The two major cartels in Miami were the Medellín and the Cali cartels. Both centered in Colombia, they were the biggest producers of cocaine thwat was imported into the United States.

 

Nationality's Role in Cartels

 

As the profit from cocaine increased during the 1970s and 1980s, competing gangs and cartels aggressively attempted to control the trade; alliances and enemies made between these rival groups brought much destruction to Miami.

 

During a period following the Mariell Boatlift, a period of ethnic tensions rose in Miami. Miami had transformed from an area comprised of a 10% white Hispanic population in the 1960s, to that of a 90% white Hispanic in the beginning of the 1980s. These increased tensions between ethnicity followed itself into the cocaine trade, and became the main distinction between cartels. Nationality was the greatest dividing factor between cartels. A shared nationality allowed for greater cohesion and a stronger bond between members of the groups, but it also allowed for a bitter hatred towards those who did not share this. Not only did the trade become a matter of money, but it transformed into a matter of nationality as well. The three distinct groups based on nationality consisted of “The Anglos, the Cubans, and the Colombians.”

 

The Anglos were mainly composed of English speaking Americans. Though they mainly worked under the marijuana trade, some tried to deal cocaine once they noticed the big amount of money others made off of it. Their average pay for one night’s work of piloting cargo averaged 50,000$, and the pay for unloading the cargo was between 5,000$ and 10,000$ a night.

 

The Cubans were compromised mostly of the 125,000 refugees who immigrated to South Florida. Highly unemployed and taxed on social services, these people were especially vulnerable to joining the cocaine trade. The most well known member Is Jose Medrano Alvero Cruz (El Padrino), who generated millions off the trade, but his fear of capture lead him to more precautious measures.

 

The Colombians were by far the largest and most powerful cartel in the Miami area. Officials estimated between 50 and 150 top Colombian traffickers lived worked in South Florida, with another 200 or so mid-level managers helping them run their operations. Colombians especially tended work with family members