Colombian drug lord known as ‘The Chess Player’ dies in US prison

Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela known for violent tactics and wide-ranging bribes

A wily Colombian drug kingpin known as “The Chess Player” has died in a US prison.

Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, who as head of the Cali cartel once controlled as much as 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine trade, died of an illness at a jail in North Carolina, according to his family.

“We were very sad to learn about his passing last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time,” his attorney, David O Markus, told NBC News. “God has a new chess partner.”

Rodríguez Orejuela was extradited from Colombia in 2004, after being arrested at his luxury home in Cali, Colombia, in 1995, as he reportedly hid in a wardrobe.

Prior to his capture, he reportedly bribed numerous Colombian journalists and politicians, including president Erneso Samper, as well as to have ordered vicious violence against cartel rivals like Pablo Escobar.

Rodríguez Orejuela and his brother Miguel, with whom he ran the Cali cartel, are thought to have financed the Pepes, a vigilante group that killed numerous associates and family members of Escobar.

Despite these activities, the brothers sought to pass themselves off as legitimate businessmen who owned an “honest” drugstore chain in Colombia.

The Chess Player ran out of moves in 1995, when he was captured by Colombian authorities in 1995.

At the time, the country didn’t extradite its nationals to the US, but American officials persuaded Colombia to lift the ban in 1997.

After the brothers were found to still be trafficking from inside prison, they were sent to the US in 2004 and 2005, respectively, to face charges in New York and Miami.

In 2006, the Rodríguez Orejuelas struck a plea deal with prosecutors that kept more than dozen family members from being put on a US Treasury Department list designating them as cartel members and allowed the family’s legitimate businesses to escape scrutiny.

Before his death, Rodríguez Orejuela was set to be released from prison in North Carolina in 2030. Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela remains in US prison.