Sun. Jan 5th, 2025
"El Mexicano", the bloodthirsty Colombian drug trafficker who traveled with mariachis
The rise and fall of Rodriguez Gacha ‘El Mexicano’, a pivotal figure in Colombia’s narco-Esmeralda conflict of the 1970s

“El Mexicano” was a key figure in the narco-esmeralda battle of the late 1970s, becoming one of the world’s wealthiest and most vilified people.

Rodríguez Gacha was born in Pacho-Cundinamarca on May 14, 1947, to a modest peasant family. In the third year of his bachelor’s degree, he opted to drop out to work for Gilberto Molina, the “zar” of emeralds in Boyacá. He gained access to Molina’s structures and started dealing with Medellín’s drug traffickers.

His riches grew quickly, along with the number of his opponents. In 1976, Gacha formed the “Medellín cartel” with Pablo Escobar, Carlos Ledher, and the Ochoa brothers. Five years later, the cartel financed the first self-defense organization, Death to Kidnappers (MAS). Rodriguez Gacha’s objectives for participating in this guerrilla containment endeavor, primarily against the FARC, were personal, rather than ideological.

The FARC, who in theory supplied monitoring services for the “cap” crops and laboratories in return for specific “taxes,” started robbing Gacha’s agents and destroying their farms. The capo launched the retaliation that cost the lives of more than 800 members of the left-wing Union Patriotic Party, including presidential candidate Jorge Pardo Leal, who was assassinated on October 11, 1987, with the concept that “who is not with me, is against me.”

Their list of opponents grew as a result of some politicians’ support for the extradition of drug traffickers. Rodríguez Gacha was accused of organizing the killings of Rodrigo Lara Bonilla and Luis Carlos Galán with paramilitaries from Magdalena Medio and the Medellín cartel.

The excesses of “The Mexican”Gacha rose from a lowly peasant in Pacho to become one of the world’s wealthiest men.

On June 20, 1988, Forbes magazine recognized Rodriguez Gacha as one of the world’s wealthiest men. Owner of more than 116 properties, farms, homes, flats, lots and cars, estimated at 40 billion pesos, the “cap” became, like other drug traffickers, the benevolent hero of his village.

His fortune became a legend due to the stories of caletas or guacas buried in his property: chariots full of gold lingots, dollar bags, and emeralds were among the treasures hidden in the treasure houses, where there were more than 200 finely finite passing horses, including Túpac Amaru, the famous million-dollar horse.

Being a football aficionado, his empire expanded into the sport by investing in the football team Los Millonarios, which funded player recruitment and salary.

Rodríguez Gacha El Mexicano: “Rather dead than extradited”

As the prosecution of drug traffickers and their assets started, mafia bosses launched a series of assaults on the State and its personnel.

After attacking DAS headquarters on December 6, 1989, Rodríguez Gacha became Colombia’s most sought man.

Rodríguez Gacha El Mexicano
Rodríguez Gacha — Credit: Juan Diego Quintero

After his son Freddy Rodríguez Celades was apprehended, “The Mexican” unleashed a wave of terror to demand his release. General Miguel Antonio Gómez Padilla’s persecution resulted in the assassination of the “chief” by national police on December 15, 1989, at his leisure residence in Tolú.

According to Gerardo Reyes’ inquiry, the tale led “The Mexican” to his death. Although some accounts claim that the finding of Gacha was made possible by US intelligence agents implanting a subcutaneous device in Fredy’s body, it is believed that his son, Jorge Velázquez, joined the Cali Cartel.

Velázquez, who took part in the air operation, claimed that “The Mexican” committed suicide after seeing his son die: “At that moment, Gacha threw me an angry look, raised his hand, made a gun, and put something in front of the face that exploded; it was a small artifact, smaller than a grenade, and there he died.”

Gacha’s life and death established him as the grisly legend of drug trafficking and the origin of paramilitarism.

Rodriguez Gacha, “The Mexican.”. The smartest friend of Pablo Escobar. Credit: The Villains

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