# El cartel (TV series)

El cartel de los sapos (English title: The Cartel of Snitches) or El cartel is a Colombian television series that first aired on June 4, 2008 on the Colombian network Caracol TV. El cartel stars Manolo Cardona, Karen Martínez, Diego Cadavid, and Robinson Díaz and is based on the 2008 novel by the same name by Andrés López López, alias Florecita ("Little Flower"), a former drug dealer who, while in prison, wrote the fictionalized account of his experiences in the Cali Cartel and of what happened within the Norte del Valle Cartel. In the TV series, which Lopez also wrote, the characters and locations from the book were changed.

## Synopsis

Two friends enter the illegal drugs business, thinking it is the fastest way to become rich. The illegal drug trafficking world seems attractive to all these middle-class people, who overlook the associated dangers and legal problems.
This choice begins a turbulent and troubled lifestyle that will change their fates forever. Martín, alias "Fresita", gets a job in a drugs lab sponsored by the big boss Óscar Cadena (Fernando Solorzano). Martín learns the business quickly and starts to send illegal drugs to the United States, while his boss makes an alliance with the Villegas Brothers, from the West Cartel, to take down the biggest drug dealer ever: Pablo Escobar.
With Escobar down, a new cartel is up: The Pacific Cartel in Colombia, led by Óscar Cadena, so Óscar (the teacher) and Martín (the student) make a pact of friendship and business.
Martín becomes a rich man and he falls for Sofía (Karen Martinez), a beautiful woman, but he wins her heart by lying to her. But Sofía discovers the origin of Martín's wealth, and he has to choose: Sofía or the business.
Óscar helps the police finish the West Cartel. The snitches (sapos) make war between these criminal machines to the point of breaking.
Oscar has been killed and decided to make Martin as the owner of the cartel. Martín refuses to take part in this war and decides to go to Miami with Sofía and his children, unaware that Miami is no longer a safe place. He continues his illegal activities, meanwhile watching enemies kill his old friends.
As increasing numbers of his business partners and brothers die or get caught, Martin is forced to run to Mexico, looking for protection. He realizes too late that, in this business, you can never win. So he becomes a sapo and tells his tale to the DEA.
In the second season, Pepe, after being captured by the FBI, and now released to be a snitch, tells the rest of the story, which leads to the arrests and deaths of several drug traffickers.

## Characters

Caracol decided to change the characters' real names, their aliases, and some locations from the book, although the filmmakers maintained some physical resemblance between the real-life characters and their portrayers. The following tables detail the names of the characters, their portrayers, and the real life people they represent in the series. The first table also highlights the first season characters who also appear in the second season.
First Season :
| Character Name – Aka | Actor | Real name – Alias |
| Martín González – El fresita | Manolo Cardona | Andrés López López – el Florecita (The Flower) |
| Sofía (Martín's wife) | Karen Martínez | María del Socorro Patiño |
| Milton Jiménez – El cabo | Róbinson Diaz | Wílber Alirio Varela – Jabón |
| Pepe Cadena | Diego Cadavid | Fernando Henao Montoya - El Grillo |
| Oscar Cadena | Fernando Solórzano | José Orlando Henao Montoya- el Hombre del Overol |
| Álvaro José Pérez – Guadaña | Julian Arango | Luis Alfonso Ocampo Fómeque – Tocayo |
| Amparo Cadena (esposa de Julio) | Sandra Reyes | Lorena Henao Montoya |
| John Mario Martínez – Pirulito | Juan Pablo Raba (1.ª season) Camilo Saenz (second season) | Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía – Chupeta |
| Julio Trujillo | Fernando Arévalo | Iván Urdinola Grajales – el Enano (The Dwarf) |
| Conrado Cadena – El mocho | Álvaro Rodríguez | Arcángel Henao – el Mocho |
| Alfonso Rendón – Anestesia | Andrés Parra | Carlos Zapata – el Médico |
| Humberto Paredes – Humber | Juan Ángel | Efraín Hernández – Don Efra |
| Samuel Morales | Luis Alfredo Velasco | Miguel Solano – Miguelito |
| Mario Lopera – Don Mario | Santiago Moure | Diego Montoya – Don Diego |
| Gonzalo Tovar – Buñuelo | Juan Carlos Arango | Hernando Gómez Bustamante – Rasguño |
| Apolinar S. Santilla – el Negro Santilla | Elkin Córdoba | Jorge E. Aspirilla – El negro Aspirilla |
| Eliana Saldarriaga (esposa de Pepe) | Juliana Galvis | Cristina Santana |
| Juanita Marín | Nataly Umaña | Natalia Paris Gaviria |
| Juliana Morales o Estupiñán | Natalia Betancurt | Rosario Molano o Santibañez |
| Agente Sam Mathews | John Gertz | Agente Romedio Viola (DEA) |
| El Ovejo | Harold Córdoba | Óscar Varela García – Capachivo |
| Fermín Urrego – el Tigre | Waldo Urrego | Victor Patiño Fómeque – la Fiera |
| Cdte Ramiro Gutiérrez | Alberto Palacio | Colonel Danilo González Gil |
| David Paz | Armando Gutiérrez | Baruch Vega – el Fotógrafo |
| Hugo de la Cruz | Pedro Mogollón | Hélmer Herrera – Pacho Herrera |
| Gral. Javier Ibarra (Policía Nacional) | Germán Quintero | Gral. Rosso José Serrano |
| Leonardo Villegas | Victor Cifuentes | Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela |
| Enmanuel Villegas | Hermes Camelo | Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela |
| Ignacio Nacho Sotomayor | Néstor Alfonso Rojas | José Santacruz Londoño |
| Novio de Hugo de la Cruz | Andrés Toro | Novio de Hélmer Herrera |
| Tulio de la Cruz – Doble Rueda | Alberto Barrero | José Manuel Herrera – el Inválido |
| Pedro Tejada – Revolver | Jimmy Vásquez | Julio Correa – Julio Fierro |
| Susana de Cadena (esposa de Conrado) | Carolina Cuervo | — |
| Francisco José Trujillo (hermano de Julio) | Mauricio Vélez | — |
| Silvio Méndez (chofer y amante de Amparo) | Giovanny Álvarez | — |
| Caremico | Christian Tappan | Orlando Sánchez Cristancho – Trompa de Marrano |
| Kevin – Kevin Izquierdo | Juan Calderón | Richard Martínez |
| Guillermo Polo – Guillo | Dorian Keller | — |
| Ita (abuela de Martín) | Consuelo Luzardo | — |
| Perla (hermana de Martín) | Carolina Lizarazo | — |
| Esposa de Samuel Morales | Tania Falquez | — |
| Rene Zamudio (amigo de Samuel) | Federico Rivera | José 'Chepe' Puello |
| Giselle (esposa de Anestesia) | Angeline Moncayo | — |
| El Contador | Mauricio Navas | – el Secre. |
| Omar Godoy – Navaja | Rodolfo Silva | Juan Carlos Ortiz – Cuchilla |
| Adolfo Aguilar (jefe de Las AUC) – El Halcón | Mauricio Mejía | Carlos Castaño |
| Belinda (amiga de Juanita) | Linda Lucia Callejas | — |
| Soledad (esposa de Óscar) | Majida Issa | — |
| Myriam de Saldarriaga (madre de Eliana) | Rita Bendeck | — |
| Gargajo | Rafael Uribe Ochoa | Rafael Ángel Uribe Serna |
| Señuelo (Trabajador de Eliana) | John Alex Toro | — |
| Cristián | Julio Ocampo | - |
| Jhonatan de la Cruz | Roberto Marín | |
| Israel de la cruz | Héctor García | |
| William Torres | Nelson Tallaferro | — |
| Gral. Jorge Contreras/Capitán Harvey Racines | Julio Correal (1.ª season) Tommy Vásquez (second season) | Jaime Hernán Pineda 'Pedro Pineda' or 'Pispis' |
| Agente Katherine (DEA) | Paulina Gálvez | — |
| Steven Douglas | Brandon Fokken | |
| Becky Clarkson | Vivian Ruiz | |
| Alias "Lagartija" | Johnny Acero | |
Second Season :
| Character – Alias | Actor | Real name – Alias |
| Andrea Negrete – La Mera Mera o la Reina | Patricia Manterola | Sandra Ávila Beltrán – la Reina del Pacífico |
| Victoria "Vicky" Puerta | Carolina Guerra | Yovanna Guzmán |
| – Antenas | John Alex Toro | Ramón Oliveros 'Parabólica' |
| John – el Gordo John | Luis Eduardo Arango | William Tamayo Hernández – Mazinger |
| Mayor Luis Madero – el Caza Narcos (Unidad Antinarcóticos) | Alejandro Martínez | Mayor Elkin Leonardo Molina Aldana |
| Rodolfo Villate 'Rockie' | Juan Sebastián Aragón | — |
| Holger Prado 'el Puma' | Víctor Mallarino | Juan Diego Espinoza – el Tigre |
| Diego Casas – Caliche | Carlos Mario Echavarría | Luis Fernando Lopera – Casadiego |
| – El primo | Luis Fernando Montoya | Carlos Alberto Renteria – Beto |
| Aracely - Tía de Johanna | Marcela Agudelo | — |
| Johanna Lesmes | Angélica Blandón | — |
| El mariachi de "El piloto" | Gustavo Ángel | — |
| María Luisa Higuera (amante de "Caliche") | Margarita Muñoz | — |
| Lina María Acevedo (amor de "Don Mario") | Andrea Noceti | Paula Andrea Betancourt |
| Blanca (Esposa de Racines) | Paola Dulce | — |
| Larissa Márquez de Casas (esposa de "Caliche") | Paula Barreto | Gloria Patricia Gomez Osorio |
| Zully Carmona | Diana Hoyos | Nancy Cadavid |
| Olga (esposa de "Pirulito") | Patricia Castañeda | Yessica Paola Rojas Morales |
| Agente Katherine (DEA) | Paulina Gálvez | — |
| Agente Peter McAllister (DEA) | Anthony Guzmán | Agente Terry Cole (DEA) |
| Agente Lilian Young (DEA) | Michelle Manterola | — |
| Oliver Carmona o García (esposo de Zully) | Ramiro Sandoval | Albeiro Monsalve |
| Patricia Carmona (hermana de Zully) | Sandra Guzmán | Libia Cadavid |
| XL | Ramón Medina | José Luis Ledezma – el JL |
| Wilson Gamboa – Paredón | Joltzman Núñez | Carlos Arturo Patiño – Patemuro |
| Pedro – el Manteco | Ulíses González | Weimar Pérez – Grasoso |
| Teniente Calero | Julián Álvarez | — |
| Juan B. Guillén – el Piloto | Esteban Franco | Amado Carrillo Fuentes – el Señor de los Cielos |
| – el Golfo | Guillermo Quintanilla | Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo – el Padrino |
| Sebastián Bonera | Carlos Humberto Camacho | — |
| Farid Duarte | Ismael Barrios | — |
| Jaime Vélez – el Pajarraco | Bernardo García | Carlos Robayo – Guacamayo |
| Weimar Castro – Caremotor | Carlos Sánchez | Wenceslao Caicedo – el Señor de la Motosierra |
| – Mogollo | Giovanni Galindo | Gilmer H. Quintero – el Cabezón |
| Milton de Jesús Jiménez – Jimenito | Juan Hugo Cárdenas | Wilber Felipe Varela Camacho – Varelita |
| Fernando DaCosta - Luisinho | Bárbaro Marín | Fernandinho Beira-Mar |
| Lucía (esposa de Buñuelo) | Mónica Franco | — |
| Abogado Eddy Doménico (defensor de Bonera) | Gilberto Reyes | — |
| – la India (esposa del Rockie) | Yesenia Valencia | — |
| Joyce (esposa de Luisinho) | Viña Machado | Jacqueline Alcântara Morais |
| Antonio Villegas | Jhonny Rivera | Sigifredo Rodriguez Orejuela |
| Alias "El Pariente" | Carlos Mario Jiménez - Macaco | Manuel Gómez Gutiérrez |
| Doctor Rayo | Carlos Serrato | Doctor Wilfrido Barrios Chávez |
| Agente Navarro | D'Michael Haas | — |
| Agente DEA | Ilja Rosendahl | — |
| Julián Levy | Guy Davidyan | — |
| General Gervasio Morales | Rafael Lahera | General Hugo Armando Carvajal |
| Gildardo Jiménez | Jarol Fonseca | — |
| Bodyguard of "El Golfo" | Carlos Arrechea | — |

## Associated media

The book upon which the TV series is based also inspired the film El Cartel de los Sapos (2011). Lopez has also written several additional books based on his and his associates' experiences in the drug trade.

### Prequel

A prequel series; The Snitch Cartel: Origins was released by Caracol Televisión in 2021.