Customer Reviews

Drug Lords: The Rise and Fall of the Cali Cartel

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I have just finished reading this truly remarkable and somewhat startling book. Investigative journalist Ron Chepesiuk's Drug Lords: The Rise and Fall of the Cali Cartel provides us with the most comprehensive and detailed look at the largest drug operation in history and efforts to bring it to a halt.

Chepesiuk's investigative reporter approach has resulted in the most thorough study of Colombian drug trafficking to this date. His use of hundreds of personal interviews, government documents, news media accounts, and the findings of other experts in the field leaves no stone unturned. His sources of information are truly impressive.

Beginning with a small time drug encounter in New York City, Chepesiuk cleverly describes how the U.S. government slowly began to realize that our nation faced a serious threat of the importation of cocaine, coming from Colombia. At first, agents found it difficult to accept the fact that cocaine had replaced heroin as America's major drug problem.

To gain an understanding of the problem, American agents, working in the United States and Colombia, worked with their Colombian counterparts to observe and infiltrate Colombia's growing drug cartels. Chepesiuk shows how these efforts grew, and through some very hard work, and often a bit of good luck, resulted in destruction of the two leading cartels.

As the book unfolds, leading "characters" are described and analyzed. These include American agents, cartel leaders and underlings, and Colombian politicians and law enforcement officers. Very early on, one begins to understand the enormous power and influence of the two leading Columbians drug cartels, the Cali cartel and the Medellin cartel. The amazing story of how these two groups grew from small time operations into Fortune 500 type businesses, with billions of dollars in assets, is told in captivating narrative which keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. Always entwined with these developments are the ever growing hostility between the cartels, the enormous level of corruption within Colombian society and certain American lawyers, and the sophistication of operations and efforts to combat these illegal activities.

The destruction of the cartels is a spellbinding chronicle. Their demise resulted largely from four factors: the misstep of key players, the growth of successful strategies by American and Colombian officials, the deadly war between the two cartels, and some pure luck. In any event, the houses came tumbling down.

Finally, Chepesiuk skillfully relates the present War on Terrorism to the War on Drugs as described in the book. He shows their many similarities and predicts that a heavy price will be paid if lessons from the previous War are not learned and applied to the present War. This section of the book turns it from a brilliant description of a fascinating struggle into a powerful warning that must be carefully considered by our nation's leaders.

This is book is highly recommended for readers who want an inside and entertaining look at the world of organized crime and the War on Drugs.

Too much like reading a police report, actually a thousand police reports. See Killing Pablo if you want a good feel for how interesting this story COULD be if it was told well...

it was good to read about the other major cartel in colombia, The cartel allowed Pablo Escobar to cause Havoc and quietly but efficiently went about spreading they're tentacles around the world. A fascinating insight to the inner workings of one of the most successful drug distribution networks ever! Maybe it was me but i knocked stars off the review because of the constant flicking back and forth to the index page to remind myself of each main character of the book. But this should not stop anyone who may be interested in this fascinating subject of one of Forbes top earners!

It was refreshing to read a book on the Cali Cartel. Most books written regarding the drug cartels in Colombia focus on Medellin and/or Pablo Escobar. The only problem I found with this book was the fact that there are numerous spelling and grammatical errors. I am not sure if this was an issue the editor should have corrected, the printer, or the author himself but I found myself reading sentences that would end abruptly and several cities and persons that were misspelled. This is very unprofessional. In any case, even though the writing style is a bit "dry", I found myself enjoying the book simply because of its focus on the "other" cartel of Colombia.

This book drowns in too many details and facts, and because of that the main characters remain a bit 'without character' so to speak. If you liked Mark Bowden's 'The Hunt for Pablo', do not think that this book is from the same order. It is not. It's far, far below.

Anyone wanting to read a thrilling yet informative book about organized crime should start with Drug Lords. This is certainly the best book I've read about the international drug trade and how it works. The detail the author provides is amazing and everything is documented, but he still manages to present it in an interesting and riveting way. The story of the hunt for Pablo Escobar is a simple tale compared to what it took to take the godfathers from Cali.

I also found it fascinating to read how the Cali Cartel outwitted their bitter rival, Pablo Escobar, in a brutal war that has no parallel in organized crime history. Then the Cali Cartel almost got away with taking over Colombia! As this well-written book shows, the War on Drugs may be futile, but the drug agents working the streets to protect the public against illegal drugs are real heroes. Highly recommended

I found this tome chilling even though somewhat dated and behind the current drug trafficking status. My greatest lament however is that we as a nation haven't progressed in our so called war on drugs. The corruption in Latin American countries is more rampant than it ever was when this book was written. The evidence is the Mexican and American condition of crooked policemen and crooked government officials and the major cartel wars going on there. I'm at the verge of saying let's legalize narcotic traffic and sales to at least quiesce the dangers inherent in those wars. As a Mexican descendant I'm afraid to go even to the border towns for shopping and eating different fare than found in our own country.

One of the best books covering the Colombian drug wars.

Highly detailed and readable.

i started reading it and it just didnt keep me interested in the story line. i got as far as the second chapter and just could not read more. i bought two other books on the same topic and i just could not put tyhem down but this one just didnt wake up interest in wanting to know whats next.