The Lion was a drug smuggler who represented the Medellín cartel's Miami operations.
Biography[]
The Lion was an old friend of Gustavo Gaviria but had spent much of his life in the United States. It was The Lion who first brought cocaine to Miami, wearing a jacket Hermilda had made and filled with cocaine. He made over twenty flights back and forth between Miami and Colombia, and soon had to start finding other methods of transporting the drug, such as bribing pilots. He would have pregnant women swallow small bags of cocaine; one of these women ended up in a Miami hospital and was treated by Connie Murphy, but she did not survive (Descenso). When Carlos Lehder became the Cartel's new pilot, The Lion took command of all operations in Miami.
In the fall of 1992, Escobar summoned him to Colombia to plan on improving his operations. However, Lion was picked up at the airport by the Cali cartel, and he was taken to meet the cartel leaders, who convinced him to betray Escobar and join their organization. Months later, Lion introduced Hélmer Herrera to all of Escobar's contacts in Miami. After Herrera learned and acquired everything, he had his sicario Navegante murder Lion.