The times that Juan Gabriel was in the crosshairs of drug traffickers

• Juan Gabriel’s talent captivated the most dangerous criminals.
• He supposedly gave private shows for the capos.
• The “price” of being famous.

The «Divo de Juárez» continues to give people something to talk about almost six years after his death. Revelations and alleged rumors about the singer and his experiences with powerful and dangerous drug traffickers continue to arise. Today we tell you about the times that Juan Gabriel was in the crosshairs of drug traffickers.

Rumors indicate that Juan Gabriel experienced a nightmare with the world of drug trafficking as part of the price of being one of the international icons of music that was enjoyed by some of the most dangerous drug lords in history.

The times that Juan Gabriel was in the crosshairs of drug traffickers

«Juanga» was hired like any other singer to perform private concerts at the end of the 1980s, a period in which «Divo de Juárez» enjoyed enormous popularity both in Mexico and abroad.

One of those jobs was in 1989 at a private birthday party for a man who was celebrating half a century of life in Cali, Colombia. The Querida singer took a non-stop private flight from Miami to Cali, Colombia. Then he was taken by helicopter to a farm where the celebration was taking place, according to El Heraldo.

Juan Gabriel’s experience with the Cali Cartel

The party was for drug trafficker Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela’s fiftieth birthday. He was the head of the powerful Cali Cartel whose birthday present was a personal concert performed by his favorite artist, the Hasta que te conoci singer.

According to what Gilberto’s son, Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón, wrote in his book El Hijo del Ajedecistra, his father liked Juanga’s music, so his arrival at the farm was one of the Orejuela’s best birthday gifts until the Mexican singer-songwriter made a mistake with the Colombian criminal.

Did Juan Gabriel steal a kiss from Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela?

“Juan Gabriel stood next to my father, placed a hand on his shoulder, took a breath and finished off the emotional song with all his lungs and when the room was filled with loud applause, including my father’s, Juan Gabriel crouched down and he gave him a heartfelt kiss,” said the son of the drug trafficker.

«After the kiss, the leader of the Cali Cartel was surprised and demanded, ‘What are you doing, what’s wrong with you?’ It was then that another drug trafficker, Chepe Santacruz, got into the discussion, my father hit him and tempers began to heat up,» Mondragón revealed in his book. Seeing the reaction of those at the party, Juan Gabriel fled and was quickly taken to the airport because the drug trafficker wanted to kill him.

Juan Gabriel with the Juárez Cartel and Pablo Escobar

That was not the only time that the artist who was born in Parácuaro, Michoacán was hired for a private drug party. «El Divo de Juárez» was the birthday present of Rafael «Don Neto» Fonseca Carillo of the Guadalajara Cartel for the feared Pablo Escobar of the Medellín Cartel. This was part of the fruitful relationship enjoyed by both criminal groups, according to El Heraldo.

The concert was held in Guadalajara where Escobar was the special guest. After his performance, Juan Gabriel was intercepted by one of Pablo Escobar’s  partners who challenged him to give a kiss on the mouth to the leader of the Medellin Cartel in exchange for a million dollars.

Another kiss for a drug dealer?

As Emma and the other narco women say in the book, the singer accepted the challenge, more out of fear than for the money, and did the unthinkable. Then, Pablo Escobar got out his gun to shoot Juanga. Seeing the Colombian’s annoyance, Don Neto also took out his gun.

Everyone present burst out laughing to lower the tension of the moment. For the second time, Juan Gabriel was about to die at the hands of the drug trafficker after making a quick escape from him, according to the journalist and author of the book Anabel Hernández.