Gilberto Molina

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Gilberto Molina Moreno (February 27, 1937 – February 27, 1989) was a major Colombian emerald magnate who was intimately connected to the notorious Medellín cartel and widely suspected of involvement in drug trafficking during the 1980s. Molina was born in Tudela, in the town of Paime, Cundinamarca. He spent his youth in the emerald mining zone in the cities of Muzo and Quipama in the department of Boyacá, centered about 120 km northwest of Bogotá, where he farmed cattle and worked as a butcher. Colombia's emerald mines are considered some of the richest in the world. He soon became involved with the emerald business as members of his family were members of a militia in charge of keeping the mines safe, called "La Pesada." He worked first searching for emeralds and then as guard, and he started making a name for himself, often being called the "emerald tsar". It was then that Molina met a young Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, "El Mexicano," who would become years later one of the most feared kingpins in the infamous Medellín Cartel. Rodríguez Gacha had moved to the area to look for a better life and he soon became part of Molina's group, as a hitman, and then as his head of security. It was also around his time that he associated with Víctor Carranza with whom he discovered a large mine, and with whom he became the main beneficiary of the mine concessions by the government, which allowed both him and Carranza to legalize their immense riches and consolidate their power. Once he became rich, Molina became a celebrity in Quipama, a town that he revitalized by building a number of public facilities and constructions, including among others a town hall, schools, a market place and an airport, estimated around $500,000. With his partner...