ABC NEWS CLOSE-UP: THE COCAINE CARTEL (TV)
Summary
One in this occasional documentary series presented by ABC News. This edition, reported by Bill Redeker, examines the operations of the Colombian drug cartel. The following topics are discussed: the family-run nature of the Colombian cocaine trade; the vertical structure of these consortiums, which often handle production, refinement, transportation, and marketing of the drug; the key Colombian families involved in the business; methods of smuggling; south Florida as the ideal gateway for drug importation; the violence bred by the drug trade and the skyrocketing crime rate of the greater Miami area; the various stages of the money-laundering process; a huge Wall Street-based laundering operation masterminded by brothers Humberto and Eduardo Orazco; the negative effect of drug money on the economies of the United States and Colombia, including the inflation of real estate prices in south Florida; ways in which drug lords in Colombia build public support and political influence, including contributing great amounts of money to public works, such as housing for the poor; the mixed results of law enforcement efforts by the the U.S. government, including the South Florida Task Force, led by Vice President George Bush; attempts to attack this "new mafia" with tax and banking laws; and the necessity for federal enforcement resources to be better organized in order to more effectively battle the drug trade. The program also includes a report by correspondent William Sherman from Panama and interviews with the following people: Capt. JosŽ Gallegos of the Colombia Narcotics Squad; Arthur Nehrbass of the Dade County Police; Ronald Caffrey of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Gustavo Gutierrez, Chief of the Medellin Police; Joseph Corless of the Miami FBI; Vice President George Bush; Gary Conover, Assistant Attorney General of Florida; Peter Morrison, attorney for Eduardo Orozco; Edward Guillen of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Michael Feldberg, Assistant U.S. Attorney; Gabriel Castro, Panama Minister of State; Gerald Lewis, Florida Bank Comptroller; Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of Task Force on Crime; Dr. Edgar Gutierrez, Colombia Minister of Finance; alleged drug lord Pablo Escobar; Sergeant Jimmy Rider, Dade County Police; William Rosenblatt, regional director U.S. Customs; and Dr. Miguel Sanchez, Assistant Attorney general of Colombia. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: August 20, 1983 Saturday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:02
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:06630
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Cocaine; Colombian Drug Cartel; Money-laundering
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1973-1988
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Pamela Hill … Executive Producer
- Richard Richter … Senior Producer
- Stephen Fleischman … Producer
- Robert Ross … Associate Producer, Writer
- John Martin … Director
- Bill Redeker … Writer, Reporter
- William Sherman … Writer, Correspondent
- Joseph Biden
- George Bush
- Ronald Caffrey
- Gabriel Castro
- Gary Conover
- Joseph Corless
- Pablo Escobar
- Michael Feldberg
- JosŽ Gallegos
- Edward Guillen
- Edgar Gutierrez
- Gustavo Gutierrez
- Gerald Lewis
- Peter Morrison
- Arthur Nehrbass
- Eduardo Orozco
- Humberto Orozco
- Jimmy Rider
- William Rosenblatt
- Miguel Sanchez