José Santacruz Londoño

José "Chepe" Santacruz-Londoño, or simply "Chepe" Santacruz, (1943 to March 5, 1996) was, after Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, considered the number three leader in the Cali Cartel, which at its height was said to supply 80% of the world's cocaine supply and have billions of dollars in annual income.

Santacruz Londoño himself was said to be worth several billion dollars. He was characterized as a low-key, non-presumptuous man who commanded respect from subordinates. Although his talent rested in managing international cocaine transportation networks, his organization was also involved in drug production, wholesale distribution, and money laundering. He also played a key role in the Cali cartel's intelligence collection efforts.

His major U.S. wholesale cocaine distribution and money laundering operations centered around the New York City metropolitan area. He is believed to have ordered the 1992 slaying of journalist Manuel de Dios, an investigative journalist whose articles on drug trafficking for a Spanish language newspaper in New York angered the cartel. In addition, the Santacruz Londoño organization was linked to limited cocaine HCl production operations in the U.S. Northeast. In June 1992 the DEA seized two cocaine conversion laboratories in Brooklyn, New York, that were connected to "Chepe" Santacruz. DEA investigations also tied Santacruz to drug money laundering operations in various cities in Europe and the Americas.

"Chepe" Santacruz Londoño was arrested on July 4, 1995. Although he escaped La Picota Prison in Bogotá on January 11, 1996, he was killed in a confrontation with the police in Medellín, Colombia on March 5, 1996.

External links

* [http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/dea/product/pr950705.htm DEA Press Release]
* [http://www.rjgeib.com/heroes/unanue/londono.html About Santacruz Londoño]