Colombia in the 1990s is a country in chaos, as a weak governmentbattles guerrilla movements and narco-traffickers, including thenotorious Pablo Escobar and his rivals in the Cali cartel. EnterJorge Salcedo, a part-time soldier, a gifted engineer, a respectedbusinessman and family man—and a man who despises Pablo Escobar forpatriotic and deeply personal reasons. He is introduced to thegodfathers of the Cali cartel, who are at war with Escobar anddesperately want their foe dead. With mixed feelings, Jorge agreesto help them.
In this riveting and relentless nonfiction thriller,
award-winning investigative reporter William C. Rempel tells the
harrowing story of former Cali cartel insider Jorge Salcedo, an
ordinary man facing an extraordinary dilemma—a man forced to risk
everything to escape the powerful and treacherous Cali crime
syndicate.
Colombia in the 1990s is a country in chaos, as a weak government
battles guerrilla movements and narco-traffickers, including the
notorious Pablo Escobar and his rivals in the Cali cartel. Enter
Jorge Salcedo, a part-time soldier, a gifted engineer, a respected
businessman and family man—and a man who despises Pablo Escobar for
patriotic and deeply personal reasons. He is introduced to the
godfathers of the Cali cartel, who are at war with Escobar and
desperately want their foe dead. With mixed feelings, Jorge agrees
to help them.
Once inside, Jorge rises to become head of security for Miguel
Rodríguez Orejuela, principal godfather of the $7-billion-a-year
Cali drug cartel. Jorge tries to turn a blind eye to the violence,
corruption, and brutality that surround him, and he struggles
privately to preserve his integrity even as he is drawn deeper into
the web of cartel operations. Then comes an order from the
godfathers that he can’t obey—but can’t refuse. Jorge realizes that
his only way out is to bring down the biggest, richest crime
syndicate of all time.
Thus begins a heart-pumping roller-coaster ride of intensifying
peril. Secretly aided by a pair of young American DEA agents, Jorge
races time and cartel assassins to extract damaging evidence, help
capture the fugitive godfather, and save the life of a witness
targeted for murder. Through it all, death lurks a single misstep
away.
William C. Rempel is the only reporter with access to this story
and to Jorge, who remains in hiding somewhere in the United
States—even the author doesn’t know where—but has revealed his
experience in gripping detail. Salcedo’s is the story of one
extraordinary ordinary man forced to risk everything to end a
nightmare of his own making.