Ernesto Samper

Shortly after his presidential victory, Samper was accused by Pastrana of having received campaign donations from the Cali Cartel in excess of $6 million US dollars. Samper initially denied the allegations and deemed his political adversary a sore loser. Soon afterwards, a series of damaging tape recordings were released to the public: the "narco-cassettes".[9] Years later, the DEA's Joe Toft would claim ownership of the recordings as he was set to depart for Texas where he would retire soon after.

The Chief Prosecutor at the time, Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento, personally led the investigation. Valdivieso was a cousin of the late Luis Carlos Galán, a charismatic Liberal party presidential candidate assassinated in 1989 by the Medellín Cartel for his political views, particularly for favoring the extradition of drug lords to the United States. Valdivieso discovered connections between the Cali drug cartel and top figures of Colombia's society, including politicians, journalists, athletes, army and police officers, and artists, among others.

Fernando Botero, who had been one of the campaign managers for Samper, was named Minister of Defense. Horacio Serpa, another of Samper's political allies during campaigning, was named Minister of Interior. When news of the investigation was leaked to the press, Samper appointed them to face the media and aggressively deny the possibility that drug money entered the finances of the presidential campaign. The message was clear: if money from the Cali drug cartel found its way into the campaign's finances, Samper had no notion of this. During a press conference in which both men referred to and disqualified key elements of the investigation, one of the journalists asked them how they had obtained this document, since it was a confidential document that only the prosecutor had the authority to release once the evidence was collected. Serpa said it was given to them by an "anonymous source".

After many months, numerous politicians and top members of the government were indicted, but only a few were convicted. Botero was arrested in connection to the investigation and charged with conspiracy to illicitly gain wealth. Santiago Medina, the campaign's treasurer, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison, as a result of the investigation. Other political figures, such as Alberto Santofimio Botero and Eduardo Mestre, as well as journalist Alberto "el loco" Giraldo, were also imprisoned as a result of the same investigation. Giraldo spoke on behalf of the Cali Cartel in many of the tape recordings. The prosecutor also charged Samper, who insisted on his innocence. Samper said that if drug money had entered the presidential campaign, it had done so "behind his back".

Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, a leader of Colombia's Catholic Church, stated in an interview that not knowing that drug money financed part of the presidential campaign was similar to not noticing an elephant entering one's living room.[10][11] Since then, the events that led to drug money financing the "Samper for President" campaign have been referred to as "The Elephant".

According to the Colombian Constitution, only Congress can judge the president. So, once the Prosecutor General presented the case and delivered the evidence to the Congress, it was in the hands of the latter to evaluate the evidence and determine whether Samper was directly involved in this scandal. Congress is a political institution, and at the time the majority of its members were political allies of Samper and many had also been implicated in dealings with the Cali Cartel. Samper was found neither guilty nor innocent.

As a consequence of this political turmoil, the United States withdrew political assistance to Samper's government. For consecutive years, Samper's administration was lambasted by the US for its supposed failure to make every effort to effectively fight the war against cocaine and the Cali Cartel. Additionally, the US revoked Samper's visa and thereby effectively banned him from entering the country.

For a detailed timeline of the events regarding this investigation, see Procedure 8.000.

In June 1995, Samper claimed that his administration had made considerable progress in fighting the drug war—which had cost Colombia "countless lives" in the previous ten years, "including more than 3,000 police officers and soldiers, 23 judges, 63 journalists and four presidential candidates"—by launching an "integrated, multi-front attack on the cartels" that targeted "bank accounts, laboratories, crops, chemicals, transportation systems and political connections."[12]

In June 1995, a money-laundering law was signed; and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, a leader of the Cali Cartel, was arrested, one of over 1,100 cartel members arrested so far in the year.[12] By August, five more cartel leaders—Henry Loaiza-Ceballos, Victor Patiño-Fomeque, José Santacruz Londoño, Phanor Arizabaleta-Arzayus, and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela—had been arrested, leaving Hélmer Herrera the only top leader at large.[13]

Since January 1995, about 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of coca crops and over 5,400 acres (2,200 ha) of heroin crops had been destroyed, much more than in 1994; more than 440,000 US gallons (1,700,000 l; 370,000 imp gal) of liquid chemicals and 3,800,000 kilograms (8,400,000 lb) of solid chemicals were destroyed; 64,277 grams (2,267 oz) of heroin were confiscated; and 243 drug labs were destroyed.[12]

In 1995, Colombia's Caribbean islands became bases from which the military could intercept drug shipments and communications. Unprecedented police operations in the city of Cali took place with the same objective of disrupting drug trafficking.[lower-alpha 1][12]

However, with drug use in Europe on the rise, new markets opening up in Eastern Europe and Asia, and the United States reporting a 25% increase in cocaine-related medical emergencies since 1991, the continuing demand for drugs meant that drug trafficking would continue.[12]

Samper stated that further measures to be taken should focus on increased international cooperation, including sharing information to speed up investigations and prosecutions, working toward implementing a treaty to stop cartel money laundering through established financial institutions, restricting the trade in precursor chemicals, enhancing international financial support for crop substitution, and holding a world summit on drugs.[12]