Carlos Lehder

Carlos Lehder
Carlos Lehder

Profile picture of Carlos Lehder
Born Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas
September 7, 1949
Armenia, Colombia
Charge(s) Drug trafficking
Status In prison
Occupation Drug Dealer

Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas or simply Carlos Lehder (born September 7, 1949) is a German-Colombian drug dealer currently imprisoned in the United States, having been co-founder of the Medellín Cartel.[1][2]

Born in Armenia, Colombia, Lehder eventually ran a cocaine transport empire on Norman's Cay island, 210 miles (340 km) off the Florida coast in the central Bahamas.[1][3] Lehder was allegedly also active in the Quintín Lamé Movement, an indigenous guerrilla organization tied to the Colombian 19th of April Movement and FARC insurgencies.[1] Lehder was also a founding member of Muerte a Secuestradores, a paramilitary group whose focus was to retaliate against the kidnappings of cartel members and their families.[1] He was one of the most important operators therein, and is considered to be one of the most important Colombian drug kingpins to be successfully prosecuted in the United States.

In the 2001 movie Blow, the character Diego Delgado was based on him. Lehder is of mixed German-Colombian descent, his father a German engineer and mother a Colombian schoolteacher.[4] The family owned a semi-legitimate used car business in the Medellin area in which Carlos got his start as a criminal by supplying it with stolen American cars.

Contents

Early activities and prison