Gacha’s reign of terror was over. The man involved in both the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán and the Avianca 203 bombing was now dead. It was the first step in weakening the Medellin Cartel and bringing Escobar down.

José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, also known as The Mexican, was one of the violent kingpins of the Medellin Cartel. His death came in the form of a lucky break. After arresting Gacha’s son Fredy for a minor infraction, the cops released him and waited for him to lead them back to his dad. And he did. On December 15, 1989, the cops raided a beachside property in Tolu and killed over 15 of his bodyguards. After bringing his red Chevy to a stop, the cops killed Gacha with a headshot. Some believe that Gacha killed himself by holding a grenade to his face because the damage was so bad that they had to bring in medical examiners to confirm his identity. But after seeing that there was no damage to his hands, the cops concluded that would have been impossible.

Escobar, along with Gacha’s help and under Carlos Lehder’s management, was processing over $1 billion worth of cocaine at Tranquilandia.

Many criminals were out of a job that day after a tracking device placed on a barrel of ether led the DEA to Tranquilandia. Originally constructed by Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, the cocaine factory had 19 labs and its own water and electrical system.

José Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha was the most violent enforcer of the Medellín Cartel. He got his start in the drug trafficking game when he helped murder the entire family of a rival. Along with Pablo and the Ochoa brothers, they formed an alliance that would wreak havoc across Colombia. Nicknamed El Mexicano for his love of Mexican culture and new trafficking routes through Mexico, he was responsible for some of the cruelest acts of narcoterrorism in history.

Gacha’s reign of terror was over. The man involved in both the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán and the Avianca 203 bombing was now dead. It was the first step in weakening the Medellin Cartel and bringing Escobar down.

José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, also known as The Mexican, was one of the violent kingpins of the Medellin Cartel. His death came in the form of a lucky break. After arresting Gacha’s son Fredy for a minor infraction, the cops released him and waited for him to lead them back to his dad. And he did. On December 15, 1989, the cops raided a beachside property in Tolu and killed over 15 of his bodyguards. After bringing his red Chevy to a stop, the cops killed Gacha with a headshot. Some believe that Gacha killed himself by holding a grenade to his face because the damage was so bad that they had to bring in medical examiners to confirm his identity. But after seeing that there was no damage to his hands, the cops concluded that would have been impossible.

José Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha was the most violent enforcer of the Medellín Cartel. He got his start in the drug trafficking game when he helped murder the entire family of a rival. Along with Pablo and the Ochoa brothers, they formed an alliance that would wreak havoc across Colombia. Nicknamed El Mexicano for his love of Mexican culture and new trafficking routes through Mexico, he was responsible for some of the cruelest acts of narcoterrorism in history.