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Glite Dictionary
Medellin cartel

Medellin cartel

1 8.1
A Colombian criminal group that sold and smuggled cocaine from the 1970s until 1993
  • proper noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : cartel de Medellín
  • Authorities worked tirelessly to dismantle the Medellin cartel and reduce its influence in the drug market.

He used to run cocaine out of Colombia for Pablo Escobar, Ochoa and the Medellin Cartel.

Examples

  • So the Medellin cartel goes into meltdown.

  • The Medellin cartel was infamous for its violent tactics during the cocaine trade in the 1980s.

  • Pablo Escobar was the most notorious leader of the Medellin cartel, controlling a massive drug empire.

Synonyms

drug cartel
vsMedellin cartel
  • NSFW
36 5.3

A group that makes and sells illegal drugs and uses violence or bribes officials to control the business

is a notorious Colombian example dominating the cocaine trade until 1993

Surface Forms

Medellin cartel main

Morphology

Medellin + cartel

The phrase is compositionally clear in that a B1 learner who knows 'Medellin' as a place and 'cartel' as an organization can infer it denotes an organization associated with Medellín. However, the specific historical sense — that it was a notorious Colombian drug trafficking organization with violent tactics and a famous leader — is cultural and encyclopedic knowledge not derivable from the parts, so full meaning is not predictable.

Etymology

Medellin cartel gets its name from the city Medellin in Colombia and the word cartel, which means a group that controls a market. The group was based in that city and ran much of the cocaine trade, so the phrase now means 'a powerful drug gang'.