Norte del Valle Cartel

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The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel which operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia. It rose to prominence during the second half of the 1990s, after the Cali Cartel and the Medellín Cartel fragmented, and is known as one of the most powerful organizations involved in the illegal drugs trade.

The leading druglords of the Norte del Valle cartel include Diego León Montoya Sánchez, alias "Don Diego", Wilber Varela, alias "Jabón" ("Soap"), and Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, alias "Chupeta". Diego Montoya is part of the list containing the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

1 Activities
2 Internal Divisions
3 Key Members at Large
4 Cartel Crackdowns
5 Fictional References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Activities

According to Diego Montoya's FBI entry, the U.S. government accuses him of being involved in the willing production and distribution of multiple tons of cocaine into the United States. It also considers him and his organization as heavily relying on violence and enjoying the protection of both right-wing and left-wing illegal armed groups classified as terrorist by the U.S. government. [1]

According to a 2004 U.S. Government RICO indictment, between 1990 and 2004, the Norte del Valle cartel exported more than 1.2 million pounds – or 500 metric tons – of cocaine worth in excess of $10 billion from Colombia to Mexico and ultimately to the United States for resale.

The indictment charges that the Norte del Valle cartel used violence and brutality to further its goals, including the murder of rivals, individuals who failed to pay for cocaine, and associates who were believed to be working as informants.

The indictment alleges that the cartel members employed the services of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary organization internationally classifed as terrorist, to protect the cartel’s drug routes, its drug laboratories, and its members and associates. The AUC is one of the 37 Foreign Terrorist Organizations identified by the U.S. State Department in 2004.

Leaders of the Norte del Valle cartel allegedly bribed and corrupted Colombian law enforcement and Colombian legislators to, among other things, attempt to block the extradition of Colombian narcotics traffickers to the United States to be prosecuted for their crimes. According to the indictment, members of the Norte del Valle cartel even conducted their own wiretaps in Colombia to intercept the communications of rival drug traffickers and Colombian and United States law enforcement officials.

[edit] Internal Divisions

Fierce rivalries that divided the cartel into warring factions erupted in 2003 when Hernando Gómez, Wilber Varela and their inner circle, prompted by a rising number of extradition of cartel members to the United States, apparently attempted to negotiate a possible surrender deal with the DEA, in a move which was strongly rejected by Diego Montoya and several of the other cartel druglords.

This situation led to brutal gang warfare, which left a deathtoll of more than 1,000 people between 2003 and 2004 throughout different northern locations of the Valle del Cauca department.

The consequences of such an internal vendetta led Colombian authorities to intervene in order to increase law enforcement efforts against the cartel, which resulted in the 2004 arrest of some 100 assassins in the employ of both rival factions, and in the 2005 capture of Varela's close associate Julio César López (alias "Ojitos", or "Small Eyes"), and Montoya's chief hitman, Carlos José Robayo Escobar (alias "Guacamayo", or "Macaw"), among others. More than $100 million worth in properties and luxury assets was also seized, along with an almost complete fibreglass submarine that would have been built by the cartel in order to smuggle drugs into the United States and other foreign countries.

All of these events may have influenced several members of the Norte del Valle cartel to seek a deal with Colombian and U.S. drug enforcement authorities during late 2004 and early 2005, whether through direct negotiation proposals or employing the possible protection that they may gain through the infiltration of the AUC's then ongoing peace conversations with the Colombian government. [2]

[edit] Key Members at Large

Picture	Description
	Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez alias "Don Diego","El Señor de la Guerra" ("The Lord of War") is the top leader of the Norte Del Valle Cartel and currently on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. U.S. authorities offer $5 million dollars for information that leads to his arrest.
	Wilbur Alirio Varela alias "Jabon" ("Soap") is the second top leader in the NVC. Due to possibly negotiating a surrender deal with the DEA, Varela was declared a mortal enemy by Montoya. The cartel divided and Varela and Montoya began a deadly war that left more than 1,000 people dead. Varela is at large with a $5 million dollar reward with information leading to his arrest.
	Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia alias "Chupeta" is a major leader in the NVC. Starting his criminal career at age 20 at the bottom of the Cali Cartel, he quickly rose up the ranks due to his ambition and ruthlessness. Ramirez is at large with a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest.
	Carlos Alberto Renteria Mantilla alias "Beto Renteria" is a top leader in the NVC. He has been in drug trafficking for over 15 years. There is a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of Renteria.

[edit] Cartel Crackdowns

The NVC is the single most powerful existing cartel in Colombia to date with exception of the smaller North Coast Cartel, the Marxist guerrilla FARC, and the right wing paramilitary group AUC. Due to their violent warfare that left more than 1,000 people dead between 2003 and 2004, the Colombian government with support of the DEA,FBI, and ICE have dealt the cartel with heavy blows.

Picture	Description
No Picture	Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez brother to top NVC boss Diego Montoya, was arrested December 2003 in Colombia and extradited to the U.S. May 4, 2005 where he was sentenced to 262 months in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering.
No Picture	Carlos Felipe Toro Sanchez alias "Pipe" was arrested with his cousin Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez. Toro Sanchez was responsible to oversee the drug shipments of cocaine to their destination in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. He was extradited to the U.S. on April 25, 2005 and sentenced to 235 months.
	Arcangel Henao Montoya alias "El Mocho" ("The Amputee") one of the top leaders of the cartel was arrested January 10, 2004 in Panama and extradited to New York.
No Picture	Fernando Henao Montoya younger brother to Arcangel was sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court May 2005 to 19 years and 7 months for drug trafficking.
	Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante alias "Rasguño" ("Scratch") one of the founders and top leaders of the cartel was arrested on July 2, 2004 trying to enter Cuba on a false passport. He was held in Cuba awaiting extradition to Colombia and ultimately to the U.S. In March 2004, the Colombian government seized properties belonging to him in excess of $100 million dollars. On February 9, 2007 he was extradited to Colombia and is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.
	Gabriel Puerta Parra alias "El Doctor" ("The Doctor") was an attorney and counselor to the cartel. He was a highly respected intermediary between the Norte del Valle Cartel and major Mexican cartels, assisted in resolving disputes within the NVC, and influencing the Colombian government with extradition matters. He invested his own money in drug shipments and facilitated money laundering operations through front companies he owned and setup for the cartel, as well as acquiring local and international real estate to launder the cartel's illegal proceeds. On March 11, 2004 a Federal Grand Jury in Washington D.C. indicted him for violation of the RICO Act and was subsequently arrested October 7, 2004 near Bogotá, Colombia.
	Jorge Orlando Rodriguez Acero alias "El Teniente" ("The Lieutenant") was a former Colombian police lieutenant serving as an enforcer to the NVC. He traveled to Spain and Mexico to oversee multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombia. He was also responsible for assignations conducted on behalf of the NVC's leaders. On March 11, 2004 a Federal Grand Jury in Washington D.C. indicted him for violation of the RICO Act. However, he was murdered by rival dealers later that year.
	Jose Dagoberto Flores Rios alias "Chuma" was Arcangel Henao Montoya's top lieutenant. He was arrested January 2004 in Colombia and extradited to the U.S. where he is in custody in New York.
	Jose Aldemar Rendon Ramirez alias "Mechas" was a financial officer within the NVC responsible for the launder of its illegal proceeds. On July 15, 2005 he was arrested by Colombian authorities.
	Jhonny Cano Correa alias "Flecha" ("Arrow") was chief of security for Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante. He was responsible for ensuring the security of cocaine processing laboratories, drug shipments, and murdering rivals. He was arrested October 29, 2005 in Caucasia, Colombia by Colombian authorities and extradited to the U.S. September 2006.
	Jaime Maya Duran alias "Alejandro" was a high ranking lieutenant to Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante. After Bustamante's arrest, Duran assumed more responsibility within the NVC. He was captured in Mexico September 2006 and extradited to the U.S. that same month.
	Orlando Sabogal Zuluaga alias "Alberto" another high ranking lieutenant to Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante was arrested October 31, 2006 in a shopping mall in Spain.
	Eugenio Montoya Sanchez alias "Don Hugo" younger brother to top cartel boss Diego Montoya, was arrested January 15, 2007 in the Cartel's stronghold town of El Dovio. Eugenio took over his brother's major operations to allow his brother to remain at large from Colombian and U.S. authorities. Eugenio will remain in Colombia awaiting his extradition to the U.S.
No Picture	Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia alias "Chupeta" one of the major bosses in the NVC, was dealt a hard financial blow when in January 2007, during 4 separate raids to Ramirez's stash houses in the city of Cali, Colombia authorities seized over $50 million dollars in cash and gold bars. The largest seizure of cash money to a single individual in Colombian history. Ramirez is still at large with a $5 million dollar reward for information that leads to his arrest.
No Picture	Laureano Rentería right hand man to Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was captured at one of Ramirez's stash houses containing 19 million dollars. He tried to convince authorities that he was a simple construction worker hired to remodel the house and accepted a plea deal to 44 months in prison. Meanwhile, an informant in New York revealed that this man was indeed Ramirez's confidant who protected Ramirez during their 6 year prison term served in a Colombia during the 90's. He was responsible for managing Ramirez's finiancial structure including the stash house logistics and bribing of high Colombian government officials. When the DEA learned of this information they had the Colombian authorities transfer Rentería to a maximum security prison to await a speedy extradition to the US. On February 27, 2007 the extradition order was to be served, but athorities found Rentería dead in his cell due to cyanide poisoning. His death remains a mystery but Ramirez is suspected to have ordered the hit to prevent him from revealing vital cartel secrets.