We had about 150 persons dedicated to caring for the safety of these people, Salcedo recalled. The drug boss had just been rescued from an escape vault with the help of a local police captain. I told myself I was not one of them.. 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. Miguel was getting paranoid, Salcedo said. The sensational evidence was rushed back to Bogota. 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. Escobar was the most powerful criminal in the world. 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. My strategy was to avoid confrontation. JORGE SALCEDO: From what I have seen of Narcosand I haven't seen the whole thingit's a very good, dynamic production. But they have some information that somebody killed him, I don't know how. It was nearly dark. My role was to be on the outside, make sure the road was clear. So even though I am an engineer and I have a degree and all that, it was in my namemy old name. FILE - In this March 25, 2019, file photo Jorge Salcedo, former University of California at Los Angeles men's soccer coach, departs federal court in Boston after facing charges in a nationwide . Salcedo knew that if the DEA agents were identified, their case would be blown and his life would be in even more jeopardy. Salcedo did not comply with his orders and pretended to not know where Pallomari was, believing Pallomari to be his bargaining chip for his freedom. Jorge "El Navegante" Velasquez (?-1995) was an associate of the Cali Cartel who worked as one of their sicarios. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. Salcedo said he takes . The soft-spoken family man once known as Jorge Salcedo was an unlikely drug-gang recruit. The biggest bribe I ever handled personally was a half-million-dollar payoff to a Salvadoran air force colonel. I was invited to L.A. COVID origins? He also knew who was marked for assassination. I had to escape, the former cartel official explained. . So my role became other than just Pablo and became to focus on intelligence. 1 to be killed, Ryan said. The Times has no information about his whereabouts and no way to reach him. [3][pageneeded]. Salcedos story is told in the book, At the Devils Table The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel, by journalist William C. Rempel. I was there when campaign officials for a presidential candidate came for help. 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. They said, "No way, you have to stay." Im calling from Cali, Colombia, and I have important information on how to locate the heads of the cartel.. In 1994, Salcedo was sent with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. And then after Pablo was dead, you tried to leave the cartel? Warmer storms could cause problems, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a jungle and Maya ruins, No, theres still no link between video games and violence, Prosecution presents closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Intelligence agencies say theres no sign U.S. adversaries were behind Havana syndrome, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. Colombian drug lords Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, 67, entered guilty pleas and were ushered to federal prison for the next 30 years. Finally the raucous strangers attracted so much attention, including television news coverage, that Salcedo was forced to scrap yet another mission. Still, he served as a consultant for the new season and spoke extensively with Narcos showrunner Eric Newman to ensure the series' accuracy. 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. I had no option of saying no. Jorge Salcedo Cabrera was a counter-surveillance expert employed by the Cali cartel . Abcarian: Mask mandates? On one occasion, we knew that Miguel had time for lunch and a shower before the raiding party was scheduled to arrive. He had very good connections, and when he retired he started working for some oil and chemical companies. Then, he double-crossed them. The families were huge. UPDATE, March 23, 6:12 a.m.: Former UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo said he couldn't afford the $1.9 million Century City home he bought for his family in 2016. They just changed my functions. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. They said, "We need somebody like you to protect us." This time he contacted a Miami lawyer who could make the connections. 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. He sometimes complained to me. The leftover bomb was abandoned. Its limited cargo space wasnt designed for bombs. And William would be there, and he was given jobs too. No. I said, Guillermo, Ive been taking care of you a lot. . How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But people should know what I know now. The early 1990s were the golden years for the cartel. Then he got another opportunity and called his DEA contacts in Bogota. [3][pageneeded] In the aftermath, Salcedo was demoted. He used to be Jorge Salcedo. In the years since, he has made sporadic telephone calls to a Times reporter from undisclosed locations. Salcedo was a prime suspect, one of only five to 10 people who knew where Miguel was hiding. But I knew too much already. There was public outrage. I had to escape, he explained. At a sentencing hearing, he was praised by agents and prosecutors who recommended leniency. Salcedo admitted to taking another six-figure bribe to recruit the son of Xiaoning Sui, of Surrey, British Columbia, to his team, offering him a scholarship. I started hearing screaming. Or was it a test, to see how brave you are or how you're going to deal with this? He was secretly dispatched to Europe by military leaders to assemble a team of mercenaries. "Hoy estoy en los 60. The compound of drug lord Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela filled a city block and contained a swimming pool, tennis court and half a soccer field. Though that law was repealed after the politicians behind it were exposed for taking bribes, the brothers remained in Bogots La Picota prison, beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. They did that the same. I wanted to be questioned. A former men's soccer coach at the University of California, Los Angeles was sentenced on Friday to eight months in prison after admitting he accepted $200,000 in bribes to facilitate the admission of two students as fake athletic recruits. 2023 Cable News Network. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The fourth bomb was abandoned and Salcedo barely escaped El Salvador and arrest. The Cali Cartel informant is currently in the witness protection program. Jorge Salcedo of Dana Point, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and forfeiture in the amount of $200,000. In December '88, my friend retired from the army abruptly. He traveled to El Salvador and, through a military contact, purchased four 500-pound bombs for about half a million dollars. Jorge Salcedo's motion requested documents that allegedly show an internal UCLA investigation that implicated the university - not just Salcedo, who resigned from his position in March 2019 . (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File) UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo was indicted by . Jorge Salcedo, Esq. 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. Listening in on the phone conversation, Salcedos only thought: What a nightmare. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. [3][pageneeded] At this initial meeting, the Cali godfathers asked Jorge to coordinate an attack on Pablo Escobar, a rival drug cartel leader. The families were huge. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs 500-pounders that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. I never wanted to be a part of that, I wanted to be outside. He saw traitors everywhere.. 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. Salcedos military service in the late 1980s coincided with one of Colombias bloodiest periods. No Career Information Occupation Sicario Affiliation Cali cartel Medelln cartel (spy) Years active 1980s-1995 Appearances First Explosivos (Narcos) Salcedo accepted $200,000 in bribes as part of the college admissions bribery scheme across the country. The four, three men and a woman, were held in different rooms, each tied to a chair. After going into hiding, Salcedo focused his efforts on monitoring his electronic communication network, extracting intelligence on both national police and the Medelln Cartel. I told myself I was not one of them, he said. It was very risky, but I was trapped in a nightmare, in a totally corrupt environment. Salcedo says he was with his family the night of the raid and that he never killed anyone. He is still No. How has your life under witness protection been? They have not yet been sentenced. One day in the summer of 1994, Salcedo was dispatched along with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. Whereas his previous role involved avoiding detection from Escobar's network, Salcedo now assisted Cali's men with avoiding detection by the National Police of Colombia. It was a bonus for the captains help getting the boss away from a police raid. [3][pageneeded], In July 1995, Salcedo met with Feistl and Mitchell to devise a plan to capture Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela. I immediately started investigating the leak.. Jorge Salcedo told the judge that he joined in the college admissions bribery scheme because he was desperate for cash after buying a house his family couldn't afford. No sign of Miguel, the agents told him. Pallomari did not trust the cartels chief of security, but he went to another hideout. So they had a lot of questions. I had no option. I had been fighting against the guerrillas. He said, "Yes, frankly, my father is putting me to so many things." Finally, Escobar was sent to prison. In court, Salcedo told the judge he took the kickbacks because he wanted to buy a nicer house. He tried again to signal U.S. authorities. So to get out from under that. He had put a bomb in the building that destroyed the equivalent of the FBI in Colombia. Politicians were considered a long-term investment. In Colombia, even honest people have to deal with the cartels.. It was aborted at the last minute. The attack was abandoned. Accompanied by two U.S. agents, the 15-man team of Colombian national police poured silently into the building. An official website of the United States government. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much So they needed to capture all the politicians onto their side. On August26, 1995, after six-and-a-half years with the cartel, he was extradited to the United States. El hijo de Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela lo buscaba desesperado para matarlo. He stayed close to Miguel and his family, at every opportunity sharing car rides and meeting with them alone to let his vulnerability erode suspicions. Jorge Salcedos contacts with The Times began with a handshake in Miami during a brief court appearance in October 1998. Jorge Salcedo grab una entrevista con un programa de televisin en 2017 para la que viaj especialmente a un lugar no revelado de Estados Unidos. Narcos recap: You Will Cry Tears of Blood. Years passed between some of his calls. Meanwhile, he beefed up security for the Orejuela brothers and their families. Miguel Orejuela was extradited to Florida in 2005, a year after Gilberto. They never got into their brains that the best thing they should have done is to give up and say "Hey, Pablo is gone, we're done." He infiltrated the Medellin Cartel in order turn Jose Rodriguez Gacha over to the DEA, and he would take part in the war with Medellin from 1992 to 1993. Though wary of cartel and Colombian government wiretaps, Kacerosky landed one of the most remarkable confidential informants in all of international crime. 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. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from. He took the police aside and pulled out 500 pesos. 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." 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 U.S. DEA agents insisted on taking him into protective custody immediately. In addition to being a corporate, tax and government affairs attorney, he specializes in both domestic and international transactions, as well as real estate and international tax planning. So I thought, why don't I use my knowledge for more. The attack was subsequently called off. [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. But suddenly police surrounded them. For his service, the relocated Colombian received rewards of about $1.7 million. I left my name in Colombia when I entered the U.S. witness protection program 16 years ago. In Bogot, the Clinton administration pressed Colombian political leaders to arrest major traffickers. Widespread arrests and firings followed, and the grip of corruption was broken. Thanks for contacting us. 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. So we always arranged our meetings in the woods. Salcedo emailed the UCLA womens soccer coaches the students transcript, test scores, and a fake soccer profile that he had received from Singer and Khosroshahin. Because at that point, they were suspecting about me. I did not feel I was a criminal, Salcedo recalled. He held degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial economics. They were in total despair. The enforcer insisted that Salcedo accompany him. But cartel-friendly police arrived. Jorge Salcedo was the head of security for the Colombian Cali Cartel . Within a few months, about 130 people were indicted. So she was forced into being a full-time student. The Bogota team listened, tapped on cement walls and floors, then pulled out power drills and bored into suspicious areas. Well, it's been a very different life from what people usually do at this time [in their life]. 1 Courthouse Way, Suite 9200 Its limited cargo space wasnt designed for bombs. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. 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