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Life of crime

Inside the world of Carlos Lehder, the Hitler-obsessed billionaire drug smuggler who turned on cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar

PABLO Escobar is one of the most notorious Colombian cocaine kingpins, but he was just one member of the infamous Medellin cartel.

Netflix series Narcos follows his rise and fall, and also includes some insights into another member of the crew - Carlos Lehder Rivas.

 Carlos Lehder was part of the Medellin cartel and known for having wild parties
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Carlos Lehder was part of the Medellin cartel and known for having wild partiesCredit: Getty Images

It may seem impossible, but Lehder - as he is best known's - story is even more fascinating than that of 'The King of Cocaine' Escobar.

Lehder was born in Colombia in 1949, to a German engineer dad and a mum who was a schoolteacher.

He spent the majority of his childhood in Colombia, eventually moving to New York when he was 15 after his parents split up.

 Juan Riedinger is seen starring as Lehder in Netflix show Narcos
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Juan Riedinger is seen starring as Lehder in Netflix show NarcosCredit: Netflix

It's thought to be then that he first got mixed up in crime.

He began dealing marijuana and stolen cars, moving the vehicles between America and Canada.

That didn't last long though and he was arrested for his involvement in the car ring in 1973, resulting in a prison term.

This proved to be a turning point for Lehder, but probably not in the way you're thinking.

During his time in federal prison in Connecticut he shared a cell with George Jung, the notorious drugs smuggler whose story was turned into 2001 movie Blow starring Johnny Depp.

The two men bonded, with Lehder talking to Jung about cocaine.

He explained that while a kilo of the drug was between $4,000 and $5,000 in Colombia, in America is would sell for $60,000.

Mike Vigil is the former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and this meeting was "like destiny".

Soon they were running a smuggling operation that moved cocaine between countries.

Officials were spoken to and agreed to look the other way, allowing the drugs to move freely.

Initially the pair used the Bahamas as the gateway, but as time wore on they wanted somewhere smaller where they could more easily fly under the radar.

 Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who was killed by Colombian special forces in December 1993
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Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who was killed by Colombian special forces in December 1993Credit: Getty Images

That led them to a small island called Norman's Cay, which is 210 miles from Miami.

By this time Lehder was taking cocaine, and once he was in the seclusion of Norman's Cay his behaviour altered. His relationship with Jung was also teetering - eventually he forced Jung out of the agreement.

"Lehder did what he wanted to do on the island because he had the right Bahamian authorities on his payroll," , told Vice.

 Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar in Narcos
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Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar in NarcosCredit: AP:Associated Press

"Lehder imported woman, and under his control the island became notorious for its sex parties and drug use.

"[He had] an interesting and complicated [personality]. Talk to sources, both the good guys and former bad guys, and they acknowledge his charisma.

"He was very handsome and both woman and men found him really attractive.

";There are stories about Lehder being bisexual. He was a hedonist and I think he had a problem with self-control."

 Norman's Cay, the island Ledher used to smuggle drugs
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Norman's Cay, the island Ledher used to smuggle drugsCredit: Getty Images

It's not just Chepesiuk who heard these stories either, Vigil did too.

: "There were other people that lived there, but they started to drive them out, and Carlos Lehder started to develop kind of like a neo-Nazi group there, that would protect the planeloads of coke and intimidate the people that lived there."

He wasn't the only one to question Lehder's political leanings - Jung once claimed to High Times that he "loved John Lennon and Adolph Hitler at the same time".

 Carlos Lehder received a jail sentence of over 100 years
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Carlos Lehder received a jail sentence of over 100 yearsCredit: Getty Images

After the partnership with Jung faltered, Lehder became more involved with the Medellin cartel.

His smuggling had made him an important part of the operation - and netted a lot of money.

After being ordered off Norman's Cay he returned to Colombia, which is when things began to fall apart.

He splashed his cash around, doing things like building a John Lennon statue in his garden.

There was talk he wanted to set up a kind of Nazi government too, and he eventually did create a political party called National Latino Movement.

In part that was because of his disagreement with the Colombian government's approval of extradition.

"Wilhelm, Carlos's father, was a Nazi sympathiser and admirer of Hitler," .

"I think that, growing up, Carlos absorbed his father's neo-Nazis leanings and anti- Semitism.

"For example, he denied the existence of the Holocaust.

"He certainly wasn't shy about giving interviews or expressing his views. He often praised Hitler and railed against the Jews."

 Pablo Escobar remains known as the godfather of the Medellin Cartel
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Pablo Escobar remains known as the godfather of the Medellin CartelCredit: Getty Images

A police raid on one of his homes apparently found Hitler memorabilia, and he was desperate to change the politics of Colombia.

For Lehder, the country needed to focus on cocaine, which he called it's "atomic bomb" - according to Vigil.

Things came to a head in 1984, when the Colombian Minister of Justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was assassinated.

 Juan Riedinger stands at the back leaning on the wall in Narcos
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Juan Riedinger stands at the back leaning on the wall in NarcosCredit: Netflix

His death prompted President Belisario Betancur to give the go-ahead to drug lords being extradited to the US, something he'd previously opposed - but Bonilla had wanted.

Lehder was top of his hit list and on February 4 1987 Lehder was arrested and extradited to America, which is when Vigil met him.

"The first impression that I had of him was that he was a con artist, a manipulator," he said.

 DEA Director John C. Lawn speaking about Colombian drug king Carlos Lehder during a press conference
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DEA Director John C. Lawn speaking about Colombian drug king Carlos Lehder during a press conferenceCredit: Getty Images

"He said, 'Listen, I can help you capture Pablo Escobar. I'm willing to go back to Colombia.'"

That didn't happen, with police deciding the move was too risky.

Instead, in 1988 he was handed a sentence of life without parole plus 135 years.

At this time, US prosecute Robert Merkle said Lehder was to cocaine what Henry Ford was to cars.

His jail term was reduced to 55 years after he testified against another drugs boss called Manuel Noriega in 1992.

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