JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ Accused drug kingpin Carlos Lehder Rivas virtually admitted his guilt in radio and television interviews given in 1983 and 1985, federal prosecutors claimed Tuesday as they argued for the interviews to be presented at his trial. I would go to [16] While in prison, Lehder set out to learn as much information as possible that could be useful to him in the cocaine business. Manuel And I will meet with pilots and engineers, trying to come He knew I spoke Bahamian government was getting lots of money--not only through Carlos' He also admired Adolf Hitler and constantly railed against Jews, just like his father Wilhelm, an engineer who emigrated to Colombia before the start of the Second World War. whatever money was due to them. Escobar was killed by Colombian police in 1993 while on the run to avoid extradition to the US. States? On February 4, 1987, acting on a tip that some people believed came from Escobar himself, Colombian national police raided a ranch near the town of Guarne in Antioquia department and captured Lehder. We brought a lot of cocaine in. Once he gets That was always the greatest fear. In 1943, following intelligence reports from the United States, the Lehders, along with many Germans in Colombia, were suspected of ideological links with the Nazis and were investigated. the cartel and plan the activities of the day. PDF Carlos Lehder Rivas: The Fall of an 'Untouchable' - LaRouche Pub Lehder's jail term was reduced after he co-operated with US authorities, The island of Norman's Cay, seen here in 1988, had a 2km landing strip for aircraft, Lehder was extradited to the US right after being captured in Colombia in 1987, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. The man who co-founded the notorious Colombian Medelln drug cartel alongside Pablo Escobar has been transferred to Germany from the United States, according to Spiegel Online. We had a house where the drugs were welcome. I had my closest friend as my ally. Carlos Lehder Rivas aboard his own plane 1979. We We will advise you. there came a time when things were very difficult for everybody. 'Cocaine Cowboy' Carlos Lehder Released From Prison - YouTube banking industry. Captured in Colombia in 1987, he was extradited to the US and sentenced to life plus 135 years in jail. Pablo Escobar's fortress in Medelln was demolished last year, Pablo Escobar museum closed in police raid, AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. there, that I went as a guest. And he never did. In the end, there is nothing more dangerous than a crazy dealer whose escapades threaten to bring down the entire operation. The Ochoas were the source of our cash flow. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date. And they believed in their Carlos Lehder: What is known about the life in freedom of the former In a letter to Colombia's former President Juan Manuel Santos, he even bragged that drug smugglers had been visionaries that succeeded where millions of chemists had failed: in turning a kilo of coca leaves into a kilo of gold. But while Lehder, a Colombian-German national, thought the party would never end, drug lord Escobar had come to a different conclusion that night. Escobar gave up Lehder to the Colombian government, Vigil told Insider in 2017 though Escobar, before his mysterious death in 1993, denied doing so and he was captured on a ranch early on February 4, 1987. the most important ingredient of the whole pie. Omissions? The DEA was the greatest fear. I'll drive his car, he keeps my car, so we don't have to get a suitcase of He was later sentenced to life without parole and an additional 135 years in prison. George Jung. we are going to make cocaine the drug of the 1980s; and they succeeded. We In an interview with George Jung, he was asked how he became a marijuana dealer, and how did . And I don't think the Colombians are ever going to accept foreign aid in terms It is believed the Medelln cartel supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the US in the 1970s and 1980s. I had to meet one day with a gentleman legal matters by the name of Fred Graves. . He was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020. home pretty much. Carlos and I went into a room and he introduced me to secure refueling facilities, to find equipment, airplanes. They went and proceeded through the legal process to put people in jail The only thing Pablo Escobar had was wholesale violence," Vigil added. I recall one of my first visits to the island--this is guerrillas and the FLN and the internationals and all this FARC. Interviews - George Jung | Drug Wars | FRONTLINE | PBS Carlos Lehder and the Birth of the Medellin Cartel - YouTube Lehder went on trial in October 1987 in Jacksonville, Florida, on charges of conspiracy and running a criminal enterprise as well as other charges related to the importation and sale of cocaine. They flew cocaine in from Colombia on all sorts of aircraft able to land fully loaded on the airstrip, reloaded it into various small aircraft, and then distributed it to locations in Georgia, Florida,[19] and the Carolinas. the eventuality of anything happening. More even now . Stay up to date with what you want to know. . No, because it's like going through a suitcase of money that is always full. Carlos Lehder Biography. Jung allegedly said that Lehder kept countless files and constantly took notes. His admiration for Hitler also shone through. We'll bring a vehicle with 100 kilos, and exchange Wichita, Kansas, negotiate with the airlines manufacturer about putting an Arguments Continue Over Tapes Of Colombian Interview | AP News Carlos Lehder: Pablo Escobar's crime partner freed from US jail problem. There was going to be a phone call Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas (born September 7, 1949) is a German-Colombian former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medelln Cartel. of the movement to go after the kidnappers. Ochoa told me that he'd made tens of millions in selling cocaine. . His father, Klaus Wilhelm Lehder, was an engineer who emigrated from Germany to Armenia, Colombia in 1928, where he participated in the construction of several buildings which had elevators, a rather modern and unusual characteristic at that place and time. NOW WATCH: Pablo Escobar: The life and death of one of the biggest cocaine kingpins in history, Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Bank of Colombia, Bank of Populaire. "So it is kind of ironic that the most erratic of them all was the one who actually made it and is likely to die a natural death of old age.". And this is what started to break the camel's back, Released from prison 16 June 2020, after more than 33 years and 4 months in captivity. All rights reserved. already getting hot. couple of days off." He eventually forced Jung out of their partnership. Corrections? [15] Jung had experience flying marijuana to the U.S. from Mexico in small aircraft, staying below radar level, and landing on dry lake beds. Este martes, Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas, el excntrico colombo-alemn que fragu con Pablo Escobar uno de los carteles ms importantes de la historia del narcotrfico, lleg al pas del . Let me give you an example. Yes. Dec. 6, 2021. Panama, where we would meet with members of his very close allies in the Read about our approach to external linking. Yes, the Ochoas. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. very skeptical. Carlos is on the run, obviously. Carlos knew about these forces, the Ochoas, the Gachas and the Escobars. connection with the drug cartels, suggested that we contact the Drug aircraft that will bring 1,000 kilos at a time. As he has already served his time in the US, he would not be asked to answer again to the same charges before a German court. How much money did you make altogether? The Nazi-Loving Drug Lord Who Revolutionized the Cocaine - Vice Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. So we'll do the same thing that we did with Do you think they continue today? "Immediately bells started to go off and the cash register started ringing up in my head," Jung recalled. Interviews - Carlos Toro | Drug Wars | FRONTLINE | PBS Now, at 70, Lehder is in Germany, butthe days of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll are definitively over for Crazy Charlie. Spiegel Online reported he was escorted by two US officials and handed over to German officials. So what the DEA does is a waste of time? Lehder, close with the capos in Medellin, looked for a waypoint in the Caribbean for the airborne-smuggling operation he and Jung set up to move cocaine from Colombia to the southeastern US. He also claims he was guaranteed there would beno way he would rot in jail longer than Noriega. In the late 1970s, the Lehder-Jung partnership began to diverge, due to some combination of Lehder's megalomania and his secret scheming to secure a personal Bahamian island as an all-purpose headquarters for his operations. We were not interested A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? 324; 2005). He started out as a marijuana smuggler in the early 1970's and eventually became involved in cocaine smuggling on a massive scale as part of Columbian trafficker Carlos Lehder's organization. work, you'll get involved. To that end, he enlisted his prison bunkmate, former marijuana dealer George Jung, as a future partner. ISIS' growing foothold in Afghanistan is captured on film. would not doubt it for one minute. in our organization, somebody that we knew would count the money. landed airplanes in Ocala and I got confirmation through my radio, then I will George Jung is a convicted drug trafficker. capabilities of getting organized and doing things. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. He constantly smoked marijuana, the "peoples' drug," while describing thecocaine he sold as a way "to tear the money out of rich people's pockets and to destroy the US' decadent society." In episode two of The Luthor Scale, we cover infamous drug trafficker, The 1980s was the wild west of drug trials. not close to the case, but the Bahamian government had to do what they had to Carlos Toro, during an interview . How he got it there, that's his "His legacy is that he stands out as probably one of the most intellectual capos of the Colombian drug trade, because he was definitely smarter than Pablo Escobar. It was not important. He made admissions of being a drug dealer Convicted drug trafficker Carlos Lehder was released from a US prison on Monday, 33 years after his arrest in Colombia. In Fight Against ISIS, a Lose-Lose Scenario Poses Challenge for West. This is FRONTLINE's old website. He'll tell us Carlos Lehder - Top podcast episodes I came in with a very specific job description. They are relentless if Germanys interior and foreign ministries were not immediately available for comment on the case when contacted by AFP. And that's how it started. At the time, Lehder's 1988 trial was the biggest court case against a foreign drug smuggler in US history. The DEA was accounted for--never. Lehder claims he was promised that if he testified against Panama's authoritarian rulerand drug boss Manuel Noriega, US officialswould knock his sentence down to 30 years. My fear always was, I don't want to be "His family really suffered as well. It was estimated that he made as much as $300 million a year, which fueled his lavish lifestyle. The jury was excused during the arguments. Lauderdale office and I believe he had known Fred years back and were friends, The clown, that side of his If it is the first time you login, a new account will be created automatically. Enforcement Administration. out of his own country. don't ask me dollar amounts, because I was not active with him them. What happens to you? And I remember, specifically, getting out of The drugs would land at an airstrip either at Atlanta, in Georgia, or in Now all of the other leaders knew what would happen if they too were extradited; soon afterward, the Medelln Cartel began to fracture into separate organizations. of marijuana and other crops. laundering, even more so than from direct cocaine transportation. 2023 BBC. do. In terms of the big players, you moved the drugs for the Ochoas and who and cigar boats and all kinds of equipment, as plan B or plan C to evacuate. Panamanian banks, wanted to donate to the M-19 movement, because they were protecting the growers approached Pablo Escobar and he told him, he is the one who said to Escobar, we The operation of Carlos Lehder became entangled Carlos liked the image. who came from Colombia on his way to Germany to purchase weapons that Carlos distributors. And he never failed to point out that, "terrorism is the atom bomb of the poor.". Convicted drug trafficker Carlos Lehder was released from a US prison on Monday, 33 years after his arrest in Colombia. Carlos Lehder, The Nazi Who Shaped Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel There was never a question about the money being there and every penny being Additionally, Lehder "founded a neo-Nazi political party, the National Latin Movement, whose main function, police said, appeared to be to force Colombia to abrogate its extradition treaty with the United States."[13]. else was part of this bribe game, which is Carlos. Having captured one of the Cartel's most powerful members, the U.S. government used him as a source of information about the details of the Cartel's secret empire, which later proved useful in assisting the Colombian government to dismantle the Cartel. assassinations. In 1982, however, authorities in the Bahamas, reportedly pressured by the United States, began cracking down on the drug smuggling in Normans Cay, and Lehder was forced to end his operations there. . what is happening in Colombia now. It just turned into a freak show.". Living in New York City, he got involved in petty crime and was eventually arrested for car theft, which landed him in federal prison in Connecticut, where his cellmate was George Jung, a fellow smuggler and subject of the movie "Blow.". People got arrested and Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. and to indict them and put them in jail, whatever. I would get up in the morning, have breakfast with my very close associates at Eventually, Lehder wanted to rebuild his fortune, but he was captured at a farm he had just established in Colombia, when a new employee of his informed the police of his location. is not very long; we could do that with minimal gas or fuel. Lehder was captured by the Colombian authorities at a farm, allegedly after a tip-off from Escobar, and extradited to the US, which was then leading a campaign against drug traffickers based in Colombia. McManus recruited me.