When I agreed to assist U.S. drug enforcement agents 16 years ago, the Cali cartel was making $7 billion a year. This time he contacted a Miami lawyer who could make the connections. Lauren Isackson was listed as a. Was that how it really happened? Jorge Salcedo is a well known Actor. 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. He started his career designing. Jorge Salcedo Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2020-2021. Only three fit, stacked in the passenger cabin. What are you doing in the middle of a cane field? one officer inquired. Now I was against Pablo Escobar.. Soon he became one of the most succesfull students and. One night, a police raid was scheduled to arrest Pallomari at a hiding place. Salcedo said they got bored and rowdy. Politicians were considered a long-term investment. The American DEA agents insisted on taking him into protective custody immediately. In addition to being a corporate, tax and government affairs attorney, he specializes in both domestic and international transactions, as well as real estate and international tax planning. A federal judge in Boston on Friday sentenced former UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo to eight months in prison followed by a year of supervised release for taking $200,000 in bribes to help secure the admission of two students as part of the nationwide scheme prosecutors dubbed "Varsity Blues." Both the sergeant and the captain were among hundreds of police and military officers fired for corruption. The story in general remains the same [as the truth]. Across town, Salcedos pager went off. The Orejuela brothers promptly absorbed much of the Medellin cartel and ultimately controlled 80% of the international cocaine market. The episode drew international attention, and another assault plan was junked. Jorge Salcedo Cabrera was a counter-surveillance expert employed by the Cali cartel . His father is a retired general of the Colombia national army called Jorge Salcedo Victoria. Jorge Salcedo, M.D. The Colombian television series En la boca del lobo focuses on the years Salcedo worked for the Cali Cartel. But behind the fall of the ruthless Orejuela brothers and collapse of their $7 billion-a-year empire lies a story of daring and betrayal. The policemen took the 500 pesos and drove off. She was needing a general check up and had a few concerns. Key operatives were arrested and had to be bribed, or killed, to keep silent. I left my name in Colombia when I entered the U.S. witness protection program 16 years ago. In Bogota, the Clinton administration pressed Colombian political leaders to arrest major traffickers. And I told them [Cali], with these guys, you better give up. [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. The enforcer insisted Salcedo stay. It was nearly dark. Salcedo was a prime suspect, one of only five to 10 people who knew where Miguel was hiding. jsalcedo@athletics.ucla.edu. 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. Today, the brothers are serving what probably will be life terms in U.S. federal prison. In reality, I never killed him. Jorge Salcedo, Esq. The enforcer insisted that Salcedo accompany him. Salcedo used it to help steer accountant Pallomari toward the DEA. And there was nothing I could do. In Cali, Salcedo found personal safety managing security for the Orejuela family. Instead of going through with the Cali Cartel's plan, Salcedo hid Pallomari and his family and decided to become a DEA informant. Salcedo was ordered to arrange an aerial bomb attack on the prison. Dr. Salcedo is a warm and compassionate family physician who has been in private practice in Houston, Texas since 2017. Searchers dismantled the desk. How has your life under witness protection been? The Orejuela brothers wanted four Panamanian operatives questioned. They fought, they drank, they wanted women every day -- they were like mad dogs.. Dr. Jorge A. Salcedo MD (3/5) Patient Experience Rating Family Medicine General Family Medicine Cedar Park, TX Male 21+ Yrs Experience Spanish, English 715 Discovery Blvd, Suite 111, Cedar. Smuggling routes from Florida to Texas were compromised and had to be replaced. Salcedo was invited to join the Cali Cartel in 1989, after Mario del Basto, a member of Salcedo's reserve unit, made first introductions. You may be skeptical when I tell you, but no true Colombian could have watched that spectacle of democracy for sale without suffering some heartache. An incident also was arranged so he would inexplicably die in custody. However, they present some happenings so that it was me that did them when that was not really the case. I also left a home, a country, friends, family, even my past. We don't have one chance with these killers. [3][pageneeded][2]. Oh yes, that was a very tense moment. Jorge Salcedo Cabrera is a Colombian civil engineer, countersurveillance specialist, and former head of security for Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela and the Cali Cartel who turned confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration. But it was not the end of the Cali cartel. Dr. Salcedo works at. 2023 Cable News Network. No es opcional, es una OBLIGACIN. Is that right? He made an excuse and tried to leave the house. Dr. Jorge Salcedo is a health care provider primarily located in El Paso, TX. Accompanied by two U.S. agents, the 15-man team of Colombian national police poured silently into the building. Pq no se aprueba? It was aborted at the last minute. So I had to give up. Local police helped. On August12, the DEA successfully collected Pallomari and his family. Pacho Herrera Goes To War Against Pablo Escobar. He is still No. Then he got another opportunity and called his DEA contacts in Bogota. Jorge Salcedo's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. But behind the bloodless fall of the ruthless Orejuela brothers and collapse of their $7-billion-a-year empire lies a little-known story of daring and betrayal. Years later, he was a consultant for "Narcos" and worked closely with the showrunner Eric Newman. As the head of security for the Cali Cartel and an eventual. Salcedo admitted to taking another six-figure bribe to recruit the son of Xiaoning Sui, of Surrey, British Columbia, to his team, offering him a scholarship. They wanted to take care of all the politics and people around, because there was now a change in the importance of the Rodiguez brothers [now that Escobar had been eliminated]. Its secret chamber gave up a trove of records that delighted Serrano -- 30,000 checks, cartel payments to police, 150 politicians, reporters, everyone, Salcedo said. His information on the cartelOperation Cornerstoneled to its eventual disbandment, as a result of which Salcedo and his family have entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program. They knew he helped plan the aborted raid on the guerrillas. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Where were you? But because I was always at the meeting, I was a witness to everything that was spoken there. The drug boss had just been rescued from an escape vault with the help of a local police captain. Miguel heard them too late. Jorge Salcedo told the judge that he joined in the college admissions bribery scheme because he was desperate for cash after buying a house his family couldn't afford. Some targeted the rich drug lords. They never got into their brains that the best thing they should have done is to give up and say "Hey, Pablo is gone, we're done." But the first five years, I was dedicated to helping my family, to help them accommodate to the lifestyle of the United States. Id never seen so much money. But descending through clouds, one chopper hit a mountaintop. Miguel literally tried to wipe out all non-Colombian nationals operating in Colombia, said Ryan. He attended the University of Los Andes, from which he earned a degree in industrial economics. I had to advise him to be [more] careful.. This time, it follows the richest cartel in history, the Cali Cartel, which rose to high echelons in the drug trafficking ring thanks to the vacuum left by Pablo . However, word of Salcedos role reached Cali, 185 miles southwest of Bogota. Salcedo Family Care 715 Discovery Blvd Ste 111, Cedar Park, TX, 78613 (512) 782-8010 OVERVIEW Dr. Salcedo graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Honduras Facultad De Ciencias. Many safe houses conceal vaults in the walls for escapes. The soft-spoken family man once known as Jorge Salcedo was an unlikely drug-gang recruit. WITHIN a week of his first conversation with a U.S. agent, Salcedo faced his first life-threatening decision. Salcedo soon learned of the horrible situation.. Others were more directly involved in routine bribery, but I still managed to deliver nearly a million dollars in payoffs. Colombian drug lords Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, 67, entered guilty pleas and were ushered to federal prison for the next 30 years. He had put a bomb in the building that destroyed the equivalent of the FBI in Colombia. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs 500-pounders that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. Jorge Salcedo, formerly a men's soccer coach at the University of California, Los Angeles, was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $200,000. This provider has 32 years of experience. So, how much is Jorge Salcedo worth at the age of 73 years old? No. That was the other thing. THE compound of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela filled a city block. He had emerged bleeding, an angry, wounded bear, apparently injured by one of the power drills. In the summer of 1995, some of those hits were Salcedos responsibility to carry out -- including cartel chief accountant Guillermo Pallomari, a Chilean. So we always arranged our meetings in the woods. At the same time, rival cocaine cartels were warring, killing police, judges, politicians and bystanders. 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. Later he ran an oil recovery business. He took the police aside and pulled out 500 pesos. We had about 150 persons dedicated to caring for the safety of these people, Salcedo recalled. How did you get involved in the first place? If you've finished the season, you probably know that he's currently under witness protection in the United States. The Times has no information about his whereabouts and no way to reach him. Escobar had escaped from prison, only to be tracked down by national police 15 months later. But that's the thing in intelligence, sometimes when you do something good, don't tell anybody. [3][pageneeded] Working under the pretense of casing Pallomari for assassination, Salcedo forwarded his location to the DEA. Two armed helicopters flew a team of Salcedos mercenaries to a mountain staging area. He was portrayed in the series by Matias Varela (above). He is a new king who has to prove to his dad and everybody else that he's capable. Financed by Medellin cartel bosses, he was to organize a paramilitary operation for an assault on a guerrilla mountain fortress called Casa Verde. Family Physician From a young age, I knew that I wanted to be a Doctor. However, this defiant personality was sheltering a man capable of seeing things from another perspective. I did not go near it. So to get out from under that debt, Salcedo accepted $200,000 in bribes for his part in the now-infamous college admissions scandal. But in Cali, Salcedo found personal safety as he settled in to managing security for the Orejuela family. I was taken there. A second assault was planned from Panama. The location you tried did not return a result. He stayed close to Miguel and his family, at every opportunity sharing car rides and meeting with them alone to let his vulnerability erode suspicions. One well-placed insider was the sergeant and chief of staff to the military commander of the anti-narcotics task force. Anastacia lives at 196 Appleton Str, Cambridge, MA 02138-1346. Meanwhile, the cartel bosses launched an internal blood bath targeting other extraditables. One day in the summer of 1994, Salcedo was dispatched along with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. Some judges became overnight millionaires. Inside the apartment they found no one. In 1994, Salcedo was sent with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. Instead of preparing his report, Salcedo called in federal police. Pallomari did not trust the cartels chief of security, but he went to another hideout. This raid was successful, and the DEA arrested Miguel. Head Coach. You look tired." The son was an officer in the army reserves, but he regarded himself more as an engineer than a soldier. Toggle navigation . 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. "I used to be Jorge Salcedo. Salcedo feigned progress toward setting up an assassination. in Osteopathic Physicians, Family Practice. In May1989, the attack was set to occur, but heavy cloud cover resulted in a helicopter crash, with most of the commandos failing to make it to Escobar's hideout, Hacienda Npoles. It's been debated whether Salcedo made this choice out of the. Jorge Salcedo and his $2.3 million house. 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. After going into hiding, Salcedo focused his efforts on monitoring his electronic communication network, extracting intelligence on both national police and the Medelln Cartel. He's played by Matias Varela, a. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from. It didn't happen that way. Salcedo was born on November 25, 1947, in Bogot, Colombia. Rosenthal's arrest led to Salcedo being introduced to Chris Feistl and David Mitchell, two Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents operating in Cali. Or was it a test, to see how brave you are or how you're going to deal with this? I came here to protect you and your family, but I left my business behind, so I'm done." The former Jorge Salcedo remains in hiding his location unknown even to his lawyer in the United States. The attack was abandoned. Jorge Salcedos contacts with The Times began with a handshake in Miami during a brief court appearance in October 1998. It's Complicated. On August26, 1995, after six-and-a-half years with the cartel, he was extradited to the United States. Meanwhile, he beefed up security for the Orejuela brothers and their families. And this man is a businessman, and he's got night vision, heat detectors, and GPS." I did not feel I was a criminal, Salcedo recalled. They just changed my functions. Salcedo arrived ahead of the police. He held university degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial economics. As Colombian citizens, the Orejuela brothers could not be extradited to the United States. I dont know where to direct your call, the voice in Langley responded, according to Salcedo. Salcedo and his U.S. handlers arranged to meet in a rural area outside Cali. [3][pageneeded] His resignation was denied by Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela, and he was forced to continue his relationship with the cartel. But descending through a cloud bank, one of the choppers hit a mountaintop. Business improved noticeably after December 1993. Within a week, Salcedo faced his first life-threatening decision. That's where the scene of suffocation comes fromit could have happened if I didn't have that news. The Cali dons knew Salcedo had ties to mercenaries. The cartel had important friends in the military, too from helicopter pilots to generals. The man has lost much of what he once took for granted: his home, his country, his name, even his past. They said, "No way, you have to stay." Pablo Escobar of Medellin was a bandit a criminal a crazy guy who was threatening their wives and children. But Miguel said, Do your job, Salcedo recalled. Jorge married first name Salcedo (born Padilla). I wanted to go to someone, but I didnt even know on what door to knock, he said. Some were on the cartel payroll. From somewhere deep inside the federal witness protection program that harbors him and his family, he has shared pieces of his story in sporadic telephone conversations with a reporter. The show presents a very tense relationship between you and Miguel's son, David. Jorge Salcedo was born in Cali, Colombia, and he attempted to run a bio-diesel business after leaving the Colombian Army; he served under Major Carlos Cordova, his future colleague. It was arranged he would die in custody. So there's one very tense scene in the show where you're taken to a farmhouse for what you thought would be a meeting. Local authorities closed in. Calling on a secure phone line from an undisclosed location, Salcedo, now in his late 60s, spoke at length about his time with the cartel, his life since then in the federal witness protection program, and all the things the show gets rightincluding some of the most harrowing scenes. The dons said Salcedos skills were required to end Escobars reign of terror and protect them and their families. JORGE SALCEDO: From what I have seen of Narcosand I haven't seen the whole thingit's a very good, dynamic production. I always got to appointments first, to check the security around and make sure there wasn't an ambush or anything. Our Story. So I got locked in a room by the cartel. He wanted to know what I was doing to complete the assassination of Pallomari. [3][pageneeded] In the aftermath, Salcedo was demoted. He said, "Yes, frankly, my father is putting me to so many things." But maybe my experience will help show the importance of fighting corruption as a way to fight the cartels. Widespread arrests and firings followed, and the grip of corruption was broken. The extraditables came to be seen as security risks. The thick top concealed a secret compartment. Miguel was getting paranoid, Salcedo said. Years passed between some of his calls. 8190 Barker Cypress Rd Suite 1500, Cypress, TX 77433-1223 (281 . It was very risky, but I was trapped in a nightmare, in a totally corrupt environment. 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. And the [Colombian] army was very impressed as well, so I received training and helped the military as well. The attack had to be abandoned. [2] After the transaction was discovered by national police, Salcedo was outed as a member of the Cali Cartel. The Orejuela brothers promptly absorbed the Medellin cartel and ultimately controlled 80 percent of the international cocaine market. Offers may be subject to change without notice. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani deferred acceptance of the plea until sentencing, which is scheduled for Nov. 24, 2020. 2005 - 2023 WebMD LLC. Was this a "welcome to the club" situation? 1 to be killed, Ryan said. 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. 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. One of the few who knew where to find them was Salcedo. The ploy seemed to deflect suspicion. Smuggling routes from Florida to Texas were compromised. Jorge Salcedo. Though that law was repealed after the politicians behind it were exposed for taking bribes, the brothers remained in Bogots La Picota prison, beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. So the family said, "No, no, no, you stay here.". Salcedo appears under the name of Ricardo Salgado and is portrayed by Luis Fernando Hoyos. Jorge Salcedo and the Cali Cartel are the focus of Narcos season 3, which premiered on September 1. 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. At the end of the season, where they finally capture Palomari, they have you waiting outside in a car, where you kill the hitman Navegante in self-defense. [3][pageneeded], In 1995, Gilberto Rodrguez Orejuela was captured by a joint task-force in Cali. Im sorry. First, some background: I used to be Jorge Salcedo. They have 32 years of experience. Salcedo had previously worked on behalf of British commandos, who worked with the Colombian government to counter the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. All I did that night was go to my most secure location to secure my most beloved possession on earth, which is my family. 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. My father was a general. I enjoy traveling, kayaking, fishing, bicycling, and cooking. What did you say? The families were huge. Jorge passed away on month day 1985, at age 86 at death place. And the Medellin gangs knew he was plotting to kill Escobar. All Rights Reserved. I had nothing to do with drugs, he said. Across town, Salcedos pager went off. [2] After being ordered to kill Pallomari, Salcedo began to believe that he had no choice for leaving the operation other than its dismantling. The early 1990s were the golden years for the cartel. Jorge Salcedo Cabrera (born 1947), Colombian informant for the DEA. He was arrested without incident in his underwear, scurrying for a vault in the wall. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How much ofNarcos have you seen, especially the new season? I know something about corruption and organized crime. To me, to anybody. En la serie vimos que Salcedo fue el personaje clave para atrapar a los lderes del Crtel. 1 review of Jorge Salcedo, MD "I live out of state and my daughter( F/17)lives and goes to school out here. There was public outrage. Do you have an example of something that might have been embellished? The cartel official has lost his home, his country, his past, even his name. He used to be Jorge Salcedo. Neither the author nor CNN know Mr. Salcedos whereabouts or his new name. So even though I am an engineer and I have a degree and all that, it was in my namemy old name. Salcedo was ordered to arrange an aerial bomb attack on Escobars wing of the prison. That day I didn't do that. The Bogot team listened, tapped on cement walls and floors, then pulled out power drills and bored into suspicious areas. This time he contacted a Miami lawyer he trusted who could make the connections. The raiding party that hit Miguels door the next morning included two DEA agents and a search team under Gen. Jose Serrano, chief of the Colombian national police. Salcedo pleaded guilty in Miami to a single count of racketeering. In the days after, the entire Cali cocaine cartel infrastructure was exposed. Pablo Escobar of Medellin was a bandit a criminal a crazy guy who was threatening to kill their wives and children. We know about one company registered at this address Salcedo-marx, Inc. We know that A S Marx, Linda A Marx, and five other persons also lived at this address, perhaps within a different time frame. Colombians susceptible to extradition. Four weeks after the failed raid that left Miguel wounded, another police team arrived outside an apartment building in Cali. I told myself I was not one of them.. His father was a retired Colombian army general and respected diplomatic figure. For years he had protected the bosses, their wives and children. I decided to play on the fact that I might not be discovered, Salcedo said. Salcedo barely escaped El Salvador and arrest before the botched pickup was exposed. I love spending time with Katherine and my two boys, Christian and Ryan. No sign of Miguel, the agents told him. Anti-government guerrilla groups unleashed waves of kidnappings that terrorized the nation. And the other thing is that when you get into this program, you don't go to cities that are highly populated. It was not an invitation I could refuse, he said. Let it pass.". I had to escape, the former cartel official explained. The Medellin gangs knew he was plotting to kill Escobar. As of 2018 Jorge Salcedo is 73 years (age at dea years old. [1] His father was a member of the Colombian military. At its peak, the family ran what one U.S. Justice Department official told Congress was the most prolific and successful criminal enterprise in history.. Meanwhile, U.S. pressure on the Bogot government was forcing Colombian authorities to crack down on the violent cartels. I saw one episode, the first or something, where they pull apart one bad guy with two motorcycles. There are one or two incidents that I may have known about or was around when it happened, but it wasn't always me who was executing all those things. The Bogota team listened, tapped on cement walls and floors, then pulled out power drills and bored into suspicious areas. (Getty, Realtor.com) Former UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo said he couldn't afford the $1.9 million Century City home he bought for his family in 2016.. Salcedo is represented by Susan G. Winkler of Winkler Law LLC and Thomas C. Frongillo of Campbell Conroy & O'Neil PC. He sometimes complained to me. He was relocated to the U.S. along with his wife and children in 1995 and taken into the federal witness protection program. Jorge Salcedo. They had already developed another enemy, the Norte Valley. The drug boss had just been rescued from an escape vault with the help of a local police captain.