The Cocaine Super Lab That Exploded | Cali Cartel's U.S. Operation

Описание: When the Cali Cartel of Colombia was at the height of their power, they were establishing secret cocaine processing laboratories on US soil with the use of American middlemen. One of those labs was accidentally exposed on April 11, 1985, when a massive fire and chemical explosion ripped through a farmland property in Minden, New York. Firefighters responding to what they thought was a barn fire instead uncovered 250 barrels of toxic solvents and evidence of a cartel cocaine super lab. The DEA quickly joined state and local authorities, revealing what officials called: “The largest cocaine lab in the American hemisphere outside of Colombia.”

The farm was purchased by an American tied to the Cali Cartel which at the time controlled most of the world’s cocaine supply. They were led by Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, his brother Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Jose Santacruz Londoño aka” Chepe" and Helmer Herrera aka” Pacho”.

After the purchaser closed on the property, in the coming months the farm was constructed into a manufacturing hub capable of producing up to 3 tons of cocaine per year, worth an estimated $700 million. Chemicals like ether, acetone and hydrochloric acid were purchased locally to cut costs. Workers operated around the clock and pounds of cocaine were distributed to New York City, then one of the largest cocaine markets in the world.

But just 11 days after production began, a lab fire
led to a huge explosion and exposed the largest cocaine plant ever discovered.

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