel that was
Totally different
than the other cartels.
They looked at it more
as a business to expand,
And they were involved
in the cost versus profit.
You have to learn
who your enemy is,
Otherwise, you're
not gonna win the fight.
And I studied over a
long period of time the
Rodríguez orejuelas,
and they were very smart,
Strategic thinkers,
who were always one step
Ahead of the game.
Reporter (over tv): Gilberto
and miguel rodríguez have a
Piece of several hotels, and own
cali's largest shopping center.
Reporter (over tv): And
they own cali's main passion,
The soccer team, américa.
Shedd: So, they
were to be respected.
Yes, they were
dopers and traffickers,
But you cannot
underestimate 'em.
You underestimate
people of that caliber,
You're doomed.
Reporter (over tv):
Gilberto and miguel rodríguez
Are forcing modern business
methods on a violent trade.
Reporter 2 (over tv): The
cartel forced its employees to
Fill out this application form.
Cartel hopefuls had to enter
the names and addresses of
Their entire family.
Shedd: They had to know
who your family members were,
Where were they, what
did they own, didn't own,
Cars, planes,
automobiles, trains, anything.
They had to know all
about you before you were
Trusted into the system.
Reporter (over tv): To handle
the ever-larger shipments of
Cocaine heading to
the united states,
The cartel used
container ships,
Sometimes even loading
up entire passenger jets.
Reporter 2 (over tv): It is
a marriage of convenience
Between colombia's cali
cartel and the italian mafia.
When the cold war ended,
a new war began.
Translator: The problem of
cocaine in russia began only
One or two years ago.
Cocaine is a new problem for us.
Reporter (over tv):
From moscow to madrid.
From rome to tokyo.
The cali cartel is
creating new markets.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
In raw profit, it now
Outstrips boeing,
texaco and pepsi.
Shedd: They were
planning to eventually
Become the kennedys of colombia.
Toft: We took this
to president gaviria,
And gaviria said he
was gonna take care of it
And nothing happened.
(crowd cheering).
Toft: I was so disgusted with
the fact that the cali cartel
Had played such
an important role.
But I did a
lotta soul searching,
And I couldn't say
what I was gonna say if
I stayed in the dea.
I really wanted to tell what
was happening in colombia and
Make the record straight.
I decided to share the cassette
with a news anchor woman,
And just before I left colombia,
I gave an interview with
people that I had trusted in
The media in colombia.
I created a huge
international event, I guess.
Reporter (over tv):
President samper denies
Receiving drug money,
and colombian prosecutors
Cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Colombian president,
ernesto samper,
Was on his way to
new york to address the
United nations on a
global anti-drug strategy.
His plane was grounded after
authorities found more than
Seven pounds of
heroin hidden on board.
Colombia's justice minister
says someone planted the drugs
In order to
embarrass the president.
Samper (over tv): For me,
this is not a very common case.
It was a drug.
I was supposed to go
to the united states,
And I hope that intelligence
agencies could find not only
Who put the drug,
but why he put.
Man: Viva samper!
Calderón: The consequence of
the narco cassette scandal was
That president samper
was cornered, so he had
To go after the cali cartel.
He had to go against
those that financed him.
Salameh: In 1994
and 1995, gilberto and
miguel rodríguez orejuela
Were the biggest
criminals in the world.
And we were going after 'em.
(speaking in native language).
(speaking in native language).
♪
Reporter (over tv): Nbc news
has learned that the cali cartel
Is even building its
own fleet of submarines,
Like this one seized
off the coast of colombia.
They're designed
to carry cocaine
From colombia to puerto rico.
Once there, drugs can come into
the us with no customs check.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: The
cali cartel had
Brought the
presidential campaign.
Feistl: President samper
had to show that,
"hey, this isn't true.
This information isn't true."
Salameh: You could
sense the tide was turning,
And it was turning towards cali.
Feistl: Main focus of
the colombian government,
As well as the
united states government,
Was to go after now
the biggest threat,
The cali cartel.
Salameh: It's the
obvious move for guys like us.
♪
My name is jerry salameh,
I'm a retired dea agent.
I served for 28 years with the
drug enforcement administration.
♪
Feistl: My name is chris feistl.
I worked for the
dea for 26 years,
Including 12 years in
colombia, south america.
(distant sirens)
The first impression I have of
working in cali is it's a city
Of spies, that
everywhere you go,
People are looking at you.
Once you step foot in cali,
the cartel knew you were there.
They knew what you were up to.
Salameh: They used to
call it the "cali kgb."
They had people
inside the phone company.
I mean, they pretty much
owned the phone company.
All the taxi drivers
were on the payroll,
Reporting
everything they observed.
Feistl: They were able to
penetrate government of colombia
Security institutions,
the military, the police.
Salameh: There were allegations
of tremendous corruption.
I mean, we knew the
tentacles that cali brought.
(speaking in native language).
Reporter (over tv):
Under u.S. Pressure,
General rosso serrano
is named police chief.
In colombia, he is the
dea's most trusted ally.
♪
Salameh: Low and behold we
developed a source that was
Able to give us a lead,
so with that lead,
We assembled our team.
♪
♪
♪
Salameh: We knew
where the guy lived.
The guy went by "el flaco,"
the "skinny guy."
Salameh: He would leave his
apartment early in the morning
And make his way to
wherever gilberto was staying.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: He would jump in a cab,
Get out of a cab,
jump in a public bus.
He would walk.
He'd dip into a building,
come out of another door
Of the building.
If we lost him in two minutes,
we'd have to go back to our
Safe house and wait
another 24 hours to try to
Do it all over again.
We did that for a week.
And I'll never forget,
we had two female officers
On that team.
They were part of
our surveillance team.
There was this big
staircase that went up to this
Residential area on top o'
this little bit of a hill,
And people would exercise,
going up and down those stairs.
The women, they would dress in
gym clothes and go down there
And workout and so forth.
Salameh: Well, the last day,
they followed him all the way
Up on the top o' that hill.
Salameh: And we were
able to isolate that area,
And that's the
area that we raided.
♪
♪
♪
Sissons (over tv):
President clinton has hailed
The arrest in colombia
of one of the worlds most
Wanted drug traffickers,
gilberto rodríguez orejuela.
(crowd chatter)
Salameh: It was a big
get to get gilberto,
You know, the chess player,
one of the biggest criminals
In the world.
And I can only imagine
how miguel felt after that,
'cause he knew
the game was on.
♪
(radio chatter)
Feistl: In July of 1995
we were able to speak with
An individual, and he
agreed to meet with us,
But he wanted to meet in a very
remote area outside of cali.
He is the head of security at
this time for miguel rodríguez,
And he agrees to help us,
Provided that we provide him
and his family safe passage
And protection to
the united states.
He had a great deal of
information and he told us
That miguel was hiding in an
apartment in downtown cali.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: We did an
early morning raid.
Salameh: It's a small,
three-bedroom apartment.
We spent probably 12 hours
in this apartment.
And in 12 hours we
couldn't find him.
There was an air shaft
that went along the center
Of the building, all
the way up the building,
And part of the wall in
that shaft was the wall
In the guest bathroom.
We finally figured out that
he was in that air shaft,
Behind the bathroom wall.
Just didn't know how to
access it at the time.
And I had this hammer drill.
We were drilling the
wall of that bathroom.
And we were drilling
it and drilling it.
Feistl: There were phone
calls being made that we were
Getting close
to finding miguel.
Well, once we were able
to drill through several
Inches of concrete, you
can see that the drill hit
An open air pocket.
As we're literally a few
minutes away from arresting
Him in this
hidden compartment.
We were shut down by
a colombian prosecutor,
And we are forced
to leave the building.
Salameh: And the next day, the
front page of the paper showed
The vanity of that
bathroom with the doors open,
And there was blood
spattered in there.
So, I think I hit
him with the drill bit.
Feistl: Cali cartel
employed the best architects,
The best construction workers,
and they were able to develop
Secret hiding places
within houses or apartments.
Salameh: You could
walk into an apartment.
If you didn't have the
exact location of where these
Compartments were,
you would never find 'em.
They could be
behind bookcases,
They could be anywhere,
and we had to prevent
Miguel rodríguez from
getting inside his caleta.
When you get a group
o' guys like us together,
We're not stopping
till we get our objective.
Salameh: We didn't know
exactly where miguel was.
But our informant helped us
to determine that it's probably
One of two apartment
buildings in cali that we were
Now looking at.
Over the course of, like,
a week or ten days or so,
We kept watching
those buildings.
Salameh: We determine
the profile of miguel.
He stayed up late at night.
I mean, very late at night.
So, little by little, all the
lights in the building went out.
Except for these.
And we said, "that's
gotta be it, the tenth floor."
Feistl: We were able to
contact general serrano,
Summon troops from bogotá
and launch another raid.
If we're able to get
into the apartment quickly,
This would prevent
miguel rodríguez from getting
Inside his caleta.
♪
♪
♪
And we all branch
off into different
sections of the apartment,
Trying to cover as
much ground as possible.
Within 30 seconds, we got him
in the master bedroom closet,
Trying to get into a caleta.
It was close.
I mean, we'd o' been there
for days looking for him.
Another minute or so and
they would have had that
Compartment closed up and
sealed up and it would have
Been extremely difficult,
if not impossible to locate.
Salameh: But they got him.
We got him.
Reporter (over tv): Police
raided an apartment in the
Cocaine center of
cali early today,
And caught the reputed
boss of the world's
Number one drug gang.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Miguel rodríguez orejuela
Oversaw the
world's most powerful
drug smuggling operation.
Reporter (over tv): The
demise of the cali cartel may
Well constitute the most
significant police action
Against drug
smugglers in history.
Feistl: Power kinda fell to
him as the de facto leader of
The cali cartel.
Feistl: But it
was short-lived.
(gunshots)
♪
Feistl: I think that was
a sign to him that this is
Probably not what
he signed up for.
Reporter (over tv):
This morning, miguel and
Gilberto rodríguez orejuela
pleaded guilty in a
Federal court in miami to
a charge of a conspiracy to
Import cocaine in
the united states.
They each were immediately
sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Feistl: The cocaine trade
at this point in time is
Financing a lot of the
criminal groups in colombia.
Reporter (over tv): The
cocaine war will only bring
More bloodshed and
strengthen the violent extremes
In this pained nation.
Calderón: I think
everybody will think colombia's
A sinking ship.
Reporter (over tv):
The paramilitaries in the
Fight compete for business.
Salameh: They
were major criminals.
Kidnapping, murder, drug
trafficking, the whole thing.
Captioned by cotter
captioning services.
♪
♪
♪
Reporter (over tv):
Shake this square world
and blast off to kicksville.
Nixon: Public enemy
number one is drug abuse.
Nancy: Just say, "no."
Reagan: Halting the drug
problem in america is like
Carrying water in a sieve.
Bush: Take my word for it,
this scourge will stop!
Reporter 2 (over tv): It's
now an understanding that the
War on drugs was
an abject failure.
Reporter 3 (over tv): You
have to stop and ask yourself,
How did we get here?
Trump: We will build a wall.
Woman: Woo!
(crowd cheering)
Reporter (over tv):
The opening of the biggest
Sporting event on earth.
It's called
"world cup soccer."
Toft: When escobar
was finally killed,
The members of the
task force started yelling,
"viva colombia!"
Crowd: Colombia! Colombia!
Colombia! Colombia!
Toft: It was a
celebratory cry that
Probably all colombia heard.
Toft: 1994 was an
election year in colombia.
The leading candidate
for the presidency,
To succeed president gaviria
was ernesto samper,
Who had been a senator of
colombia for a long time,
And he was in the same
party as president gaviria.
Toft: Suddenly a member
of the opponent of samper
Showed up at the embassy.
Man (over tape): Hello!
(speaking in native language).
Toft: And gave the
ambassador a tape.
Man: Mhm.
Toft: It contained a
conversation between a
Cartel member and a
campaign manager of samper,
Addressing monies
for the campaign.
Man: Mhm.
Toft: We had this evidence
that a cartel was basically
Interfering with an election.
To me, this was the smoking gun.
♪
Shedd: Gilberto
rodríguez orejuela and
Miguel rodríguez orejuela were
the heads of a cartel that was
Totally different
than the other cartels.
They looked at it more
as a business to expand,
And they were involved
in the cost versus profit.
You have to learn
who your enemy is,
Otherwise, you're
not gonna win the fight.
And I studied over a
long period of time the
Rodríguez orejuelas,
and they were very smart,
Strategic thinkers,
who were always one step
Ahead of the game.
Reporter (over tv): Gilberto
and miguel rodríguez have a
Piece of several hotels, and own
cali's largest shopping center.
Reporter (over tv): And
they own cali's main passion,
The soccer team, américa.
Shedd: So, they
were to be respected.
Yes, they were
dopers and traffickers,
But you cannot
underestimate 'em.
You underestimate
people of that caliber,
You're doomed.
Reporter (over tv):
Gilberto and miguel rodríguez
Are forcing modern business
methods on a violent trade.
Reporter 2 (over tv): The
cartel forced its employees to
Fill out this application form.
Cartel hopefuls had to enter
the names and addresses of
Their entire family.
Shedd: They had to know
who your family members were,
Where were they, what
did they own, didn't own,
Cars, planes,
automobiles, trains, anything.
They had to know all
about you before you were
Trusted into the system.
Reporter (over tv): To handle
the ever-larger shipments of
Cocaine heading to
the united states,
The cartel used
container ships,
Sometimes even loading
up entire passenger jets.
Reporter 2 (over tv): It is
a marriage of convenience
Between colombia's cali
cartel and the italian mafia.
When the cold war ended,
a new war began.
Translator: The problem of
cocaine in russia began only
One or two years ago.
Cocaine is a new problem for us.
Reporter (over tv):
From moscow to madrid.
From rome to tokyo.
The cali cartel is
creating new markets.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
In raw profit, it now
Outstrips boeing,
texaco and pepsi.
Shedd: They were
planning to eventually
Become the kennedys of colombia.
Toft: We took this
to president gaviria,
And gaviria said he
was gonna take care of it
And nothing happened.
(crowd cheering).
Toft: I was so disgusted with
the fact that the cali cartel
Had played such
an important role.
But I did a
lotta soul searching,
And I couldn't say
what I was gonna say if
I stayed in the dea.
I really wanted to tell what
was happening in colombia and
Make the record straight.
I decided to share the cassette
with a news anchor woman,
And just before I left colombia,
I gave an interview with
people that I had trusted in
The media in colombia.
I created a huge
international event, I guess.
Reporter (over tv):
President samper denies
Receiving drug money,
and colombian prosecutors
Cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Colombian president,
ernesto samper,
Was on his way to
new york to address the
United nations on a
global anti-drug strategy.
His plane was grounded after
authorities found more than
Seven pounds of
heroin hidden on board.
Colombia's justice minister
says someone planted the drugs
In order to
embarrass the president.
Samper (over tv): For me,
this is not a very common case.
It was a drug.
I was supposed to go
to the united states,
And I hope that intelligence
agencies could find not only
Who put the drug,
but why he put.
Man: Viva samper!
Calderón: The consequence of
the narco cassette scandal was
That president samper
was cornered, so he had
To go after the cali cartel.
He had to go against
those that financed him.
Salameh: In 1994
and 1995, gilberto and
miguel rodríguez orejuela
Were the biggest
criminals in the world.
And we were going after 'em.
(speaking in native language).
(speaking in native language).
♪
Reporter (over tv): Nbc news
has learned that the cali cartel
Is even building its
own fleet of submarines,
Like this one seized
off the coast of colombia.
They're designed
to carry cocaine
From colombia to puerto rico.
Once there, drugs can come into
the us with no customs check.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: The
cali cartel had
Brought the
presidential campaign.
Feistl: President samper
had to show that,
"hey, this isn't true.
This information isn't true."
Salameh: You could
sense the tide was turning,
And it was turning towards cali.
Feistl: Main focus of
the colombian government,
As well as the
united states government,
Was to go after now
the biggest threat,
The cali cartel.
Salameh: It's the
obvious move for guys like us.
♪
My name is jerry salameh,
I'm a retired dea agent.
I served for 28 years with the
drug enforcement administration.
♪
Feistl: My name is chris feistl.
I worked for the
dea for 26 years,
Including 12 years in
colombia, south america.
(distant sirens)
The first impression I have of
working in cali is it's a city
Of spies, that
everywhere you go,
People are looking at you.
Once you step foot in cali,
the cartel knew you were there.
They knew what you were up to.
Salameh: They used to
call it the "cali kgb."
They had people
inside the phone company.
I mean, they pretty much
owned the phone company.
All the taxi drivers
were on the payroll,
Reporting
everything they observed.
Feistl: They were able to
penetrate government of colombia
Security institutions,
the military, the police.
Salameh: There were allegations
of tremendous corruption.
I mean, we knew the
tentacles that cali brought.
(speaking in native language).
Reporter (over tv):
Under u.S. Pressure,
General rosso serrano
is named police chief.
In colombia, he is the
dea's most trusted ally.
♪
Salameh: Low and behold we
developed a source that was
Able to give us a lead,
so with that lead,
We assembled our team.
♪
♪
♪
Salameh: We knew
where the guy lived.
The guy went by "el flaco,"
the "skinny guy."
Salameh: He would leave his
apartment early in the morning
And make his way to
wherever gilberto was staying.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: He would jump in a cab,
Get out of a cab,
jump in a public bus.
He would walk.
He'd dip into a building,
come out of another door
Of the building.
If we lost him in two minutes,
we'd have to go back to our
Safe house and wait
another 24 hours to try to
Do it all over again.
We did that for a week.
And I'll never forget,
we had two female officers
On that team.
They were part of
our surveillance team.
There was this big
staircase that went up to this
Residential area on top o'
this little bit of a hill,
And people would exercise,
going up and down those stairs.
The women, they would dress in
gym clothes and go down there
And workout and so forth.
Salameh: Well, the last day,
they followed him all the way
Up on the top o' that hill.
Salameh: And we were
able to isolate that area,
And that's the
area that we raided.
♪
♪
♪
Sissons (over tv):
President clinton has hailed
The arrest in colombia
of one of the worlds most
Wanted drug traffickers,
gilberto rodríguez orejuela.
(crowd chatter)
Salameh: It was a big
get to get gilberto,
You know, the chess player,
one of the biggest criminals
In the world.
And I can only imagine
how miguel felt after that,
'cause he knew
the game was on.
♪
(radio chatter)
Feistl: In July of 1995
we were able to speak with
An individual, and he
agreed to meet with us,
But he wanted to meet in a very
remote area outside of cali.
He is the head of security at
this time for miguel rodríguez,
And he agrees to help us,
Provided that we provide him
and his family safe passage
And protection to
the united states.
He had a great deal of
information and he told us
That miguel was hiding in an
apartment in downtown cali.
(speaking in native language).
Salameh: We did an
early morning raid.
Salameh: It's a small,
three-bedroom apartment.
We spent probably 12 hours
in this apartment.
And in 12 hours we
couldn't find him.
There was an air shaft
that went along the center
Of the building, all
the way up the building,
And part of the wall in
that shaft was the wall
In the guest bathroom.
We finally figured out that
he was in that air shaft,
Behind the bathroom wall.
Just didn't know how to
access it at the time.
And I had this hammer drill.
We were drilling the
wall of that bathroom.
And we were drilling
it and drilling it.
Feistl: There were phone
calls being made that we were
Getting close
to finding miguel.
Well, once we were able
to drill through several
Inches of concrete, you
can see that the drill hit
An open air pocket.
As we're literally a few
minutes away from arresting
Him in this
hidden compartment.
We were shut down by
a colombian prosecutor,
And we are forced
to leave the building.
Salameh: And the next day, the
front page of the paper showed
The vanity of that
bathroom with the doors open,
And there was blood
spattered in there.
So, I think I hit
him with the drill bit.
Feistl: Cali cartel
employed the best architects,
The best construction workers,
and they were able to develop
Secret hiding places
within houses or apartments.
Salameh: You could
walk into an apartment.
If you didn't have the
exact location of where these
Compartments were,
you would never find 'em.
They could be
behind bookcases,
They could be anywhere,
and we had to prevent
Miguel rodríguez from
getting inside his caleta.
When you get a group
o' guys like us together,
We're not stopping
till we get our objective.
Salameh: We didn't know
exactly where miguel was.
But our informant helped us
to determine that it's probably
One of two apartment
buildings in cali that we were
Now looking at.
Over the course of, like,
a week or ten days or so,
We kept watching
those buildings.
Salameh: We determine
the profile of miguel.
He stayed up late at night.
I mean, very late at night.
So, little by little, all the
lights in the building went out.
Except for these.
And we said, "that's
gotta be it, the tenth floor."
Feistl: We were able to
contact general serrano,
Summon troops from bogotá
and launch another raid.
If we're able to get
into the apartment quickly,
This would prevent
miguel rodríguez from getting
Inside his caleta.
♪
♪
♪
And we all branch
off into different
sections of the apartment,
Trying to cover as
much ground as possible.
Within 30 seconds, we got him
in the master bedroom closet,
Trying to get into a caleta.
It was close.
I mean, we'd o' been there
for days looking for him.
Another minute or so and
they would have had that
Compartment closed up and
sealed up and it would have
Been extremely difficult,
if not impossible to locate.
Salameh: But they got him.
We got him.
Reporter (over tv): Police
raided an apartment in the
Cocaine center of
cali early today,
And caught the reputed
boss of the world's
Number one drug gang.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Miguel rodríguez orejuela
Oversaw the
world's most powerful
drug smuggling operation.
Reporter (over tv): The
demise of the cali cartel may
Well constitute the most
significant police action
Against drug
smugglers in history.
Feistl: Power kinda fell to
him as the de facto leader of
The cali cartel.
Feistl: But it
was short-lived.
(gunshots)
♪
Feistl: I think that was
a sign to him that this is
Probably not what
he signed up for.
Reporter (over tv):
This morning, miguel and
Gilberto rodríguez orejuela
pleaded guilty in a
Federal court in miami to
a charge of a conspiracy to
Import cocaine in
the united states.
They each were immediately
sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Feistl: The cocaine trade
at this point in time is
Financing a lot of the
criminal groups in colombia.
Reporter (over tv): The
cocaine war will only bring
More bloodshed and
strengthen the violent extremes
In this pained nation.
Calderón: I think
everybody will think colombia's
A sinking ship.
Reporter (over tv):
The paramilitaries in the
Fight compete for business.
Salameh: They
were major criminals.
Kidnapping, murder, drug
trafficking, the whole thing.
Captioned by cotter
captioning services.