ect more of the profits from their products. Two cartels arose in Columbian cocaine production, based in two cities. The Medellin cartel dominated the trade until the early 1990s and was the most visible group. It cultivated a Robin Hood image, using the profits from cocaine to benefit the poorer sections of their territories in Columbia. They financed schools and hospitals and owned professional football teams. Few people living in Medellin did not benefit in some way from the cartel's cocaine profits. The cartel's leaders did not fear the police because the police were beholden to them (Clutterbuck, 1995, pp. 58-60).
The other cartel was based in Cali. The leaders of the Cali cartel maintained much lower profiles than their counterparts in Medellin and consequently attracted much less public attention. As a result, the Cali cartel outlived the Medellin cartel, which was dismembered through attacks by Columbian national police and the imprisonment and killing of some of its major leaders. The Cali cartel was les
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