Carlos Lehder

Sept 7th, 1949: Born in Armenia, a coffee growing region of Colombia. The son of Wilhelm Lehder, a charismatic German engineer and his Colombian wife, Helena Rivas.

1953: Lehder’s parents divorce. Wilhem cites adultery, Helena cites domestic abuse. Carlos and his three siblings are raised by Helena in lower-middle class surroundings.

1965: Helena moves to New York City taking the children with her. Carlos grows up short: 5ft 6” and just 135 pounds. He’s quiet, ambitious with dark, boyish features and penetrating eyes.

1972: Carlos is arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Mineola, New York.

1973: Carlos is charged in Detroit with interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. He posts bond and flees to Miami where he is subsequently arrested for possession of 237 pounds of marijuana. He’s sentenced to 4 years at the Federal Correctional Institute in Danbury, Connecticut.

1974: Lehder bunks with marijuana smuggler George Jung at Danbury. They strategize how to smuggle cocaine into the United States using light aircraft.

February 1976: Carlos Lehder is back in Medellin working at his car dealership, Lehder Autos. He’s smuggling small loads (1-4 kilos) in modified suitcases to the U.S.

July 1976: Barry Kane, a wealthy Cape Cod attorney with a pilot’s license and a plane is introduced to George Jung at a cocktail party. Kane owned a house in Nassau, Bahamas and had contacts with local law enforcement through his Bahamian lawyer, Nigel Bowe. This is the first time Jung and Lehder thought about using the Bahamas as a smuggling route.

February 1977: Lehder marries his Cuban girlfriend, Jemel Nacel, in Toronto.

March 1977: Jung sells 50 kilos of pure cocaine through his hairdresser connection in California. The team net $2.2 million cash. This legitimizes them to Escobar and other Medellin producers.

August 1977: Barry Kane meets up with Lehder and Jung in Miami. Kane flies to Nassau and files a flight plan for the southern Bahamas but flies to Pablo Escobar’s finca outside Medellin instead. He returns to Nassau with 250 kilos and sneaks back into the U.S. with Sunday evening tourist traffic.

September 1977: Lehder rips off Jung’s California hairdresser connection – effectively cutting him out of the business. He turns his attentions to a permanent smuggling base in the Bahamas.

May 1978: Lehder buys the Beckwith House on Norman’s Cay for $190,000 cash. He forms a Bahamian company, International Dutch Resources, and buys up vacant land on the island. Once he has a controlling presence, he intimidates local residents until they either sell or abandon their homes.

July 1978: Lehder upgrades the sleepy Norman’s Cay Yacht Club into a clubhouse for his pilots, constructs a 3,000ft air strip and builds refrigerated warehouses to house his cocaine.

August 1978: Jorge Ochoa visits Norman’s Cay in a Mitsubishi twin-engine turboprop loaded floor-to-ceiling with 314 kilos of cocaine. This first experiment is a success: the load sells for $15 million wholesale in Florida. Ochoa gives Escobar the green light to start using Norman’s Cay.

September 6th 1978: The DEA follow a petty Jacksonville marijuana smuggler, Ed Ward, back to Norman’s Cay. Ward had owned a house on the island since 1976 and was one of the few residents local Lehder permitted to stay on account of them both being smugglers.

September 8th 1978: Lehder convinces Ward and his colleagues to join his operation as pilots.

September 12th 1978: After tracking Ward, the DEA receive Bahamian Government permission to conduct undercover operations and surveillance on Norman’s Cay.

October 1978: Ochoa and Escobar visit Nassau to open bank accounts. After taking his commission, Lehder deposits their profits into Bahamian banks and the funds are wired to Panama.

1979: Norman’s Cay becomes the Caribbean headquarters of the Medellin Cartel. According to DEA estimates, 300 kilos would arrive on the island every hour of every day.* The Cartel was responsible for 74% of the cocaine entering the U.S. and Lehder’s personal wealth mounted into the billions.

January 1979: Ward completes a 500 kilo run to Medellin for Lehder. The atmosphere on Norman’s Cay becomes decadent and paranoid. The island’s staff now numbers approx. 50 with 3 Colombian pilots, 5 American pilots and an endless supply of girls and cocaine. Lehder hires a retinue of German mercenaries and keeps everyone in the dark regarding daily operations. Everyone is addicted to cocaine.

September 3rd, 1979: Ed Ward spots three Bahamas Defense Force boats heading towards Norman’s Cay from Nassau. He turns around and warns Lehder who seems relaxed.

September 4th, 1979: 90 Bahamian police officers raid Norman’s Cay as part of “Operation Racoon.”
33 people are arrested – everyone in Lehder’s operation except Lehder and his German bodyguard, Manfred. A few days later, the entire group was released on just $2,000 bail. Lehder had paid off the authorities and business continued as usual.

December 1979: Lehder is officially told to leave the Bahamas – but he ignores the order and continues his business uninterrupted.

July 1980: Ward is placed on the Bahamians’ “stop list” – if detained in the islands, he could be deported. Facing DEA and IRS problems in Jacksonville, the Ed Ward moves his family to Haiti.

January 8th, 1981: Carlos Lehder, Ed Ward and 11 other conspirators are indicted on 39 counts of smuggling, conspiracy and income tax evasion by a Federal Grand Jury.

September 1981: Lehder is also placed on the Bahamians’ “stop list”. He abandons his house, Volcano, and flies his Rockwell 690 Commander with all his personal belongings to Colombia.

July 10th, 1982: Independence Day in the Bahamas. Lehder continues to use Norman’s Cay as the main transshipment point for Cartel cocaine. He orders a pilot’s to fly over Nassau dumping leaflets with “Nixon-Reagan’s Drug Enforcement Agency Go Home” written on them over the celebrating crowds.

September 5th, 1983: NBC News reporter Brian Ross breaks open the story of Bahamian government corruption. Bahamian authorities freeze Lehder’s bank accounts forcing him to leave the country. He returns to Colombia to launch a Nazi-styled nationalist political party.

February 1987: Lehder is captured in the jungles of Colombia after a multi-year man hunt. He is extradited to the U.S where Florida D.A. describes him as the “Henry Ford of Cocaine.”

May 1988: Lehder is sentenced to Life + 135 years. He is just 38 years old with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion.

April 1992: Lehder testifies at the trial of deposed Panamanian strongman, Gen. Manuel Noriega. As a key prosecution witness, he assists the US authorities in convicting Noriega of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. His sentence is reduced to 55 years.

May 2008: Lehder is transferred to a minimum security prison in Florida where he is frequently visited by his family members.

June 24th, 2015: Lehder writes a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in which he requests mediation with the United States to be allowed to return to Colombia. However, he’s only served 28 years of his 55 year sentence. His request is denied.

*Court papers filed at Lehder’s 1987 trial estimate he earned $250 to $300 million a year. He owned 15 cars and trucks, three airplanes, a helicopter, 12 haciendas, an apartment building and nine other properties, including a huge Bavarian-style tourist complex in Colombia’s Armenia City, as well as assets throughout the world.