People / group

Medellín Cartel

1970s–1993 · 20th century

The Medellín Cartel was a Colombian drug-trafficking network based in Medellín that dominated the cocaine trade to the United States in the 1980s. Led by Pablo Escobar with partners such as the Ochoa brothers and Carlos Lehder, it waged a campaign of bombings and assassinations against the Colombian state to prevent extradition. It collapsed after Escobar was killed in 1993.

Mentioned in 1 state history

Antigua and Barbuda

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Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Medellín Cartel. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/medellin-cartel
MLA: “Medellín Cartel.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/medellin-cartel. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Medellín Cartel.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/medellin-cartel.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Medellín Cartel’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/medellin-cartel (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻