Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela (born 15 August 1943) is a Colombian drug lord currently imprisoned in the United States. He took over the leadership of the Cali Cartel after his brother Gilberto's arrest in 1995. His leadership came to an end after his capture by a joint DEA-National Police operation the same year, and his son David Rodriguez assumed control of the operations of the cartel.
From the cartel's establishment till Gilberto's arrest in September 1994, Miguel served as the operations chief of the cartel and was constantly overshadowed by his much more charismatic and outspoken brother. Aside from his right-hand man Fercho Castillo, his son David and deputy security chief Jorge Salcedo, everyone else reported to Gilberto. In a bid to affirm his independent identity, he disregarded his brother's ambitious surrender plan with the government and initiated a war with the rival Norte del Valle cartel. Ignoring his brother's orders to lay low, he attended the opening night of the Cali Fair in 1994 as the main guest to proclaim himself as Cali's most powerful man. However, he was ambushed by the Norte del Valle cartel and he narrowly escaped.
He also developed paranoia after his brother's arrest, and ordered his psychotic son to execute anyone he suspected of committing treachery. This caused his head of security Salcedo to work with the DEA, resulting in Miguel's arrest by the Search Bloc on August 6 1995. He mended relations with his brother while imprisoned, and hoped that Gilberto's surrender plan would be put into action. However after Javier Peña called Colombia a "narco-state" in an unsanctioned interview, Miguel and his brother were extradited to the United States by disgraced Colombian president Ernesto Samper.
Personality
Miguel, much like his brother, is a very smart, sophisticated and cautious man, avoiding bringing attention to himself or his associates. However, while fully capable of managing the cali cartel, he lacks his brother's charisma and magnetism to people, which makes any action he can do completely dependant on how much money he can pay for people to do what he says. After his brother's arrest, he becomes paranoid, vindictive and erratic, and cannot exert the same control his brother had over his own organization and their increasingly uneasy partners in the valley north, resorting to increasingly heavy handed methods, which earns the despleasure of his associates. Eventually the self perceived inability to measure up to his brother's talents makes it snap at him in a phone call he gets from prison with him.
he is also a very conniving, selfish man, convincing his brother to get rid of Claudio Salazar when he was just slightly displeased at the surrender deal but willing to accept it nonetheless, knowing Pacho will jump at the chance to kill him due bad blood between them, only because he wanted to have his wife for himself.