Gustavo Gaviria
Gustavo de Jesús "El León" Gaviria Rivero (born December 25, 1946 in Pereira ; † August 12, 1990 in Medellín ) was a Colombian drug dealer who, together with his cousin Pablo Escobar and other partners, founded the infamous Medellín in the 1970s. Kartell , which at the height of its power controlled 80 percent of Colombian cocaine exports to the United States of America and, according to other sources, worldwide.
Criminal career
Gustavo de Jesús Gaviria Rivero was born on December 25, 1946 in Pereira, Colombia, into a middle-class family. He left school of his own free will and deliberately became an outlaw.
He and his cousin Pablo stole tombstones from cemeteries, sanded them smooth and sold the again nameless stones for new burials. They were also car thieves and later began kidnapping people and demanding ransom for their release.
They got into the drug trade when the marijuana trade was replaced by cocaine and his cousin Pablo began importing the drug from Peru to Colombia, soon to be shipped to the United States. In the 1970s they built a huge drug empire. They were arrested in Itagüí as early as 1976 when they were carrying 20 kilos of cocaine with them. They were released earlier by bribes; Pablo after three months, Gustavo after 6 months. At that time they were building their own laboratories in Colombia and sourcing the coca paste from Ecuador and Peru. Later they worked increasingly with the brothers Luis and Fabio Ochoa , with Carlos Lehder and Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha and founded the Medellín cartel with them.
In December 1987, Gustavo Gaviria was sentenced in absentia to 20 years imprisonment by French authorities after the seizure of 445 kilos of cocaine on the island of Marie-Galante . After Gacha's death, he became the cartel's second man and, according to police, Escobar had entrusted him with all of the cartel's financial and terrorist operations. However, Pablo's brother Roberto de Jesús "El Osito" Escobar Gaviria is said to have been responsible for finances and money laundering from the 1980s until his arrest. It is also said that Gustavo managed the networks of sicarios serving the organization.
death
According to a police statement, the so-called Search Bloc stormed one of Gustavo's luxury apartments in Medellín on August 12, 1990, which were equipped with bulletproof windows and surveillance cameras, among other things. He was shot dead by police on site after he was said to have opened fire to avoid arrest. His cousin Pablo, on the other hand, is said to have alleged that he was kidnapped, tortured and executed. At that time Gustavo de Jesús “El León” Gaviria Rivero was one of the nine most wanted men in Colombia and had to answer for various crimes in the United States and Spain.
At that time Gustavo was carrying forged identity papers with him in the name of Jesús Maria Rivero Garcia.
He was buried under great security in the Jardines de Monte Sacro cemetery in Itagüi. His fugitive cousin Pablo did not attend his funeral, but is said to have listened to the funeral mass over a radio station.
Trivia
Even though Gustavo was nowhere near as well known as his cousin Pablo, he had a fortune comparable to that of his cousin. Gustavo liked to travel to Europe and drove car races with his cousin Pablo.
Movie and TV
- 2017: Portrayed in the Narcos series , by Juan Pablo Raba .
- 2012: The fictional person Gonzalo Gaviria is embodied in the series Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal by Christian Tappán and is based on Gustavo Gaviria.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b NY Daily News - A look at Pablo Escobar's cousin Gustavo, of 'Narcos' fame
- ↑ a b c Narcos Famosos - Gustavo Gaviria, El León de Medellín
- ↑ a b c El Pais - La policía colombiana mata al segundo hombre del 'cartel de Medellín'
- ↑ Le Soir - LE Nø3 DU CARTEL DE MEDELLIN EST ABATTU PAR LA POLICE GUSTAVO DE JESUS GAVIRIA RIVERO (COUSIN DE PABLO ESCOBAR)
- ^ Time online - Roberto Escobar: The accountant
- ↑ Los Angeles Times - Key Cocaine Cartel Member Killed by Colombia Police During Raid
- ^ Fi News - Drug Barons with a UBS bank account
- ↑ El Pais - Entierro del 'segundo hombre' del 'cartel de Medellín'
- ↑ Der Spiegel - Cocaine Republic of Colombia
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gaviria, Gustavo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gaviria Rivero, Gustavo de Jesús; León, El (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Colombian drug trafficker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 25, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pereira (Colombia) |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 12, 1990 |
| Place of death | Medellin |