10 Biggest Drug Lords in the World
10 Biggest Drug Lords in the World
Largest.org by Nancy Levin • September 4, 2019
Few figures are as notorious–or as filthy rich–as drug lords. They make their money by smuggling illegal substances and terrorizing just about anyone less powerful than themselves. Drug traffickers are often wanted for their crimes in multiple countries since a lot of their money is earned by sneaking illegal narcotics across borders.
So, just how much money can these violent criminals make by peddling forbidden substances? Today we’ll be learning about 10 of the largest drug lords in the world according to their drug-based wealth and learning some unique facts about each one.
1 Pablo Escobar
Drug Money Earned: $30 billion
Location: Colombia
Birth Year: 1949
Aliases: Don Pablo, El Padrino, El Patrón, El Señor, El Mágico, El Pablito, and El Zar de la Cocaína
Pablo Escobar was the largest drug lord in the world in terms of drug revenue. This Colombian Drug Kingpin, easily the best-known co-founder of the Medellin Cartel, had ambitions of becoming the President of Colombia. He gained plenty of popularity by sponsoring charities and sports but eventually undermined his own reputation with excessive and often indiscriminate violence.
2 Christopher Coke
Drug Money Earned: $30 billion
Location: Jamaica
Birth Year: 1969
Aliases: Dudus, Paul Christopher Scott, Presi, President, General, Shortman, and Omar Clark
Following in the footsteps of his father Christopher Coke, founder of the notoriously violent Shower Posse, this Jamaican drug lord trafficked huge amounts of cocaine, marijuana, and firearms. However, alongside his criminal activities, he established programs to assist impoverished members of the community. He earned so much community support that capturing him in Kingston, Jamaica was a harrowing five-week ordeal with many casualties.
3 Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Drug Money Earned: $25 billion
Location: Mexico
Birth Year: 1997
Aliases: “El Señor de Los Cielos”
Amado Carrillo Fuentes was known for his brutality after murdering his boss, Rafael Aguilar Guajardo, and seizing control of the Juárez Cartel. In addition to his drug-related crimes, he also laundered money through Colombia to finance his fleets. He later died in a Mexican hospital in 1997 after getting intensive plastic surgery in order to alter his appearance and avoid being recognized.
4 Alfredo Beltran Leyva
Drug Money Earned: $10 billion
Location: Mexico
Birth Year: 1971
Aliases: “El Mochomo”
Alfredo Beltran Leyva smuggled multi-ton loads of methamphetamine and cocaine from South America and Mexico into the United States. Along with his brother Arturo, he gained infamy as one of the most-wanted drug traffickers in Mexico. Arturo was killed in a 2009 shootout, but Alfredo continued his reign of terror until 2017 when he was sentenced to life in prison.
5 Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar
Drug Money Earned: $6.7 billion
Location: India
Birth Year: 1955
Aliases: Aziz Abdul and Dawood Memon
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is currently the most wanted criminal in India, with a reward of $25 million being offered in return for his capture. He goes by a whopping 21 different aliases and is suspected to have been involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 1993 and 2008.
6 Ochoa Vasquez brothers
Drug Money Earned: $6 billion
Location: Colombia
Birth Year: 1949, 1957, and 1950
Aliases: The Medellin Cartel
Fabio Ochoa Restrepo may have had a wholesome background in the family restaurant and cattle farming business, but that didn’t stop his sons Juan David, Jorge Luis, and Fabio from getting into drug trafficking. Juan David, the eldest, enlisted his two brothers’ help in contributing to the establishment of the infamous Medellin Cartel. He turned himself in during 1991 and served only five years.
7 Khun Sa
Drug Money Earned: $5 billion
Location: Burma
Birth Year: 1934
Aliases: Zhang Qifu, Chan Changtrakul
Originally born Zhang Qifu, this infamous drug lord got military training from the Kuomintang and the Burmese Army before becoming independent and establishing himself as the “Opium King” of Myanmar. He dominated the Golden Triangle, controlling up to 70% of its heroin trade and becoming one of the most wanted men in the world by 1990.
8 Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha
Drug Money Earned: $5 billion
Location: Colombia
Birth Year: 1947
Aliases: “El Mexicano”
Earning himself the title of “No. 2 leader” of the same Medellin Cartel that Carlos Lehder helped establish, Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha was one of the most wanted men in Colombia while he was at large. Rodriguez Gacha was also on the United States’ list of the dozen most-wanted Colombian drug traffickers.
9 Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela
Drug Money Earned: $3 billion
Location: Colombia
Birth Year: 1939
Aliases: “El Ajedrecista” and “El Gino”
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela’s moniker “El Ajedrecista” translates to “The Chess Player” in English and was bestowed upon him because of how carefully he considered his every move. He was a joint leader of the Cali Cartel alongside his brother, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, before beginning his 30-year prison sentence in the United States.
10 Carlos Lehder
Drug Money Earned: $2.7 billion
Location: Colombia
Birth Year: 1949
Aliases: Medellin Cartel
This German-Colombian drug lord helped to co-found the infamous Medellin Cartel, along with several other figures who make this list. He first entered into the criminal world by selling stolen vehicles at his father’s used car business. In fact, it was while serving a prison sentence for selling stolen cars that Lehder decided that drug trafficking was his calling.
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