Caracol Television is launching to the international market the super series The Cartel: The Origin, the untold story of the Cali Cartel, a drug empire whose operation reached more than 25 countries, becoming the most powerful cartel in the world.This super series narrates the events that preceded the successful The Cartel 1 and The Cartel 2, series that were seen around the world, sold to more than 180 countries.
Dago Garcia, VP of Production at Caracol Television, highlighted: ‘The Cartel: The Origin was a production that we owed the audience for a long time. It’s a journey to the beginning of that scourge that transformed our society and that we reflect in The Cartel 1 and The Cartel 2. It’s the story of how a family ends up involved in the drug business and how this destroys any union and any sense of belonging. It’s an intense and crude series where, at times, the call for hope is filtered by those who dared to fight the drug lords in the south of the country’.
Lisette Osorio, VP of International Sales for Caracol Television, added: ‘We know that there are stories that must be told to the world, and this is one of them. Today, we return with The Cartel, with a new story about events that marked a country and an era, and that maintains the plot line that put its predecessors in international vogue. A narrative full of shocking moments, which will surprise audiences by uncovering the reality behind a phenomenon that affected generations’.
Based on real events, The Cartel: The Origin was recorded in 4 units, in 4K quality with film optics and was shot 100% outdoors in Cali and Bogota. It has two casts, representing two historical periods of the Villegas family, from the 50s to the 80s. Its soundtrack maintains a high dose of salsa, characteristic of the context where the real history occurred in Valle del Cauca.The dangerous Villegas brothers, heads of the dreaded Cali Cartel, will be, in their youth, Juan Pablo Urrego (Surviving Escobar, Alias JJ) and Sebastian Osorio (Always a Witch), and in their adult years, Gustavo Angarita Jr. (The Black Widow) and Carlos Manuel Vesga (One Way Out).
The series was producedby Asier Aguilar (Bolívar, The Queen and the Conqueror, and Surviving Escobar, Alias JJ) and it was directed by Jaime Rayo (Without breast there is no paradise), Camilo Villamizar (The Queen and the Conqueror), Carlos Mario Urrea (Undercover Law) and Unai Amuchastegui (The Secretary).
