The Medellín Cartel was a well-organized but very loose network of drug smugglers originating in the city of Medellín in Colombia and operating through the 1970s and 1980s. It was built and run by Pablo Escobar. At its height, it was bringing in as much as $60 million per month and was estimated by some to be worth as much as $28 billion in total. Other noted figures involved in, or connected with the cartel include the Ochoa family and Carlos Lehder. It existed in permanent conflict with the Cali Cartel andfrom, the early 80s onward, the Colombian government. Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events... Medellín is the capital city of Antioquia, a province in Colombia ( South America). ... The Republic of Colombia is a country in north-western South America. ... A WANTED poster of Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (January 12, 1949–December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord who was considered by members of the government, news reporters and the general public alike to be one of the most ruthless, ambitious and powerful drug dealers in history. ... Carlos Lehder Rivas, co-founder of the Medellín Cartel and one of the most important operators therein, is considered to be the most important Colombian drug kingpin to be successfully prosecuted in the United States. ... The Cartel De Cali is a drug cartel based in the south part of Colombia, around the city of Cali. ...

The cartel lost much of its consolidated power and influence after the death or capture of many of its leading figures, which led to its disappearance as an unified entity, but several of its surviving associates and former members are still active in the international drug scene.

See also

Drug cartel Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events...