The Orejuela brothers: The narcos that Pablo Escobar could never kill

• Escobar became obsessed with his desire to annihilate the leaders of a rival cartel.
• It all started as a power struggle.
• The Orejuela brothers led the Cali Cartel.

A war was unleashed over who had more power in the world of drug trafficking in Colombia, because they all wanted to protect their egos. Today we tell you about the drug traffickers that Pablo Escobar could never kill.

Pablo Escobar and the Orejuela brothers set the tone for the years of violence, corruption and murders in Colombia. Some of their attempts to attack each other turned into massacres, bombings and shootings the Colombian people couldn’t escape.

The narcos that Pablo Escobar could never kill

After the recent death of Gilberto Martínez Orejuela, who together with his brother led the Cali Cartel, one of the largest, most powerful and bloodthirsty criminal organizations in the world, it was remembered that, together with his brother and partner Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, the Cali Cartel were the main competition and enemies of Pablo Escobar.

However, Escobar, leader of the Medellin Cartel, was never able to fulfill his objective of annihilating that pair, since the capo’s capture and death prevented him from succeeding in his desire to kill the Orejuelas.

The Rodriguez Orejuela brothers

Miguel and Gilberto, who were also among the world’s biggest drug traffickers, kept a low profile by passing their business off as a family business. However, Pablo Escobar would soon identify them.

According to Infobae, there are other theories about what sparked the hatred between these two cartels and their leaders. Some point out that it could have been a dispute over women or due to the constant rivalry to control the best routes for drug trafficking.

A power struggle

Colombia was witnessing a war and there were hundreds who paid for a conflict of interest between the Orejuela brothers and Pablo Escobar. Although they were rivals, they initially managed their affairs independently and non-confrontationally.

While Escobar was sending tons of cocaine to Miami, the Orejuelas, according to the DEA, were responsible for four out of every five grams of the drug that was sold in New York. However, some time later, in the 1980s and 1990s, this cartel war brought with it the most violent years in Colombian history.

The death of Pablo Escobar put an end to the conflict

Escobar’s death put an end to the tragic war between both criminal organizations, because what was left of the Medellin Cartel died with him. Thus Cali controlled most of the country’s drug trafficking though this also lasted a short time until their respective arrests.

Earning the title of the narcos that Pablo Escobar could never kill, the Orejuela brothers were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. According to Infobae, Miguel Orejuela, 77 today, is being held in a Pennsylvania jail. On the other hand, Gilberto Orejuela died in a North Carolina prison on June 1, 2022, after suffering from colon cancer and two heart attacks.