Drug Lords
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When we talk of drug lords, probably the first name to crosses our minds would be of El Chapo—the most significant drug lord in history! Known for his use of sophisticated tunnels to smuggle illegal drugs from Mexico into the United States, he gained the image of a folk hero in the narcotics world. Though not as notorious as El Chapo, drug lord Jorge Alberto Rodríguez, also known as Don Cholito, was also highly dangerous in his own right. The Colombian-Puerto Rican had ordered the numerous murders of informants, witnesses, and law-enforcement officials during his reign as one of the most-wanted drug lords in the world. When we talk of the most elusive drug lords, the Colombian Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria would undoubtedly top the list. Often referred to as the "World's Greatest Outlaw", he was known for his quirky ways of eluding arrest. He was even once counted amongst the richest men in the world! While most of the drug lords are men, Griselda Blanco—known as the "Godmother of Cocaine"—gained the notoriety of being one of the few women in this illegal and dangerous field. This section provides you information about the life and crimes of notorious Drug Lords from all over the world.
Rank the Most Wicked Drug Lords
Birthdate: December 1, 1949
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Rionegro
Died: December 2, 1993
A notorious Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar was the founder and leader of the infamous Medellín Cartel. His drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States and he became one of the wealthiest criminals ever in history. Dubbed "The King of Cocaine", he left behind a controversial legacy upon his death at the age of 44.
2
Al Capone(Gangster, Co-Founder & Boss of the 'Chicago Outfit' Crime Family)
Birthdate: January 17, 1899
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: January 25, 1947
Al Capone, also known by the nickname Scarface, was one of the most notorious American gangsters who controlled the organised crime in Chicago between 1925 and 1931. He was known for violence and cruelty in eliminating rival gang members, the most infamous incident being the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. His life inspired numerous books and films.
Birthdate: April 4, 1957
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: La Tuna, Mexico
Birthdate: February 15, 1943
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Cartagena, Colombia
Died: September 3, 2012
Griselda Blanco, also known as La Madrina and the Black Widow, was the first billionaire female drug lord. As part of the Medellin Cartel, she smuggled cocaine from Colombia into Miami, New York, and Southern California. She spent 15 years in jail and was shot dead by an unidentified motorcyclist.
Birthdate: July 18, 1969
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Michigan
Richard Wershe Jr. became the youngest FBI informant when he was around 14 to 16 years of age. He had started selling cocaine as a teenager and was arrested at 17. He was sentenced to life but was granted parole later. He inspired the 2018 movie White Boy Rick.
Birthdate: August 6, 1942
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA
George Jung, nicknamed Boston George and El Americano, smuggled cocaine into the U.S., as part of the Medellín Cartel, in the 1970s and the 1980s. He served a 20-year prison term for his crimes. He inspired the biopic Blow and contributed to the fictional account of his life story, Heavy.
Birthdate: September 7, 1949
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Armenia, Colombia
German-Colombian drug kingpin Carlos Lehder, co-founder of the Medellín Cartel, which smuggled cocaine into the U.S., formed the Muerte a Secuestradores, to fight against the kidnappings of his cartel members. He escaped from the kidnappers but spent a 33-year sentence in the U.S., following which he was released.
Birthdate: March 27, 1984
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Austin, Texas
Ross Ulbricht, or "Dread Pirate Roberts,” created the dark market site Silk Road, which let people make anonymous drug deals, using bitcoins. He was eventually convicted of a number of crimes, including hacking and money laundering, and was sentenced to a double life imprisonment plus 40 years without parole.
Birthdate: September 9, 1930
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: La Grange, North Carolina, United States
Died: May 30, 2019
Frank Lucas was a notorious drug trafficker from the 1960s and the 1970s. Legends state that he bought drugs from the "Golden Triangle" and smuggled them into the U.S. using the coffins of servicemen. His 70-year prison sentence was commuted to a 5-year sentence, after he became an informant.
Birthdate: August 1, 1930
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Badiraguato Municipality
Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo is a convicted Mexican drug lord. He led a now-defunct criminal group called the Guadalajara Cartel alongside Rafael Caro Quintero and Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo. In 1982, the Drug Enforcement Administration indicted him in a money laundering operation, but he fled back to Mexico where he was finally arrested in 1985.
Birthdate: July 5, 1931
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: April 13, 1996
Birthdate: February 21, 1910
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: July 12, 1979
Birthdate: May 6, 1945
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, United States
14
Sal Magluta(Kingpin who ran South Florida from the 1970s to 1990s)
Birthdate: November 5, 1954
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cuba
15
Nicky Barnes(Former crime boss, active in New York City during the 1970s)
Birthdate: October 15, 1933
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, United States
Died: June 18, 2012
Birthdate: September 25, 1966
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: United States
Birthdate: February 21, 1946
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Cattolica Eraclea, Italy
Died: December 23, 2013
Birthdate: April 17, 1981
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: London, United Kingdom
Died: April 29, 2015
Birthdate: October 2, 1897
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Villabate, Italy
Died: June 6, 1962
Joe Profaci was an Italian-born New York City mafia boss. He founded what later became the Colombo crime family in 1928 and was the family's boss for over three decades. It was the last of the Five Families to be organized. Besides his illegal activities, he also maintained several legitimate businesses. He died of liver cancer in 1962.
Birthdate: June 21, 1961
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Monterrey, Mexico
Died: December 16, 2009
21
Bruce Reynolds(English Criminal and the Mastermind Behind the 1963 'Great Train Robbery')
Birthdate: September 7, 1931
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Strand, London, England
Died: February 28, 2013
Bruce Reynolds was a British criminal who was the mastermind behind the Great Train Robbery in 1963. Although he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1969, Reynolds was released in 1978 post which he published three books and became a popular public figure, performing alongside Alabama 3. His life and career have inspired several films and TV series.
Birthdate: September 8, 1959
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
23
Ridouan Taghi(Most wanted criminal in the Netherlands with a record-breaking reward of €100,000 until his late 2019 arrest in Dubai)
Birthdate: December 20, 1977
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Tetouan, Morocco
Birthdate: October 29, 1978
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Frostproof, Florida, United States
Birthdate: January 14, 1971
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Punjab, India
Died: December 20, 1998
Birthdate: April 24, 1985
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Birthdate: February 5, 1965
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Birthdate: 1963 AD
Birthplace: Caborca, Mexico
Birthdate: July 4, 1929
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: United States
Birthdate: 1941 AD
Birthplace: Puerto Rican
Best known as the wife of notorious drug lord Frank Lucas, Julianna Farrait has been behind bars twice, once in 2010, for selling cocaine. She had met Frank during a vacation in Puerto Rico, and the two soon came to be known as "the black Bonnie & Clyde."
Birthdate: February 1, 1954
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Canelas, Durango, Mexico
Died: July 29, 2010
Birthdate: 1946 AD
Birthplace: New York City, United States
Birthdate: December 26, 1971
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Beaufort, North Carolina, United States
Birthdate: March 4, 1959
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Birthdate: May 12, 1924
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Ciaculli, Sicily, Italy
Died: February 13, 2008
Birthdate: December 24, 1972
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
37
Evelin Banev(Bulgarian Entrepreneur and Published Writer Who Was Imprisoned on Changes of Money Laundering and Drug Trafficking)
Birthdate: October 8, 1964
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Burgas, Bulgaria
Evelin Banev is a Bulgarian entrepreneur, published writer, real estate developer, and former wrestler. He came to limelight for his highly politicized and controversial prosecutions and imprisonment. Although he was sentenced to seven-and-a-half-years in prison in 2013, Evelin Banev was acquitted of all charges in 2014. Banev's 10-year-old daughter was kidnapped during his imprisonment and released unharmed two months later.
38
Willy Falcon(Cuban drug kingpin who ran South Florida from 1970s to 1990s.)
Birthdate: September 1, 1955
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Cuba
Birthdate: October 16, 1960
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Baja California, Mexico
Birthdate: October 5, 1970
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Houston, Texas, United States
Birthdate: June 30, 1960
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: February 18, 2016
Birthdate: July 13, 1928
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Died: April 2, 2000
43
Alpo Martinez(Former drug kingpin known for his notorious ways throughout the 1980's and 1990's in New York and Washington, D.C.)
Birthdate: June 8, 1966
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: East Harlem, New York, United States
Died: October 31, 2021
Birthdate: November 17, 1954
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died: October 9, 2013
A convicted criminal and author, Mark Brandon Read began his criminal career by robbing drug dealers at a very early age, eventually graduating to kidnapping and torturing of other criminals for money, as well as armed robbery. Being incarcerated for long periods, he later turned to writing, publishing fifteen books between 1991 and 2011
Birthdate: August 23, 1954
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Oakland, California, United States
Died: August 21, 1986
Birthdate: April 3, 1929
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Ramallah, British Palestine
Died: August 9, 2014
Birthdate: February 23, 1961
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Tuluá, Colombia
Diego Murillo Bejarano is a former gangster who led the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia as well as the Office of Envigado cartel. He is also known for his association with Pablo Escobar and the Galeano family. Murillo has been played by actors like Carlos Velásquez and Mauricio Cujar in TV series. He was portrayed by Cujar on Netflix series Narcos.
48
Glen Stewart Godwin(Fugitive and convicted murderer who was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on December 7, 1996)
Birthdate: June 26, 1958
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, United States
Birthdate: January 15, 1870
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Sinaloa, Mexico
Died: May 3, 1909
Birthdate: October 30, 1980
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Ireland