Cali - The Journey
Told by the Son Who Lived It.
This isn’t a history lesson - it’s a lived reality.
The story of the Cali Cartel has been told a thousand times, but rarely from the inside. This page offers a deeply personal glimpse into a world I was born into - one of power, secrecy, and unimaginable consequence.
Through a comprehensive timeline and rare photographs, I’m sharing my family’s past - not to glorify it, but to give it context. To show how things really were, and to help make sense of how far we’ve come since.
This is the past as I remember it. The people behind the headlines. The choices, the silence, the cost.
It's uncomfortable. It's real - and it’s time to look at it with open eyes.
- William Rodríguez Abadía
So, what happened?
… and when?
Here is a comprehensive and detailed timeline, told truthfully, from my perspective:
1939
Gilberto was born.
1943
Miguel was born.
1956
Gilberto throws his dad out and becomes head of the family. Miguel continues school in Cali.
1963
Miguel marries William's mother.
1965
William Rodríguez Abadía is born.
1971
William's mother leaves his father and takes him to the United States.
1973
Gilberto and Miguel enter the drug trade and begin investing in various businesses to launder money.
1977
William returns to Colombia and reunites with his father after six years. The brothers are now well-known for both legal and illegal enterprises.
1979
William decides to live with Gilberto's first wife and becomes integrated with the Rodríguez family. His father becomes involved with a soccer team.
1982
Pablo Escobar is elected into Congress.
1984
Escobar kills the Attorney General. The Colombian government begins a war against drug lords. Gilberto flees to Spain and is arrested. William begins law school.
1986
Gilberto returns to Colombia through corrupt influence, is sentenced to prison but released in 1987.
1988
Golden years for the cartel begin. Escobar declares war against the Cali Cartel. The family lives in fear with multiple assassination attempts.
1989
Presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán is murdered. Extradition is reinstated. Gilberto and Miguel go into hiding. Escobar terrorizes Colombia.
1993
Escobar is killed. William graduates as an attorney, moves to Spain for his Master's, and opens a law firm in Cali.
1994
Due to US pressure, Colombian authorities begin a manhunt for Cali Cartel leaders, forcing them into hiding.
1995
Phone recordings expose that the Cartel funded President Samper's campaign, marking their political downfall. William marries and has a daughter. Gilberto is captured in June; Miguel is arrested in August after betrayal by a bodyguard.
1996
William assumes a political role, pays officials to block US anti-drug policies. Chepe escapes prison but is murdered by rival cartel leader Orlando Henao. An assassination attempt leaves William shot 8 times but alive. A peace treaty follows, preventing war between cartels.
1997
Extradition is reinstated in Colombia. William begins to distance himself from the cartel amidst rising threats. He and his wife welcome their second daughter.
1998–2001
William focuses on the soccer team and legal work, but danger from rival cartels and US authorities grows. He lives increasingly cautiously, preparing for possible legal consequences.
2002
The United States issues an arrest warrant for William, forcing him into hiding. His time with family becomes limited as he evades capture.
2002–2004
William leads a nomadic life on the run, separated from his family. The US intends to use him as leverage to extradite Gilberto and Miguel to America.
2004–2005
Gilberto is extradited to the US in December 2004. Miguel follows in May 2005. This convinces William to negotiate his surrender.
2006
William surrenders to US authorities in Panama in January 2006, beginning a new chapter under the American legal system.
2006–2010
William enters the US legal system, serves his time, and begins building a new life. On June 3, 2010, he is released from prison and sets out on a mission of transformation and redemption.
