Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela, also known as El Ajedrecisth (The Chess Player) was a Colombian drug lord, who was one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel, based in the city of Cali. He was born in Mariquita, Colombia, on January 30, 1939.
“El Ajedrecista” (The Chess Player) who happens to be the notorious former leader of Colombia’s drug trafficking Cali Cartel is said to have passed away on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela cause of death: How did Chess Player die?
The notorious former leader of Colombia’s drug trafficking Cali Cartel is said to have died in a US prison at the age of 83, his lawyer said Wednesday.
According to the family of the late Gilberto, he died of lymphoma; cancer that begins in infection-fighting cells of the immune system called lymphocytes.
At the time of his death, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela was serving a 30-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Butner, a medium-security facility in North Carolina. He was inmate number 14023-059 with a release date of 15 July 2029, at an age of 90 years old.
He was considered to be one of the world’s biggest drug lords following the 1993 death of Pablo Escobar, the leader of the rival Medellin Cartel.
