Miguel Angel Rodrguez Orejuela, a convicted Colombian drug lord who was once the leader of the Cali Cartel based in Cali, was born on August 15, 1943.
His younger brother is Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela. His wife was Marta Luca Echeverry, Miss Colombia 1974.
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ToggleWife of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela: Who is Marta Lucia Echeverry?
Now, trophy wives mean something completely different. Beauty queens have become the favored model wives of rival drug cartel bosses in Mexico and Colombia.
In some of America’s most violent regions, drug traffickers view beauty queens as their most prized possession.
The method was invented in Colombia in the 1970s. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the ruthless leader of the Cali cartel, was the mistress of Martha Lucia Echeverry, Miss Colombia 1974. Echeverry is believed to have been the first “narco woman”.
Echeverry, originally from the Valle del Cauca district, won Colombia’s national beauty queen pageant in 1974.
However, it was not until 1980 that she met Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the ruthless boss of the Cali cartel.
According to Semana, the two men met when Echeverry began advertising for the Cali professional soccer team, then owned by Rodriguez Orejuela.
Their romance only ended in 2005, when Rodriguez Orejuela was extradited to the United States.
What happened to Gilberto Rodriguez’s son?
Nicolas Rodriguez, son of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, godfather of the Cali cartel, was a Colombian lawyer. Gilberto did not want to put his son in danger, so Rodriguez was sent to law school instead of working for the family business.
What happened to the Rodriguez brothers?
The brothers were each sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006 after pleading guilty in Miami federal court to conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
How was Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela captured?
Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela was arrested and imprisoned on August 6, 1995, after Colombian National Police forcibly opened the entrance to his residence (Hacienda Buenos Aires) in Cali, the wealthy Colombian neighborhood of Normandia, and discovered him hiding in a secret closet.