Shep's Place Family Tree

Buenos Aires Wednesday
17.2.93
Mie´rcoles, diez y siete de Febrero mil nueve cientos y noventa y tres
‎(long way to write it/the date)‎

Dear Gil and Mandy,

Although I am always thinking of you all back in Australia I never seemed able to get the time to put words down on paper. Sorry for that and hopefully I can change my ways a little and keep you more up to date with what is happening in this part of the world.

Life has been hectic ever since arriving in Argentina and probably well before that in fact. Some of these things I may have told you but just to make sure I don't miss anything I'll put it all in right from the time I left Perth.

Nearly ten months have past since I left Perth for Mexico and the start of something new. What an experience it has been. Good times and not so good times but certainly different times. Always different things to see and do, different life styles and people,, new places to visit and certainly new challenges every day.

Leaving Perth in the end was a rush as, as always, the AFP couldn't get their act together and I didnt receive my tickets until one and a half days prior to departure. When I left I had only my own money as they, the AFP, had failed to arrange payment of the advances and so right from the start ‎(30 April 1992)‎ things were tough financially and they havn't really got any better since. As each month passes you say to yourself "well things should right themselves this month" but unfortunately that has not occurred yet.

I left Perth on a rainy Sunday at 8.30am ‎(it should have been 5.30am but the flight was delayed)‎ and flew via Sydney ‎(there for only 1 hour)‎ to Los Angeles. The flight was OK, long, but not rough once we cleared Sydney. It was teeming with rain in Sydney also and we sat at the end of the runway for about half an hour as the thunderstorm was too bad for the aircraft to take off. Anyway I arrived in Los Angeles et 8.45am the same day having crossed the dateline and therefore despite being awake for some 30 hours was at exactly the same time as I had been while waiting to board the flight in Perth. Naturally I was dead tired not having slept so crashed into bed in the hotel at the airport and made up for lost bed time. The AFP had kindly allowed me an eight hour break in Los Angeles on my way to Mexico. In fact in the end flight delays allowed me closer to 16 hours but apart from the view from the hotel window I didn't get to see anything of Los Angeles.

As it turned out it. was a blessing moving on as the following day/night the riots started in Los Angeles after the acquittal of the four police officers charged with the bashing of the negro King. I then flew from Los Angeles via Dallas to Mexico City where I spent a further night resting before heading to the city of Cuenavaca which is about 100km from Mexico City over the other side of a 5,000ft. mountain range. Again unfortunately I didn't see anything of Mexico City other than the hotel and the houses etc on the way to and from the airport. So far it seemed as though I was having a go at breaking the record for a round the world trip.

Cuenavaca was where I was to spent the next 6 weeks undertaking language training at the Cuauhnahuac Language School ‎(pronounced quern-nab-wark)‎. The city is something like 450 years old and was originally the home of Cortez the Spanish conqueror of Central America. Thinking back on it now most of the buildings must have been original. Before I left Australia some bright spark who obviously had only read about the place told me it was the Canberra of Mexico. It couldn't be further from the truth. The only similarity would be that at one stage it was the seat of the ruler ‎(Cortez)‎ and its away from the bigger cities with a more hospitable climate being several thousand feet above sea level and not completely surrounded by mountains like Mexico City. Because of its location at other times in its history it has been the weekend retreat of the wealthy and I must admit some of the places were quite grand. Overall however it was just a very old, very dilapidated and run down Mexican city.

The Palace of Cortez, his old fortress/castle, is now a museum in the city square and was quite interesting to wander through. Its amazing how it's lasted when you consider its 450 years old and would have had absolutely no restoration or preservative effort until the last ten to twenty years. The city square is like it is in most Mexican or for that matter Latin American towns/cities. These people always build around a square which on one side has the Cathedral, on another the principal government building, either Government house or the provincial seat of parliament or the municipal building ‎(Council chambers)‎, on another side will be a line of restaurants and on the other a library/museum/police HQ or the like. They hardly ever vary from this layout.

The city squares In most Latin American towns also caters as a market. political forum,gossip centre, play ground etc. and is known as the zocalo. Naturally the church is both the main construction and focus within each town or city with catholic festivals nearly every weekend. The spare weekends, if there are any are used for some union or political rally. Quite extraordinary really the amount of life spent devoted to these noisy rallies. The people of Mexico were just as you imagine them. Heaps getting around in the back of Ford F100 utes all looking as they should have bandellias, rifles and sombreros. At night the towns come alive with singing and marriachi bands playing around the restaurants and city/town square. Its really just a form of begging but they see it as something different and a way of Latin life. The men sit around drinking coffee or tarquila listening to this loud music and plotting the overthrow of the government. Lots of talk in Mexico but not too much action. I must say it's a bit different the further you come south. Colombia, Venezuela and Peru for example where they take action quite often. Anyway more about that a bit later.

I boarded with a Mexican family in Cuernavaca for the entire period. It cost the Australian government US$10.00 per day for board ‎(food and bed)‎ so you can imagine what the room was like. During my stay in Mexico I lost 1.5 stone in weight as they ate very little and the change in food preparation etc resulted in continual diarrhoea. To begin with I was the only foreign student staying in the house but after the first week two more arrived and after another two weeks three more so by the time I left the house which housed a family of four ‎(just)‎ was home to ten people. A little bit crowded.

Six weeks later I moved on having a reasonable understanding of the language with a lesser level of ability to speak it. My biggest problem was that in Perth I had an Argentine tutor reaching me and found that in Mexico although they speak Spanish it may as well be German against what I had been taught. While in Mexico I had to relearn the way they spoke Spanish against the way Argentinos speak it. Anyway back through Mexico City ‎(1 day)‎ to Miami then reverse to Chile on a direct overnight flight.

I left Mexico City about three in the afternoon when it was around 42 degrees and humid to arrive in Santiago de Chile at 7.00am the next morning where it was around 10 degrees and snow on all the mountains around the city. Apart from the pollution problem in Santiago ‎(it's built in a valley like Mexico City)‎ the views of the Andes from the city were magnificent.

I stayed in Santiago for two weeks again learning Spanish and again found I had to forget what I had learned in Mexico and revert to what I had been taught in Perth. You can always depend on the AFP getting it all wrong. They think that Spanish is Spanish wherever. However after two weeks I had reverted to the way I had originally been taught and had quite a good command of the language.

As I said Chile or more particularly Santiago is a beautiful old city with wonderful architecture and very Spanish. The one thing you do notice however is that people are very serious and you hardly ever see them smiling or happy. I suspect it is a throw over from the Pinochet days when people disappeared for the slightest thing. You see heavily armed police/military personnel everywhere however one benefit is that it's a fairly safe place comparatively to get around. The underground railway ‎(which runs on rubber tyres)‎ is the cleanest you would find in the world and it runs right to schedule. The Andes are only half an hours drive from the centre of the city and the ski fields about an hour. With the mountains as a backdrop the city is quite beautiful.

I left Santiago on the 28th June and flew on to Buenos Aires. It is only a two hour flight but the views particularly in the first half hour crossing the mountains are great. You pass right by Arconcagua the highest mountain in the hemisphere and that is spectacular.

Arriving in Buenos Aires was a relief. After living out of a suitcase for nearly nine weeks I was looking forward to some normality. What a mistake. For the next week I lived in a hotel in the centre of the city waiting for my predecessor to leave the house and then lived in the house for a further two weeks before our stuff arrived by air from Australia. The house provided is furnished but apart from that every thing has to be brought from Australia, ie, bedclothes, pots, pans etc. Our house is in the suburb of Martinez which is about 20km north of the central city along the Rio de la Plata. The river is more like a sea as you can't see the other side ‎(its about 6O miles across to Uruguay, ie, that's from Buenos Aires to the Uruguayan coast. Montivideo is about 175 km from Buenos Aires and takes around two and a half hours by catamaran/ferry. The boat is very quick and heaps of people go over there for shopping as goods are a lot cheaper in Uruguay.

The suburb of Martinez is a hit like Toorak in Melbourne or Unley in South Australia with tree lined streets (mainly Jacaranda and other flowering types)‎ however most are cobble stoned and narrow. Houses vary greatly with a great deal of renovation taking place as the economy picks up. Generally they are very expensive reasonable four bedroom house on a small block selling for around US$300,000. Rents ere exorbitant with the same house bringing between US$4,000 and US$4,500 per month.When you consider that the Aussie dollar is only worth 67 cents US It makes them worth around US$6,700 per month.

The normally type house being built is a three or four storey chalet and although they look good from the outside, and for that matter the appearance inside is good, nothing works. Water pressure is non-existent and all houses have to pump water to overhead tanks; electricity is continually being cut off for hours at a time ‎(we are lucky as we have our own generator in the basement which cuts in during blackouts)‎; and generally things are built for appearances only. Kitchens are generally the worst room in the house as in the better suburbs they have maids so the owners never enter the kitchen but again we were lucky as the AFP remodelled ours to just about Australian standards.

The city of Buenos Aires is steeped in architecture and is a cross between Paris and Rome or so I am told. There is also a lot of Britain about it also. Even though they have fought the Brits the Argentinos, particularly the wealthy ones, like to think they are very British. They play polo, send their kids to school in England, speak of "going home to England", and even speak with an English type accent. All very false. All around the city are grand statues, parks, museums, concert halls ‎(the Colon of course is the famous one)‎ and theatres. Most of the streets are narrow however the Avenue 9th of July ‎(or more correctly Avenida nuevo de Julio)‎ and 25th of March ‎(veinte cinco de Marzo)‎ are huge streets that go for miles. Nuevo de Julio is about 100 yards wide with a total of 12 lanes divided three times by medium strips of grass/carparks. Avenida Labertador which is the main road I use to come to work is thirteen lanes wide all travelling in the same direction. I must say however you need a road that wide as absolutely no one here obeys any traffic rules. Red lights mean nothing, lanes mean nothing, they drive like crazy ‎(they all think they are Juan Fangio)‎ and never signal their intentions. I regularly see drivers cut across the thirteen lanes in a distance of half a mile cutting off cars and buses as if they are not there. Every day there are a huge number of accidents and people killed but there again in a city with a population of nearly 14 million it's bound to be a bit like that I guess. The condition of most roads in the city is fair but they are forever digging them up as water pipes burst or to replace telephone cables etc. You never find a street or footpath that is complete. Always holes everywhere.

The weather is like Perth but more humidity probably closer to Sydney in reality. The summer has been warm with the average daily temperature around 30 degrees or perhaps a little higher but about once a week we get thunder storms. Unfortunately these have fallen on nearly every weekend although of course that's coincidental. The city is very flat and in fact you have pampas or flat farming country from here to the Andes ‎(about a thousand miles)‎. Every time it rains a great deal of the city floods. Where we live however is slightly higher than the surrounding area so our suburb is not too bad but about a week ago six or seven people drowned and thousands of homes had to he evacuated in suburbs like La Plate ,La Boca and San Telmo. A contributing factor the last time was that the winds were from the south east which backs the water up in the river ‎(Rio de la Plata)‎ causing the floods to be a little worse.

As you can imagine in a city of 14 Million there is a great deal of poverty. Along side many of the main roads in the outer suburbs are shanty towns ‎(La Miserias)‎ of people who have moved in from the country areas, particularly the north, looking for work. It is in fact the same all over South America. Although the economy has picked up in Argentina things are still very expensive. Inflation is around 28/30% per year where it was around 1000% two years ago. In Brazil it is still at 1,300% which sounds incredible but its true. Food is very expensive. For example a litre of cream costs the equivalent of $7.50 Australian, a newspaper ‎(the daily)‎ about 90 cents Australian, butter around $3.50 for 250 grams, a tin of peaches about $4.00 etc. Meat is also expensive although the quality is fantastic. They eat meat, meat and more meat particularly beef and pork. Lamb or mutton is hard to get and when you do find it the cuts are different. A kilo of rump steak is around $9.00/$10.00 Australian. Beer and leather are about the only cheap items. Beer sells for $1.00 per litre and a really good leather jacket would cost about $200.00 to $250.00 Australian. I'm sorry but I keep having to say dollars Australian as here we think in American dollars because firstly we are paid in American dollars and secondly because one American dollar is equal to one Argentine Peso. How long the government can keep the value of the peso up is anyone's guess but they have done so for the last 8 months so who knows.

So far my work has taken me to Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. I should by now have been to Peru and Bolivia but the AFP like most government departments is short of funds so I've had to cut back. Hopefully next financial year will be a little different.

Colombia was great to visit but by hell I'm glad I'm not living there. Extremely dangerous. The hotel I stayed in while in Bogota last time was blown up yesterday with two car bombs. A number of people killed and hundreds injured. Not a healthy place. Very high up ‎(around 5,000 feet above sea level)‎ and a very pleasant climate. Again close to mountains and very picturesque. While in Colombia I also has a conference in Categena which was a fascinating place full of history. It's an old fortress city which still stands as it was 400 years or more ago. The old city still exists within the walls of the fort with its tiny ten feet wide streets. Cartegena is on the Carribean Sea close to Panama which is another place I have to, or should have visited.

Venezuela was/is terrible. The whole city of Caracas is surrounded by slums which can be seen from anywhere in the city as again it is surrounded by hills and the slums cover the hill/mountain sides. Every time it rains the houses just slide down the hill killing everyone in the way. Again a very dangerous city to walk around and with regular coups - not a place I'd like to live. Again very expensive except for clothing which is dirt cheap.

Brazil is best described as 'people'. Brasilia is a dump hundreds of miles from anywhere. It's built around a lake like Canberra and is a planned city like Canberra but that is where the comparison ends. Typical of the Latin mind when planning all the hotels are in one block, all the shops in another, all the government buildings in another, all the embassies in another and so on. Absolutely no imagination. It's also a very dry place and in reality has nothing to offer. Rio is beautiful in its setting but is run down, full of people, full of crooks, pimps and prostitutes and again very dangerous. Pick pockets abound and even on the beaches such as Ipanima and Copacabana its not safe. Sao Paulo or as they call it San Pablo is just another big city. It's the commercial hub of Brazil and the buildings are a little more modern than Rio but that's all you could say. Has some huge mansions in the better suburbs but also many 'miserias'. With American dollars you can buy anything but generally if they see that you are an extranjero ‎(foreigner)‎ then you are right for the picking. Rio and San Pablo have a lot of street markets where things are cheap but you have to watch the quality which varies greatly. I've tried to buy craft works from each of the countries rather than touristy things and hope by the time my posting is up I will have something of a collection. I have bought tapestries, rugs, pottery and things like that. I also try to remember to take plenty of photographs but in many places it's not safe to be seen with a camera so I haven't taken as many as I would like but there again there is a fair bit more time left yet.

It's funny but I think I can say I've seen more of the other countries of South America than I have of Argentina so far. Next month I have a mate coming through on his way home to Australia after a year serving in Cyprus so when he is here I hope to get some time off and see places like Iguazu Falls ‎(in the north and said to be quite spectacular - more water going over the falls than Niagra and in fact a series of 270 falls)‎, Mendoza and Jujuy ‎(pronounced who-whoey)‎ both provinces in the north of Argentina again said to be full of history. A great many missions are in this area dating back 400 years when the catholic missionaries if that what you call them came and converted the locals. I reckon a more appropriate description would be that they came and robbed them blind and through fear gained control of the whole of Latin America. In many ways they are the cause of all the problems.

Well that brings you up to date with my travels so far. As you are probably aware I got to England and saw Linnea which was great. Fancy travelling half way round the world to see her. They seemed to be enjoying life and getting to travel around as well. I was only there a few days but had a bit of work to do and once done had to move on. It's a pity as I would have liked to see more of London but who knows I might get back there again before my time is up here. Anyway it was great to see them all.

In future I'll try to keep in touch a little better than I have in the past few years. I have meant to write often but for one reason or another have rarely got around to it. Let's hope I can be more regular in the future.

I hope you are both keeping well and enjoying life. Perhaps one day before we leave here you may make it over. It only costs around US$2,800 return from Melbourne via New Zealand...peanuts eh. Anyway here is hoping. Would love to see you anytime. Plenty of room.

From what I read in the papers things are still pretty terrible in Australia as far as work goes. I hope things in this regard for you both aren't too bad. I had heaps of trouble selling my car in Australia and in fact I only got rid of it last week. Lost heaps on it but it would probably be rusted out by the time I get back so putting it in storeage was/would have been a waste of time. Hopefully we can buy a car here but will have to save a fair bit more before I can afford one. The price of cars in Argentina is exorbitant with a Honda Accord costing US$35,000 ‎(A$52,500)‎ or a Ford Escort US$22,000 ‎(A$33,000)‎ however I am allowed to import one car from the United States duty free while I am here so that will cut the price in half. Still a lot of money though so I'll probably import some second hand thing and see if I can make a few bob on the deal. Probably better with a second hand one anyway with the way they drive around Buenos Aires. I was only in the place for a week and a half before someone came through a red light and hit me. Just a small dent as he nearly stopped but still cost the government the equivalent to AS1,000 to fix the damage. Its a waste of time suing them as none have insurance or money and as the court case would cost more than to repair the damage you just throw your hands in the air and wear it.

Anyway again I hope you are both keeping well and I'll try to write again soon and include a few photographs of some of the places I've been to.

Love from Rob & Rona

P.S. I've sent to Don and Wendy a similar letter but not to Ken as I haven't got his current address. Great things these computers - being able to change bits and pieces wherever you want. As you can see however I'm no expert so some of these paragraphs are split and heaps of paper wasted but anyway I hope you find the news interesting.

We are off to Chile again in March and after that Rona returns to Australia for work - or that's the plan at the moment unless she can pick up the second position here with me which becomes vacant in December, in which case she will take leave without pay until that time.

As I said hope one day to see you over here but of course we understand it costs heaps. Bob

Date of Accident: 19 May 1993
Airline: SAM Colombia
Aircraft: Boeing 727-46
Location: Medellin, Colombia
Registration: HK-2422
Previous Registrations: JA8309, HL7309
Flight Number: 501
Fatalities: 132
MSN: 18876
Line Number: 217
Engine Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney
Engine Model: JT8D-7A
Year of Delivery: 1966
Accident Description: The aircraft impacted terrain while approaching Cordova Airport. Improper vectors from Air Traffic Control put the aircraft into an area of high terrain.
­http­://­www­.­airdisaster­.­com­/

Australian Federal Police
GPO Box 401
Canberra ACT 2601
Telephone ‎(06)‎ 249 7444

5 November 1993
Mr G Shepherd
479 Mt Barker Rd
BRIDGEWATER SA 5155

Dear Gil,

As a result of an inquiry I directed to the Australian Embassy in Caracas they have recently advised that as yet no findings have been handed down as regards the crash of SAM Flight 501 on 19 May 1993. I am informed that under Colombian Civil Aviation procedures, investigations into air crashes follow four stages: ‎(a)‎ preliminary investigation - compilation of data; ‎(b)‎ analysis of collected data; ‎(c)‎ conclusions; ‎(d)‎ recommendations.

The preliminary investigation has been almost completed and the data collected is due to be submitted to the competent authority. According to the Director of the Colombian Civil Aeronautical Agency the recommendations are expected to be presented by February 1994, however, our Embassy In Caracas suggests that this is a target date, not necessarily a deadline. The Australian Ambassador in Caracas will be visiting Bogota Colombia shortly and will attempt to gather any additional information that may be available.

I will advise you of further information as it is received.

For your Information I have also enclosed photographs of the following personal effects recovered from the crash site which could be identified as belonging to Robert.

Diplomatic Passport
Official Passport ‎(issued before the diplomatic passport)‎
parts of his business card folder
diplomatic identification - Argentina
Credit Cards ‎(Westpac, Diners Club, American Express)‎
WA Drivers Licence

The originals of these documents have been forwarded to the Executor of Robert's estate, Mr Patrick Hughes of the solicitors Corser & Corser, Perth for his decision as to whom they should be released.

I was pleased to hear you were able to attend the recent service In memory of police who have lost their lives, at which Bob was honoured. I think Bob would have been proud of the remembrance paid to him.

I would also like to let you know that our Commissioner has decided that Bob's memory should be perpetuated in the AFP and I expect that one of the lecture halls at our soon to be constructed new police college will carry his name.

I trust this letter finds you in good health. I have written In similar terms to Anne and Rebecca Shepherd and to Ken, Don and Barbara.

Yours sincerely,

DAVID J. SCHRAMM
Commander
INTERNATIONAL DIVISION

Why was Robert going to Medellin? Was there anything else behind the crash? Was there anything else behind his death?

Since the 1970's, Colombia has been home to some of the most violent and sophisticated drug trafficking organizations in the world. What started as a small cocaine smuggling business has, in the last thirty years, blossomed into an enormous multi-national cocaine empire. Traffickers today have enough capital under their control to build sophisticated smuggling equipment, such as a high tech submarine that was recently discovered by the Colombian National Police. Colombian cocaine traffickers had hired engineering experts from Russia and the United States to help with the design of the submarine, which apparently would have been used to secretly ship large quantities of cocaine to the United States.

Traffickers started out with much more modest goals. In the mid-1970s, marijuana traffickers in Colombia began exporting small quantities of cocaine to the United States hidden in suitcases. At that point, cocaine could be processed for $1500/kilo in jungle labs and could be sold on the streets of America for as much as $50,000/kilo.

THE MEDELLIN CARTEL

The astounding profits attracted an interesting mix of characters into the business. Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha had roots in Colombia's somewhat murky emerald trade. The Ochoa brothers were from a well respected ranching and horsing family. And the violent leader, Pablo Escobar, was a common street thief who masterminded the criminal enterprise that became known as the Medellin cartel.

The men from Medellin joined together with a young marijuana smuggler named Carlos Lehder, who convinced the leaders that they could fly cocaine in small airplanes directly into the United States, avoiding the need for countless suitcase trips. The large quantities and the growing appetite for cocaine in the United States led to huge profits, which the cartel began re-investing into more sophisticated labs, better airplanes and even an island in the Caribbean where the planes could refuel.

But the success had a darker side. Pablo Escobar was incredibly violent and his quest for power within the Colombian government led to a stand-off between the cartel and the government. During the 1980's, the cartel revolted against the government's threats to extradite the traffickers to the United States. Pablo Escobar is thought to be responsible for the murder of hundreds of government officials, police, prosecutors, judges, journalists and innocent bystanders.

The cartel began to self-destruct as the violence and power grew. Rodriguez Gacha was eventually gunned down by the Colombian police. Jorge, Juan David and Fabio Ochoa turned themselves into the Colombian government in the early 1990s in exchange for lenient prison terms. And Pablo Escobar was hunted down and killed by the Colombian police after a long series of battles.

THE CALI CARTEL

Part of the downfall of the Medellin cartel was due to their main rivals in the Colombian city of Cali, the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and Santacruz Londono. The men from Cali were more subtle and less flashy than their counterparts in Medellin. They conducted their smuggling as a sophisticated business, quietly re-investing their profits in legitimate businesses. The Cali cartel began to attack the Medellin cartel -- particularly Pablo Escobar -- as their competition became more and more violent. They eventually would form the PEPES, or People Against Pablo Escobar, which specifically targeted Escobar's homes, businesses and lieutenants. The Cali cartel also began secretly supplying the Colombian police and the DEA with information about Pablo Escobar's actions and whereabouts. By 1994, Escobar was alone and running for his life when the Colombian police managed to track him down. But for several years before, the Cali businessmen had been dominating more and more of the cocaine trade. They employed the techniques of terrorist groups by separating their workers into cells, with each cell knowing little about other employees.. They hired internationally renowned lawyers to study the moves of the DEA and the US prosecutors. They began using technology as a tool for their business - hiring and training top engineers to design communications equipment that could not be bugged.

And their business thrived. When cocaine use in the United States began to drop, they began shipping more and more into Europe and Asia. The leaders are thought to own huge swaths of land in Colombia, along with dozens of very successful legitimate businesses. The Cali leaders were astute businessmen and they invested heavily in political protection. In the past ten years, both the former president of Colombia, Ernesto Samper and hundreds of Congressmen and Senators have been accused of accepting campaign financing from the Rodriguez Orejuala brothers.

But, the leaders were eventually tracked down. They were arrested in the mid-1990s and are currently serving 10 to 15 year prison terms. Many experts believe they actually worked out an arrangement with the Colombian government under similar terms to the Ochoas, that they would not be extradited to a US prison cell. DEA agents believe they are still running their empire from their prison cells.

COLOMBIA TODAY

After the destruction of both the Cali and Medellin cartels, the cocaine business began to fragment. Younger lieutenants realized that the large organizations had been more vulnerable to attack by US and Colombian authorities. They formed smaller, more controllable groups and began compartmentalizing their responsibilities. One group simply smuggles the drugs from Colombia to Mexico. Another group controls the jungle labs. Yet another deals with transportation of coca base from the fields to the labs. There are well known links between the Colombian Marxists guerilla groups and the cocaine trade. Guerillas protect the fields and the labs in remote zones of Colombia in exchange for a large tax that the traffickers pay to the organization. In turn, the Colombian right wing paramilitary groups are also thought to control both fields, labs and some of the smuggling routes. This situation has been disastrous for Colombia - both sides in an on-going civil war are able to reap huge profits from the drug industry which are then turned into guns for further fighting.

The DEA and the Colombian National police believe there are more than 300 active drug smuggling organizations in Colombia today. Cocaine is shipped to every industrialized nation in the world and profits remain incredibly high.