In the summer of 1995, some of those hits were Salcedos responsibility to carry out -- including cartel chief accountant Guillermo Pallomari, a Chilean. The chilling episode was a turning point for him. On one occasion, we knew that Miguel had time for lunch and a shower before the raiding party was scheduled to arrive. Luckily for us, the good people at Netflix were able to connect us to Salcedo for an exclusive interview. Some were on the cartel payroll. But Salcedo refused, knowing that more time was needed to evacuate his extended family from Colombia. By unnerving coincidence, they were looking for the killer of a taxi driver. Now I was against Pablo Escobar.. Pablo Escobar of Medellin was a bandit a criminal a crazy guy who was threatening their wives and children. Fortunately, I had the means to start a company. I immediately started investigating the leak.. I wanted to go to someone, but I didnt even know on what door to knock, he said. It bought time. THE compound of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela filled a city block. But the six assassins ended up dead. In court, Salcedo told the judge he took the kickbacks because he wanted to buy a nicer house. Still no sign of Miguel, the agents told him. Jorge Salcedo (June 2, 1915 - April 12, 1988) was a popular Argentine actor of radio, television and feature films, who appeared in film between 1941 and 1980. 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. Within a few months, about 130 people were indicted. 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. The official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came in 2006 in Miami with little more than the rap of a judge's gavel. So I had to give up. And then after Pablo was dead, you tried to leave the cartel? Jorge Salcedo, the former UCLA men's soccer coach charged in the college admissions scandal, accused the school of using athlete admissions "as a vehicle to raise funds" in a motion filed by his. I had to escape, he explained. 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. No. Salcedo feigned progress toward setting up an assassination. The pilot was killed. 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. It didn't happen that way. UCLA and the University of California pushed back Friday against an attempt by Jorge Salcedo, the former men's soccer coach charged in the college admissions scandal, to subpoena a wide variety . The attack had to be abandoned. One well-placed insider was the sergeant and chief of staff to the military commander of the anti-narcotics task force. BOSTON The former mens soccer coach at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), was sentenced today in connection with his involvement in a scheme to use bribery and fraud to facilitate the admission of applicants to UCLA. Thus was Salcedo drafted into the Cali cartel. I will say, though it's horrendous, it's not far from the [actual] happenings. He sensed doubts about his information. And the other thing is that when you get into this program, you don't go to cities that are highly populated. It was a cross-examination of everything. All contacts were by phone and were initiated by Salcedo. I had to watch him strangle them, Salcedo said. He also directed the raiding party to a desk in one of the rooms. The Mexican public needs to express its outrage. Widespread arrests and firings followed, and the grip of corruption was broken. At a sentencing hearing, he was praised by agents and prosecutors who recommended leniency. Postal Service was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for stealing packages containing cocaine on at least eight occasions. Shipments of dope and money were lost. He was relocated to the U.S. along with his wife and children in 1995 and taken into the federal witness protection program. No one took up Salcedos offer of assistance. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Still, Salcedo used great care -- calling from a public phone and leaving only a vague message offering to be helpful.. 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. Enter Salcedo. The leftover bomb was abandoned. The Medellin boss had escaped from prison, and from continuing Cali assassination plots, in 1992 only to be tracked down by national police 15 months later. Abcarian: Mask mandates? He took the police aside and pulled out 500 pesos. I wanted to be questioned. The attack was subsequently called off. On August12, the DEA successfully collected Pallomari and his family. Though that law was repealed after the politicians behind it were exposed for taking bribes from the cartels, the brothers remained in Bogotas La Picota prison, beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. He held university degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial economics. Salcedo said he takes complete responsibility for his actions that have destroyed the life he knew. Some targeted the rich drug lords. The student was subsequently admitted to UCLA as a student-athlete on the mens soccer team with a 25% scholarship. Nobody asked me, "Would you have a problem with this?" Aiding U.S. drug agents unexpectedly and at great risk was a senior cartel official, the head of security and intelligence for the syndicate. And the Medellin gangs knew he was plotting to kill Escobar. Salcedo became the head of security for the Cali cocaine cartel and gradually was drawn deeper and deeper into the dark, violent side of the cartel. They treated him like a crackpot -- I confirmed that, drug enforcement agent Edward J. Kacerosky testified years later. Im calling from Cali, Colombia, and I have important information on how to locate the heads of the cartel.. He received his medical degree from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras and has been in practice for more than 20. I said, Guillermo, Ive been taking care of you a lot. . In January 2021, Salcedo agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. Miguel was getting paranoid, Salcedo said. He dialed the main switchboard of the CIA in Langley, Va. Listen, this may sound unusual, he said he told the duty officer who answered. This time he contacted a Miami lawyer who could make the connections. It doesn't make sense that I'm going to go kill a killer. One of the few who knew where to find them was Salcedo. I told myself I was not one of them, he said. In Colombia, even honest people have to deal with the cartels.. In Miami, DEA agents targeted the Cali cartels distribution organizations. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File) UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo was indicted by . The cash was disguised as a birthday present, about the size of a large shoebox, wrapped in red paper with gold trim. I had to advise him to be [more] careful.. 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." I started using very high-level equipment for communications and location detection. Singer and Khosroshahin previously pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in the offense. The Orejuela brothers unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a voluntary surrender. Salcedo arrived ahead of the police. It should have been the perfect lonely place, Salcedo said. and is instead blown away by Salcedo, who does a Han and shoots first. And what stories did you tell Eric? On Thursday, he told a judge that he joined the admissions scheme, which was orchestrated by William "Rick". Do you have an example of something that might have been embellished? Because Pablo Escobar at that time had already made an attempt to kill Miguel Rodriguez with a bomb explosion maybe less than a half-mile from where he lived. Salcedo said he takes . Got 11 minutes? Salcedo has demonstrated that he is a perpetual cheat, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Kearney said. Miguel heard them too late. Star Matias Varela on Season 3, His Breakout Role, and the Real Jorge Salcedo. Attorneys Justin D. OConnell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Mendells Criminal Division prosecuted the case. Now that your story is so central to a very popular TV show internationally, do you worry that it might revive interest in you? After Jorge determined Miguel's location, the DEA agents planned a raid of the apartment complex. [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 Orejuela brothers promptly absorbed much of the Medellin cartel and ultimately controlled 80% of the international cocaine market. If that call didn't happen, I most likely wouldn't be alive. But people should know what I know now. Almost immediately, people began to disappear -- Salcedo and his family, Pallomari -- but this time it was into the custody and protection of U.S. authorities. 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. The Orejuela brothers wanted four Panamanian operatives questioned. Local police helped. He had been summoned to the hide-out to give an impatient Miguel a detailed report. Salcedo used it to steer Pallomari toward the DEA. Jorge Salcedo, former UCLA men's soccer coach, departs federal court in Boston in March 2019. Then there were the two checks signed by Miguel worth about $50,000. About that time, however, cartel-friendly police arrived at the search site. On August26, 1995, after six-and-a-half years with the cartel, he was extradited to the United States. From Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett to a potential Best Supporting Actress toss-up, see who EW thinks will win at the 2023 Oscars. One day, I came first, and he came second. U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, Jorge Salcedo admitted to receiving $200,000 in bribes to facilitate the admission of two students to the University of California at Los Angeles, Former UCLA Soccer Coach Sentenced in College Admissions Case, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-t, Oxford Man Pleads Guilty to Theft of Government Funds and Misuse of a Social Security Number, Worcester Postal Supervisor Sentenced for Mail Theft, Florida Man Sentenced for Making Threatening Communications, Former UCLA Soccer Coach Sentenced In College Admissions Case. When UCLA compliance officers questioned how the applicant had been discovered and whether she actually played soccer, Salcedo created a fake backstory, resulting in her subsequent admission as a recruited walk-on for the womens soccer team. Former UCLA All-American Jorge Salcedo is in his 15th season as head coach for the Bruins, making him the second-longest tenured men's soccer head coach in UCLA history. Salcedo feigned progress toward setting up an assassination. And as the season goes on, it becomes clear that one man is at the center of all this drama: Jorge Salcedo, the real-life cartel informant played by Swedish-born, Spanish-heritage actor Matias. Inside the apartment they found no one. Salcedo arrived in Cali in time for a business boom. Federal drug agents would have to prove that the cartel leaders continued to operate their smuggling empire from prison, after the extradition ban was lifted. The U.S. DEA agents insisted on taking him into protective custody immediately. Dr. Saucedo attended the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico where he received his medical doctorate followed by training in . In 2020, he reprised the role in the second season of Narcos: Mexico . Springfield:413-785-0235 And, then, Mexican leaders need to sweep out officials at all levels who have sold their souls to organized crime. 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. [3][pageneeded] He entered the Federal Witness Protection Program, where he remains to this day. They were in total despair. Assistant U.S. I got to know I was excluded when I got a call saying I had to get there. In 1994, Salcedo was sent with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. Within a few months, about 130 people were indicted. They said, "No way, you have to stay." Jorge Salcedo, 47, admitted to participating in the college admissions bribery scheme involving TV celebrities, other wealthy parents and elite universities across the country. We had about 150 persons dedicated to caring for the safety of these people, Salcedo recalled. [3][pageneeded] Working under the pretense of casing Pallomari for assassination, Salcedo forwarded his location to the DEA. The Isacksons have pleaded guilty, and Sui spent five months behind bars in connection with the scheme. He was secretly dispatched to Europe by military leaders to assemble a team of mercenaries. More than 40 people have plead guilty in connection with the sweeping Operation Varsity Blues federal investigation. He sometimes complained to me. 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. Salcedo was ordered to arrange an aerial bomb attack on the prison. 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]. The mostly British mercenaries were in hotels for nearly two months awaiting orders to attack. [3][pageneeded] At this initial meeting, the Cali godfathers asked Jorge to coordinate an attack on Pablo Escobar, a rival drug cartel leader. or "Would you consider it?" A second assault was planned from Panama. The episode drew international attention, and another assault plan was junked. On a cartel radiophone, Salcedo overheard a call between Miguel and his son, William. Lauren Isackson was listed as a midfielder on the teams roster for the 2017 season but had zero soccer experienceand never set foot on the field during a game, prosecutors said. Furthermore, the U.S. drug agents were armed, a violation of Colombian law. It was a very bad idea, but they sent me anyway. Jorge Salcedo admitted to participating in the college admissions bribery scheme involving . Not much has been said about what sort of person was I. Waiting at a rural airstrip for the cargo plane from Cali to pick up the illicit munitions, Salcedo saw an executive jet swoop out of the clouds. Was that true to life? The cartel had important friends in the military, too from helicopter pilots to generals. He saw traitors everywhere.. The son was an officer in the army reserves, but he regarded himself more an engineer than a soldier. All Rights Reserved. I left my name in Colombia when I entered the U.S. witness protection program 16 years ago. I started hearing screaming. He must have brass balls this big.. The soft-spoken family man once known as Jorge Salcedo was an unlikely drug-gang recruit. The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? Rich L.A. homeowners are snapping them up, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, Column: Supreme Court conservatives may want to block student loan forgiveness. Jorge Salcedo, the former men's soccer head coach at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) facing charges in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme, arrives at the federal . Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-t. But it was not the end of the Cali cartel. Join CNN Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on Twitter, The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jorge Salcedo. 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 Cali dons knew Salcedo had ties to mercenaries. Id never seen so much money. I've never killed anybody! According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence at the low . Now I was against Pablo Escobar., ALMOST immediately, Salcedo helped devise an assault on. And at that time, there were other things going onthey were reorganizing narco-trafficking and all that. I spent more than six years in the biggest, richest syndicate in the history of crime the Cali cartel. "Hoy estoy en los 60. Corruption is the oxygen that keeps organized crime alive. Accompanied by two U.S. agents, the 15-man team of Colombian national police poured silently into the building. U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler agreed, noting Salcedos service rendered to this country and actions that saved the lives of a number of people.. Finally, Escobar was sent to prison. Today I am in the late 60s. We don't have one chance with these killers. Then, he double-crossed them. He said, "Yes, frankly, my father is putting me to so many things." Lo sac de Colombia, le dio otra identidad y lo ubic en una direccin desconocida en Estados Unidos en la que hasta hoy permanece oculto. They did just that. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. First, some background: I used to be Jorge Salcedo. And at that point, he gave me the chance to speak to him, and I said, "William, the advice I can give you is: Don't inherit that throne. Salcedo insisted that the drug lord was there. Jorge Salcedo worked for Cali drug cartel in Colombia as security for a godfather, Salcedo paid off police, military, politicians, justices, prosecutors with millions in drug money, One military official got $20,000 a month for info, he says, Salcedo: Mexico must stop the bribery and intimidation that keep cartels in business. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS He had put a bomb in the building that destroyed the equivalent of the FBI in Colombia. What are you doing in the middle of a cane field? one officer inquired. So they had a lot of questions. In 1995, some hits were Salcedos responsibility, including cartel chief accountant Guillermo Pallomari, a Chilean. They are foreigners and will be very embarrassed by any questions.. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. There were suspicions of a leak, Salcedo said. SALCEDO had arrived in Cali just in time for a business boom. I told them it was unlikely to succeed. Local authorities closed in. How did you know where to find me? Pallomari asked the next day. Im sorry. They knew he helped plan the aborted raid on the guerrillas. 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.In January Salcedo agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery for his role in the admissions scandal. So first thing was her learning English properly. Since then, the entire Cali cartel hierarchy has been extradited, thanks to Salcedo. Everyone was going to jail and Miguel said the best thing was to put William in charge of everything. CNN Former UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo pleaded guilty Monday for his role in the college admissions scandal, the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said. The enforcer insisted that Salcedo accompany him. In telephone interviews ranging from a few minutes to more than an hour, he shared details of his role in the cartel and occasional frustrations with life in U.S. exile. In the show, they also depict you as someone who had a plan to leave the cartel to start your own security firm. It was not an invitation I could refuse, he said. Salcedo was ordered to arrange an aerial bomb attack on Escobars wing of the prison. I am dead.. Colombian drug lords Miguel MIAMI The official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came in 2006 in Miami with little more than the rap of a judges gavel. I decided to play on the fact that I might not be discovered, Salcedo said. Salcedo used it to help steer accountant Pallomari toward the DEA. My role was to be on the outside, make sure the road was clear. Jorge Salcedo had a stable career before he started working with the Cali Cartel. A Warner Bros. Caught sitting in a car by Navegante, the two have a creepy chat before Navegante pulls his gun . He held degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial economics. And William would be there, and he was given jobs too. He is still No. It was aborted at the last minute. But the first five years, I was dedicated to helping my family, to help them accommodate to the lifestyle of the United States. So there's not much to do. 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. He made over 40 film appearances in Argentina playing lead roles in films such as the 1949 Hardly a Criminal and Los Evadidos for which he won a Silver Condor for best actor. While the scheme was initially designed to be a surprise, bureaucracy led to a prolonged siege of the apartment which ended without an arrest. This time he contacted a Miami lawyer he trusted who could make the connections. "I got a call from Miguel, and he said, 'You have to be get me out of this . How did you get involved in the first place? Meanwhile, he beefed up security for the Orejuela brothers and their families. The show presents a very tense relationship between you and Miguel's son, David. Though Pallomari did not trust Calis chief of security, the fearful accountant went along to another hide-out. 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.. So even though I am an engineer and I have a degree and all that, it was in my namemy old name. Federal drug agents had to prove the cartel leaders continued to operate their empire from prison, after the extradition ban was lifted. Another attempt with a car bomb succeeded only in injuring one of Escobars children. I had no option of saying no. Tanto la serie como el libro de William C. Rempel y Jorge Salcedo han sido criticados abiertamente por William Rodrguez Abada, hijo de Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela, no solo por cmo es glorificado el narcotrfico, sino tambin por varias incongruencias mostradas en el libro afirmando adems que Jorge Salcedo entr a trabajar en el Cartel de Cali apenas meses antes de la . Miguel, the younger of the two Orejuela brothers, was more direct: He wanted Escobar, the most powerful criminal in the world, dead. The extraditables were seen as security risks. Jorge Saucedo, MD, MBA, is the current Division Chief of Cardiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Director of Heart and Vascular services for the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. My channel in English: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO30d7NyhO_lS_Qex1WbnfASorry for any mistake that I could have made as english its not my first lengu. Obviously, Im not looking for celebrity -- it would jeopardize our safety, he told The Times. But Miguel said, Do your job, Salcedo recalled. Its limited cargo space wasnt designed for bombs. 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. I realized later that I was like in the book 1,001 Nights, where the prince has to keep changing the story to keep people interested. For years he had protected the bosses, their wives and children. We had about 150 persons dedicated to caring for the safety of these people, Salcedo recalled. The thick top concealed a secret compartment. Jorge Salcedo worked for Cali drug cartel in Colombia as security for a godfather Salcedo paid off police, military, politicians, justices, prosecutors with millions in drug money One military. And I did engineering studies, and I was doing very specialized services for oil refineries and things like that. The early 1990s were the golden years for the cartel. COVID origins? The drug boss had just been rescued from an escape vault with the help of a local police captain. He started his career designing forklifts and other machinery. The American DEA agents insisted on taking him into protective custody immediately. The raid operated off of documents seized from an inspection of an office owned and operated by Guillermo Pallomari, the cartel's chief accountant. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs 500-pounders that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. However, they present some happenings so that it was me that did them when that was not really the case. He and his bodyguard were gunned down as they fled. Business improved even more after December 1993, when Escobar died in a blaze of gunfire. And there was nothing I could do. He had emerged bleeding, injured by a power drill. Will you tell everyone what was done here? They noted the physical damage -- broken desk and holes in the walls -- and found that the search team lacked a proper warrant. And I went there just to resolve questions. He said, "Well, I know someone who's good. He was arrested as he scurried for a vault in the wall. [3][pageneeded] His resignation was denied by Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela, and he was forced to continue his relationship with the cartel. But Salcedo refused, knowing more time was needed to evacuate his family from Colombia. The sensational evidence was rushed back to Bogota. He pleaded guilty Monday to accepting bribes in a nationwide college admissions scandal. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. Thanks for contacting us. The attack was abandoned. [3][pageneeded] He joined the Army Reserve division in Cali. I was taken there. And I was there when Cali cartel lawyers were allowed to rewrite our national constitution to outlaw extraditions of Colombian traffickers to the United States. Narcos recap: You Will Cry Tears of Blood. They just changed my functions. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . As instructed, I took those to a bank near the Cali airport and deposited one into the account of a sister and the other to the mother of a captain in the Colombian anti-narcotics task force. I did not feel I was a criminal, Salcedo recalled. An official website of the United States government. As Colombian citizens, the Orejuela brothers could not be extradited to the United States. Searchers dismantled the desk. But Salcedos ability to protect Pallomari and himself was nearly exhausted. Finally the raucous strangers attracted so much attention, including television news coverage, that Salcedo was forced to scrap yet another mission. JORGE SALCEDO: From what I have seen of Narcosand I haven't seen the whole thingit's a very good, dynamic production. Please call ahead to schedule an appointment and to . Well, it's been a very different life from what people usually do at this time [in their life]. The extraditables came to be seen as security risks. In exchange, Salcedo accepted a $100,000 bribe from Singer. The soft-spoken family man once known as Jorge Salcedo was an unlikely drug-gang recruit. The early 1990s were, he said, the golden years for the cartel. So the family said, "No, no, no, you stay here.". 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