Medellin Cartel

Medellin Cartel
Weapons	Machete, Mini Uzi, M60 Machine Gun, Car Bomb
Origin	Columbia
Activities	Cocaine trafficking
Service	1975-1993
Battle Status	Lost vs. Somali Pirates
Experts	Michael Blanco (Cartel Boss's son) Kenny Gallo (Fmr cocaine smuggler)

"Cocaine is the goose that laid the golden egg. And the Medellin Cartel would do anything in its power to keep that flow of money going and going and going." - Kenny Gallo

The Medellin Cartel, Colombia's killer drug lords who built the world's largest cocaine empire

Pablo Escobar, the "King of Cocaine"

vs. Somali Pirate, Africa's deadly new breed of high-seas hi-jackers who make millions holding merchant ships hostage

Stats

• 1975 - 1993
• Height - 5' 9"
• Weight -175 lbs
• Crimes - Cocaine trafficking

History

The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. Colombia is one of the places where coca plants grow naturally, making cocaine production easy. The Cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and even Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and run by Pablo Escobar together with the Ochoa Vázquez brothers Jorge Luis, Juan David, and Fabio.

During the height of its operations, the Cartel brought in more than $60 million per day, with Pablo Escobar making at least half a million dollars a week. The total amount of money made by the Cartel was in the tens of billions, and very possibly the hundreds of billions of dollars. This drug trade has made the Cartel richer than most undeveloped nations. There were many "groups" during the Cartel's years, usually white Americans, Canadians or Europeans, organized for the sole purpose of transporting shipments of cocaine destined for the United States, Europe and Canada. While many "groups" were infiltrated and taken down by Federal agents and informers, a few were stumbled upon by authorities, usually due to some small misstep or careless behaviour by a member(s) of a particular "group".

Once authorities were made aware of "questionable activities", the group would be put under Federal Drug Task Force surveillance. Evidence would be gathered, compiled and presented to a Grand Jury, resulting in indictments, arrests and prison sentences, for those convicted. The number of Colombian Cartel Leaders actually taken into custody as a result of these operations, was very few. Mostly non-Colombians, conspiring with the Cartel, were the "fruits" of these indictments.

Most Colombians targeted, as well as those named in such indictments, lived and stayed in Colombia, or fled before indictments were unsealed. However, by 1993 most, if not all, Cartel fugitives had been imprisoned or hunted and gunned down by the Colombian National Police trained and assisted by U.S. Delta Force units and the CIA. This was maybe in response to the death of the Cartel's leader Pablo Escobar, who was gunned down by police on December 2, 1993 (the day after his 44th birthday). Some splinter groups have formed after the Cartel's collapse.

The cocaine market in Colombia is now controlled by the Medellin Cartel's old rivals, the most powerful today maybe the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, aka FARC, with a military force of several thousand. The American led 'War on Drugs' is still active though continues to grow in controversy.

Weapons

weapon got the edge Weapon	Medelin Cartel
Close Range:	Machete*	54
Mid Range:	Mini Uzi	188
Long Range	M60 Machine Gun	96
Explosive Weapons:	Car Bomb*	140

In close range, the Medellin Cartel's Machete took the edge. It being able to cut the ballistic gel torso's hand clean off, slash his neck, and was generally meant to kill.

In Mid Range, the Mini Uzi was tested against the AK-47. The Uzi tested in a reinvented motorcycle drive by shooting, the manner in which it was most used. The Uzi killed both the targets, and was undeniably more powerful at closer range, the AK-47 was tested from a moving riverboat, and against shore mounted targets, which it hit accurately. The AK-47 got the edge, while the Uzi showed superior fire rate, and close range killing power, it had problems with its accuracy at longer distances, making it very ineffective.

For Long Range the Medellin Cartel's M60, was tested against the Somali's PKM. As both were challenged to fire down range and hit moving targets. While the PKM jammed once, the Medellin Cartel's M60 jammed twice.The PKM was given the edge.

For Explosive Weapons, the Medellin Cartel's Car Bomb was pitted against the Somali RPG-7. The Car bomb was tested on the set of an average city street. The resulting explosion was larger then the set itself. The RPG-7 was used against a small house set. While it couldn't deliver the same power as the car bomb, it could be used for repeated fire. The Car Bomb was given the edge for its destructive force.

Battle

Somali Pirate

Medellin Cartel

The battle starts with a group of Somali Pirates approaching a warehouse near pier via motor boat. Inside the warehouse, Pablo Escobar and one of the Medellín Drug Cartel thugs are preparing packages of cocaine while a third member practices swinging his machete and a fourth dances to salsa music. Outside, the Somali pirates dock their boat and advance towards the warehouse. The head pirate and two of his men enter the warehouse while a third stays behind. Inside, they see the Cartel men relaxing. Escobar giving one of them a package of cocaine. As the thug goes to put it away, the Somali pirate leader jumps out and kills him with the PKM Machine Gun. Escobar and one of his men grab an Uzi and M60 Machine Gun, respectively, and fire back. The other remaining Cartel thug tries to sneak up on one of the Somali pirates with his machete while he's distracted by the gunfire. The pirate spots him, however, and tries to fight back with his Grappling Hook. He hits the Cartel thug in his stomach, who in response cuts off the pirate's hand and then slashes his neck. The lead Somali pirate hears the commotion and kills the Cartel man with his AK-47. The other Cartel henchman continues to fire his M60, but it gets jammed. He drops it and picks up an Uzi. Both he and Pablo Escobar try to make a run for it. A Pirate tries to shoot Escobar with the PKM, but misses. The head pirate signals for him to run after the remaing Cartel members. Escobar runs down stairs, and turns around when he hears the pirate leader chasing him. The pirate takes cover behind a corner, and the two begin to exchange gunfire. The Somali pirate eventually manages to shoot Escobar, who falls to the floor and lies motionless. The pirate takes his cigar and smokes it in satisfaction. Meanwhile, the other Cartel member climbs up stairs and enters a room. When the other Somalian pirate opens the door, the Cartel thug opens fire with his Uzi and kills him. He sneers at the dead body and spits on it. Meanwhile, the head pirate sees a car with cocaine and a bag of money. He gets in the driver's seat and begins honking the horn to get the pirate who chose to stay outside. He hears the horn and makes his way toward the garage. However, the head pirate is unaware that Pablo Escobar, who is behind the car, managed to survive the gunshots. Escobar struggles to get up, but his wounds are so bad that he cannot. He sees the pirate in the car and pulls out a remote . He sets himself up with his remaining strength and looks under the car, where a bomb is situated. Realizing that he has no other options, he presses the button on the remote as the other pirate approaches the garage. The bomb goes off, killing both Escobar and the head pirate while sending the last pirate to the floor. The last Cartel member hears the explosion and runs for an exit. The Somali pirate sits up and starts to clean off the debris when he sees the last Cartel member exiting from a door. He stands up and prepares his RPG-7 Rocket Launcher. The Cartel member sees him and desperately tries to go back inside, only to find that the door is locked from the inside and cannot be opened. The pirate fires the rocket, which flies at the Cartel thug and blows up. The remaining pirate roars in victory and walks away.

Expert's Opinion

The experts deemed that the reason why the Somali Pirates were victorious was due to the reliability of the PKM and the fact that the Medellin Cartel chose weapons that were fear-based instead of battle efficient.

Trivia

• The last remaining Cartel thug was portrayed by sword fighting instructor David Hernandez who ironically represented the pirate in the first season.
• Pablo Escobar is the only named warrior on the show not fighting another famous individual.
• This is the only battle where a warrior (Pablo Escobar) kills himself along with an opponent in a suicide explosion.
• This is the second battle in where the leader of a group (Escobar) does not die last, the first being the Taliban.
• CIA allied millitary dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega, was also secretly assisting the Medellin Cartel in the drug trade. When news of this drug conspiracy was revealed, the US invaded Panama and captured Noriega in the Navy SEALs Operation Nifty Package. This is one of the most famous faliures of the CIA and US foriegn policy.
• On September 3rd 2012, Griselda Blanco at age 69, was shot to death by drug lord sicarrios. This is the first named character on the show to die after the "end" of the Deadliest Warrior series.
• Colombia's drug trade in 2014 is worth about US$10 billion. That's one quarter as much as the country's legal exports.
• Over 50 hippos live in Colombia today. They were the decedents of zoo hippos that Pablo Escobar owned, as Escobar's luxurious estate had a private zoo. When the zoo was confiscated by Colombian authorities the hippos were too heavy to be moved and so they escaped into the wild jungles of Colombia. If they continue to thrive they could be classified as an invasive species.

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