The Colombian drug lords Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, 67, entered guilty pleas and were ushered off to federal prison for the next 30 years -- no Miami Vice-like dramatics, no bodies riddled with gunfire in the manner of Medellin rival Pablo Escobar. SALCEDO had arrived in Cali just in time for a business boom. jsalcedo@athletics.ucla.edu. That was attempt number one [to arrest Miguel]. The Times has no information about his whereabouts and no way to reach him. The pilot was killed. Now that your story is so central to a very popular TV show internationally, do you worry that it might revive interest in you? All Rights Reserved. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs 500-pounders that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. Sec Familia explica. Trying to navigate thru the insurance loops kept leaving us frustrated and back where we started. In those days, hundreds of high-ranking and lower level police were on the cartels secret payroll tens of thousands of dollars paid every month for inside tips or for looking the other way. No es opcional, es una OBLIGACIN. I decided to play on the fact that I might not be discovered, Salcedo said. For years he had protected the bosses, their wives and children. Former UCLA All-American Jorge Salcedo is in his 15th season as head coach for the Bruins, making him the second-longest tenured men's soccer head coach in UCLA history. [2] Salcedo lived in Kansas for two years while his father attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College, after which the family moved back to Colombia. Right, they fail, but at the same time, Miguel has figured you out and is trying to kill you with a plastic bag over your head. How did you get involved with this project? The billionaire fugitives continued to manage the syndicate while moving from one safe house to another. Besides law enforcement, the cartel bought a piece of Colombias justice system with payoffs to prosecutors who lost evidence, misplaced paperwork, blocked search warrants or released prisoners before they could be questioned. Inside the apartment they found no one. They had one child. He had put a bomb in the building that destroyed the equivalent of the FBI in Colombia. The drug bosses there, engaged at the time in a vicious feud with Escobar and the Medellin, summoned the 41-year-old engineer to visit. Salcedo used it to steer Pallomari toward the DEA. Some regularly shared information with Salcedo. Smuggling routes from Florida to Texas were compromised and had to be replaced. It's been debated whether Salcedo made this choice out of the. I was hiding in my apartment with my family, protected like a bunker, loaded with guns and grenades to be able to reject any surprise taking of the apartment. They could do this to anybody. And not just the cartel, but the entire corrupt government and the system. It was a cross-examination of everything. One well-placed insider was the sergeant and chief of staff to the military commander of the anti-narcotics task force. I started hearing screaming. The mostly British mercenaries were in hotels for nearly two months awaiting orders to attack. The pilot was killed. Miguel Orejuela was extradited to Florida in 2005, a year after Gilberto. That part is true. Finally, Escobar was sent to prison. Miguel, the younger of the two Orejuela brothers, was more direct: He wanted Escobar, the most powerful criminal in the world, dead. A daring betrayal helped wipe out Cali cocaine cartel Still, Salcedo used great care -- calling from a public phone and leaving only a vague message offering to be helpful.. For years he had protected the bosses, their wives and children. Family Physician From a young age, I knew that I wanted to be a Doctor. Join CNN Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on Twitter, The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jorge Salcedo. Former UCLA soccer coach sentenced to 8 months in prison for Varsity Profile Find a doctor - doctor reviews and ratings . It had a thick top, he said, that concealed a secret compartment. He told Pallomari he would be arrested and die in jail. WITHIN a week of his first conversation with a U.S. agent, Salcedo faced his first life-threatening decision. I always got to appointments first, to check the security around and make sure there wasn't an ambush or anything. Dr. Jorge A. Salcedo, MD | Cedar Park, TX | Family Medicine Doctor | US But because I was always at the meeting, I was a witness to everything that was spoken there. But suddenly police surrounded them. Jorge Salcedo - Men's Soccer Coach - UCLA Jorge Salcedo told the judge that he joined in the college admissions bribery scheme because he was desperate for . I get there, and the cars arrive there, and all of a sudden these people were just taken by force by people who work at Pacho Herrera's farmwell, it was a luxury ranch, not a farm. The Orejuela brothers promptly absorbed the Medellin cartel and ultimately controlled 80 percent of the international cocaine market. Within days, Salcedo and Agent Kacerosky were on the phone together. The official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came in 2006 in Miami with little more than the rap of a judge's gavel. In the wrong hands, his extensive records of bribes and business dealings posed a greater threat to operations than the inconvenience of the brothers spending a few years of lavish confinement in a Colombian jail. BOSTON (AP) A former University of California, Los Angeles men's soccer coach was sentenced to eight months behind bars Friday for pocketing $200,000 in bribes to help applicants get into the school as bogus athletic recruits. He made an excuse and tried to leave. In the years since, he has made sporadic telephone calls to a Times reporter from undisclosed locations. Because at that point, they were suspecting about me. Salcedos story is told in the book, At the Devils Table The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel, by journalist William C. Rempel. Desperate for protection from what they feared most extradition to the U.S. the cartel bosses poured millions of dollars into the bank accounts of Colombian politicians. Finally, Escobar went to prison, where he continued to run his cartel and menace rivals from his cell. The compound of drug lord Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela filled a city block and contained a swimming pool, tennis court and half a soccer field. Email. There were suspicions of a leak, Salcedo said. I got to know I was excluded when I got a call saying I had to get there. It was very risky, but I was trapped in a nightmare, in a totally corrupt environment. The enforcer insisted that Salcedo accompany him. Read the reviews. I said, Guillermo, Ive been taking care of you a lot. . Salcedo waited for the chance to use a public phone at a Cali telecommunications building. He said, "Yes, frankly, my father is putting me to so many things." Former UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo pleaded guilty Monday for his role in the college admissions scandal, the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said. The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 207QA0505X with license number M2786 (TX). Head Coach. Family Rallies For Army Veteran Facing Deportation Salcedo said he takes . We had about 150 persons dedicated to caring for the safety of these people, Salcedo recalled. Meanwhile, U.S. pressure on the Bogot government was forcing Colombian authorities to crack down on the violent cartels. Luckily for us, the good people at Netflix were able to connect us to Salcedo for an exclusive interview. Thats what brought down the Cali cartel, and it can make a difference in other countries where a culture of acceptance makes corruption especially stubborn. On August26, 1995, after six-and-a-half years with the cartel, he was extradited to the United States. Dr. Jorge Salcedo, MD, Family Medicine | Cedar Park, TX | WebMD Then, he double-crossed them. That people might start wondering, Where is he now? Salcedo arrived in Cali in time for a business boom. He also knew who was marked for assassination. He had been summoned to the cartel hideout to give Miguel a report on the pending assassination of Pallomari. He started his career designing forklifts and other machinery. Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. He is still No. Federal drug agents would have to prove that the cartel leaders continued to operate their smuggling empire from prison, after the extradition ban was lifted. In the days after, the entire Cali cocaine cartel infrastructure was exposed. I was never told the truth, I was lured to the place as a standard procedure. The next morning, he caught the first Avianca flight to Cali. Dr. Jorge Salcedo, MD is a Family Medicine Specialist in Cedar Park, TX. We didn't have insurance. Who contacted you? He dialed the main switchboard of the CIA in Langley, Va. Listen, this may sound unusual, he said he told the duty officer who answered. The Bogota team listened, tapped on cement walls and floors, then pulled out power drills and bored into suspicious areas. So I had to give up. Faced with orders to kill a colleague and friend, Salcedo grew desperate. In 1994, Salcedo was sent with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. The fourth bomb was abandoned and Salcedo barely escaped El Salvador and arrest. However, word of Salcedos role reached Cali, 185 miles southwest of Bogota. Narcos: The real Jorge Salcedo speaks | EW.com The raiding party that hit Miguels door about dawn the next morning included two DEA agents and an elite search team under Gen. Jose Serrano, chief of the Colombian national police. Jorge Salcedo on Instagram: "En mi casa el nio Dios llego antes On season 3 of Netflix's Narcos, it doesn't take long to realize that one man is at the center of all the action: Jorge Salcedo. He is a new king who has to prove to his dad and everybody else that he's capable. Two heavily armed Hughes 500 helicopters, painted in the olive green of Colombias national police, flew a 12-man team of Salcedos mercenaries to a mountain staging area. Jorge married first name Salcedo (born Padilla). Shipments of dope and money were lost. In the whole truth, I'm not proud of what I did in general, but I'm proud of what I did in capturing Miguel and bringing down the cartel. Salcedo was escorted to Miguels offices and four cartel dons. [3][pageneeded], In 1995, Gilberto Rodrguez Orejuela was captured by a joint task-force in Cali. As the head of security for the Cali Cartel and an eventual. My logic is fantastic: How could you think that I would be going to the streets? Narcos recap: You Will Cry Tears of Blood. Salcedo soon learned of the horrible situation.. Please enter a valid 5-digit Zip Code. I had to watch him strangle them, Salcedo said. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Prosecutors said that in 2016, Salcedo worked with Singer to help the daughter of a California couple, Davina and Bruce Isackson, gain admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit in exchange. Call Dr. Jorge Salcedo on phone number (281) 500-8600 for more information and advice or to book an appointment. Operatives were arrested. Then, he crossed them. Jorge Salcedo Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family Founder Mr. Salcedo is the founder and proprietor of Salcedo Attorneys at Law P.A. I did not feel I was a criminal, Salcedo recalled. The entire cartel brain trust would go to jail in exchange for a limited five-year sentence to be served at a prison built, or substantially remodeled, at cartel expense. See more results for Jorge Salcedo About Us | Salcedo Family Care His father is a retired general of the Colombia national army called Jorge Salcedo Victoria. And they had all read the book, but I was interested that they knew me personally. So I had to start scanning every possibility that might have led to the Rodriguez brothers being taken down and prevent that. Salcedo used it to help steer accountant Pallomari toward the DEA. AT dawn on a Sunday in August, four weeks after the failed raid that left Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela wounded, another police strike team arrived outside an apartment building in Cali. [3][pageneeded] On August6, Salcedo and the DEA collaborated on another assault on Miguel, this time on the Hacienda Buenos Aires. Then there were the two checks signed by Miguel worth about $50,000. So your first assignment was to nail Pablo Escobar? How did you get involved in the first place? The Colombian government now knew he worked for the Cali cartel. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. Make a telehealth appointment online with Dr. Jorge Salcedo, MD, a family physician in Cedar Park, TX. And William would be there, and he was given jobs too. . RT @MillyMendezpr: YA HEMOS PERDIDO $40 MILLONES EN DOS AOS. They just said, "This is the plan." Some judges became overnight millionaires. I had to watch him strangle them, Salcedo said. The ploy seemed to deflect suspicion. But cartel-friendly police arrived. One of the few who knew where to find them was Salcedo. Discover the family tree of Jorge Salcedo (1) for free, and learn about their family history and their ancestry. Now that Pablo was dead, not everybody wanted to make peace with Cali. Or was it a test, to see how brave you are or how you're going to deal with this? Listening in on the phone conversation as Miguel reported to his son the details of his ordeal, Salcedos only thought: SALCEDO was a prime suspect, one of only five to 10 people who knew where Miguel had been hiding. They said, "We need somebody like you to protect us." 1 killed when business jet encounters severe turbulence, E-bikes are an environmental dream except out in nature, Sports on TV & radio: Local listings for Seattle games and events, Trump fatigue seeps into right-wing forum that fed MAGA fervor, Doctor: Lesion removed from Biden's chest was cancerous. Ex-UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo gets 8 months in prison for It was arranged he would die in custody. SEARCH . Though Pallomari did not trust Calis chief of security, the fearful accountant went along to another hide-out. I saw one episode, the first or something, where they pull apart one bad guy with two motorcycles. Salcedo insisted the drug lord was there. I dont know where to direct your call, the voice in Langley responded, according to Salcedo. And at that point, he gave me the chance to speak to him, and I said, "William, the advice I can give you is: Don't inherit that throne. This account is based on those interviews, corroborated by court records, sworn testimony and additional interviews with federal agents involved in the case. In the show, they also depict you as someone who had a plan to leave the cartel to start your own security firm. Salcedo was ingenious and intelligent, evident by his experiments with biodiesel during his youth. He started his career designing forklifts and other machinery. Drug cartels, whether in Colombia or Mexico, cannot function without massive assistance from compromised officials at all levels. Operation Varsity Blues: Jorge Salcedo, former UCLA coach, gets 8 With two U.S. agents, the team of Colombian national police poured silently into the building. Netflix. Jorge Salcedo | Narcos Wiki | Fandom At Salcedo Family Care, we are passionate about providing our patients the best care they deserve with the extended time on every single visit. Jorge Salcedo - Wikipedia He works in Cedar Park, TX and specializes in Family Medicine. In Cali, Salcedo found personal safety managing security for the Orejuela family. THE official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came late last year here with little more commotion than the rap of a judges gavel. He has done an inestimable service to the U.S. and Colombia, said his lawyer, Robert F. Dunlap of Miami. I am dead.. Dr. Jorge Salcedo | El Paso, TX | Family Medicine | Vitals And I went there just to resolve questions. My story should start by saying, if you are invited into such an organization, stop -- stop and run away. In Bogot, the Clinton administration pressed Colombian political leaders to arrest major traffickers. Dr. Jorge Salcedo, MD | Family Medicine in Cedar Park, TX | Healthline