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15 Most Notorious Drug Lords in History

Also known as drug barons, kingpins or narcotraffickers, drug lords are crime bosses always in charge of drug trafficking. There have been famous drug lords over the years who control large territories of drug trafficking. They are always difficult to prosecute as they have their subjects who distribute their products making it difficult to catch them with the illegal substances.

Famous drug lords in history like Pablo Escobar controlled huge drug territories and made huge empires through their illegal businesses. To succeed in their businesses, they usually hire several subjects who work under them. They also involve some corrupt officers who sell information about their tracking for huge sums of money in return.

The majority of these drug lords involve themselves in the weapons trade too to ensure that they secure their substances. Drug cartels have also been formed by various drug lords to dominate the market, and make more profits. Here are the 15 Most Notorious Drug Lords in History:

1. Pablo Escobar Gaviria

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On 1st December 1949, Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born in Rionegro, Colombia. He was born to a small-scale farmer dad and a teacher mum. Pablo grew up with his seven siblings in poverty in the neighboring city of Medellin. In 1966, Pablo dropped out of high school and headed to the streets where he was bullying alongside his cousin. He returned home to continue with his studies as he had plans of becoming a criminal lawyer, then a politician, and finally the president but his dreams were broken due to lack of money.

His criminal life began with robberies with violence and kidnappings which earned him more money. However, he got into the drug business where he became more prominent in the shipping of cocaine to the United States where the demand was high. He is called the 鈥淲orld鈥檚 Greatest Outlaw鈥� because he was the most elusive cocaine trafficker in the world. His dealings in huge supplies of cocaine to the United States got him the nickname King of Cocaine and the lord of all drug lords in the world.

Pablo Escobar was once declared the 7th richest man in the world with a fortune estimated at US$30 billion. Escobar made an attempt to enter into Colombian politics as he wanted to become president. He spent money for fun as bought huge fortunes and lived in a classy mansion. Pablo Escobar became notorious in that he used to bribe Colombian officials for his businesses and murdered those who refused.

This made him wanted with the Colombian government hunting him. The DEA, the CIA, the Cali Cartel, and Los Pepes hunted him. On 2nd December 1993, Pablo Emilio Escobar was gunned down and killed in what was a fierce gun shoot.

Read 25 Fascinating Facts About Drug Kingpin Frank Lucas.

2. Miguel 脕ngel F茅lix Gallardo

Also known by husband aliases El Jefe de Jefe, Boss of Bosses, and El Padrino, the Godfather, Miguel Gallardo is a convicted Mexican drug lord. He is a former Federal Judicial Police agent who was among the founders of the Guadalajara Cartel that operated in the 1970s鈥擬iguel’s Cartel controlled drug trafficking along the Mexico-United States border and Mexico in the 1980s.

He had multiple connections with the Colombian drug lords who worked with him when trafficking to Florida was hard. Miguel worked with Cartel members like Ernesto Carrillo and Rafael Quintero. They are believed to have made $5 billion annually as profits.

In 1989, Miguel was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique 鈥淜iki鈥� Camarena which led to his arrest. He has currently serving his 40-year sentence at a medium-security facility after developing some health complications.

3. Joaqu铆n 鈥淓l Chapo鈥� Guzm谩n

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The US DEA considers El Chapo as the most notorious drug lord of all time due to his former dealings. He used to work for Miguel Gallardo in the 1980s but later formed the Sinaloa Cartel after Miguel鈥檚 arrest. El Chapo鈥檚 widely known for his use of sophisticated tunnels to smuggle cocaine from Mexico into the US in the early 1990s without the authorities knowing.

He was also involved in the shipment of 7.3 tons of cocaine that was concealed in cans of chili peppers to the US in 1993. However, this shipment never reached its destination as it was seized by the DEA in Tecate, Baja California. He also managed to escape an ambush by the Tijuana Cartel led by Ramon Arellano Felix and his men.

Another famous ordeal by El Chapo is how he managed to break out of prison after being caught in Guatemala. He paid the prison guards who allowed him to leave the facility by hiding in a laundry van. He also escaped from prison in July 2015 through a hole in a shower floor. However, he was recaptured by the Mexican Marines on 8th January 2016 after a manhunt.

4. Jorge Alberto Rodriguez

Jorge is famously known as Don Cholito who resides in New York. He is an Argentine-born, Puerto Rican and Colombian who was introduced to the drug business at the age of 12. His father, Gilberto Rodriguez headed the Cali Cartel which he joined at the age of 14.

At the age of 20, he had a fortune of over US$300 million through drugs shipment from Colombia to the US. Jorge was a ruthless international drug lord who was unknown to governments until his identity was revealed. On 6th July 1990, Jorge was arrested and handed a 25-year sentence over multiple federal violations.

However, this did not stop him from continuing with his drug business as more than 12,500 kgs of cocaine were being trafficked to the US. In 1994, he was placed under high-security isolation as he was also involved in several murders of informants and witnesses alongside trafficking. In 2012, Jorge was released from prison.

5. Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho

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Marcola was born on 13th April 1968 in Osasco, Brazil. He is among the founders and current leaders of Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) This is the largest and most powerful criminal organization in Brazil. His criminal career began when he was a child and at the age of 9, he was serving a prison sentence for murder, drug trafficking, and other offenses.

He is currently in Taubate Prison where he commands his criminal gang. Marcola鈥檚 gang is expanding its influence beyond Brazil to Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Peru. This group is involved in violence across its territories.

Also, read 15 Facts about Cocaine.

6. Griselda Blanco

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Griselda Blanco (1943-2012), the 鈥淕odmother of Cocaine,鈥� was a feared drug lord who operated between Miami and Colombia in the 1970s and 1980s. During the peak of her enterprise, she smuggled nearly 1,600 kilograms of cocaine into the United States each month using a network in South Florida. She was known for her ruthlessness and use of extreme violence, including public assassinations in broad daylight, bayonetting a rival trafficker inside Miami International Airport, and creating the drive-by motorbike shooting death method.

She was thought to be responsible for the deaths of 200 people in Colombia, Florida, New York, and California. She was arrested in 1985 on drug-trafficking charges, was convicted, and served nearly 20 years in a U.S. jail. On 3rd September 2012, she was shot dead by motorbike hitmen as she exited a butcher shop in Colombia.

7. Rick Ross

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The Freeway Rick Ross as he is famously known, is a notorious convicted drug trafficker famous for his early 1980s Los Angeles drug empire. He got his nickname as he grew up next to the 110 Harbor Freeway. When drug trafficking and abuse was on the high, Rick Ross is alleged to have made $2 million in a day.

According to the Oakland Tribune, 鈥淚n the course of his rise, prosecutors estimate that Ross transported several tons of cocaine to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, and made more than $600 million in the process.鈥� He was arrested in 1998 after buying more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from an undercover federal agent. He was given a life sentence but was later reduced to 20 years after an appeal. In March 2009, he was moved to a halfway house and released on 29th September 2009.

8. Osiel C谩rdenas Guill茅n

Born on 18th May 1967, Osiel is a former Mexican drug lord. He was also the leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Osiel was originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas but became a drug Cartel leader in 1997 after assassinating Salvador Gomez Herrera.

During his reign, he recruited 30 deserters from the Mexican Army鈥檚 special forces unit known as Cuerpo de Fuerza Especiales. They were the armed Wing of the cartel that also formed the Los Zetas. Two of the US federal agents were threatened at gunpoint by Osiel and his gang in 1999 making him the most wanted man in the world.

Together with Mexican law enforcement, American law agencies launched a manhunt for Osiel and breaking Gulf Cartel leadership. In 2003, he was arrested in Mexico and deported to the US in 2007 where he is still in prison.

9. Roberto Su谩rez G贸mez

In the 1970s, Pablo Escobar began purchasing cocaine from Roberto Su谩rez. Su谩rez established the first cocaine cartel in Bolivia, 鈥淟a Corporaci贸n,鈥�. He also built cocaine laboratories in the center of the Bolivian Amazon jungle and in the zone of 鈥淟os Yungas鈥� at the end of the 1960s. Initially, the Medellin gang paid $8,000 per kilogram ($3,600/lb) for cocaine.

La Corporaci贸n then supplied cocaine-based paste to Colombian cartels, who completed and distributed it in the United States鈥� East. The refined cocaine was sold to Mexican cartels for distribution in the United States west. Su谩rez collected vast sums of money, but as detectives and journalists exposed the corruption between Bolivia and the United States, the empire Su谩rez established began to crumble. When the DEA apprehended Su谩rez in 1988, Escobar took over the manufacturing and distribution of 80% of the world鈥檚 cocaine.

10. Manuel Noriega

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In early 1971, Manuel Noriega was heavily involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. He used to facilitate 鈥榞uns-for-drugs鈥� flights for the Nicaraguan Contras. In the process of these deals, the US supported them by providing various amenities. Manuel was also highly paid by the CIA as their asset and collaborator. However, he was arrested in 1990.

Also, read Top 10 Sensational Facts about Joaqu铆n Guzm谩n Loera.

11. Amado Carrillo Fuentes

Amado was a renowned drug trafficker in Mexico who used to smuggle times more cocaine to the United States than other traffickers. He made a fortune of more than $25 billion with his illegal businesses. Amado was famously known as The Lord of Skies because he used more than 22 private 727 jet airliners for smuggling cocaine.

The cocaine was transported from Colombia to airports and dirt airstrips around Mexico. He worked for Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo and was a member of the Guadalajara Cartel. Amado former The Juarez Cartel after the arrest of Miguel. The DEA described Amado as the most powerful drug trafficker of his era before his death and was ranked among the world鈥檚 richest men.

12. Ramon Arellano Felix

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Alongside his brothers, Ramon founded the Tijuana Cartel or the Arellano-Felix Organisation. He is believed to have been one of the most ruthless enforcers of the cartel who was involved in multiple homicides. One of the worst cases he was involved in is the 1997 12 family members (from outside Ensenada, Baja California) massacre.

This family had connections with a drug dealer who owed the Cartel. Ramon found himself on the ten most-wanted list of the FBI on 18th September 1997. Ramon and his brothers, particularly Benjamin Arellano Felix, were indisputable leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, which established a bitter rivalry with Joaquin Guzman Loera鈥檚 Sinaloa Cartel. Ram贸n was slain in Mazatl谩n on 10th February 2002, by officers purportedly on the payroll of the rival Sinaloa C谩rtel.

13. Ismael Zambada Garc铆a

Ismael Zambada Garca is a Mexican drug smuggler and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. According to Mexico鈥檚 chief anti-drug prosecutor, Jos茅 Santiago Vasconcelos, Zambada is 鈥渄rug dealer No. 1鈥� and has grown in authority as his fellow kingpins have fallen, including one who was allegedly slain on Zambada鈥檚 instructions.

14. Klaas Bruinsma

Born in 1953, Klaas was a renowned drug lord. He was also known as the tall one and the preacher during his time because of his love for dressing in black and his habit of lecturing people. Klaas was killed by mafia member and former police officer Martin Hoogland.

15. Zhenli Ye Gon

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Born on 31st January 1974 in Shanghai, Zhenli is a Mexican businessman who is also accused of trafficking pseudoephedrine from Asia into Mexico. During his arrest, Zhenli was found in possession of $207 million cash.

There were also 18 million Mexican pesos in his home during this period of his arrest. He had an excuse that he was forced to keep the money that could be used for Felipe Calderon鈥檚 campaigns. However, his charges were dismissed in August 2006.

Drug lords have affected the lives of many people negatively because the substance they sell harms them as well as they take lives for fun. Putting them away from other people is the best way to save society and reform them.

Read 10 Most Ruthless Mexican Drug Lords.