Carlos Lehder - Early Activities and Prison

Early Activities and Prison

Lehder started out as a stolen car dealer, a marijuana dealer, and a smuggler of stolen cars between the US and Canada. While serving a sentence for car theft in federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, Lehder decided that, upon his release, he would take advantage of the burgeoning market for cocaine in the United States and enlisted his bunkmate, former marijuana dealer George Jung, as a future partner. Jung had experience with flying marijuana to the US from Mexico in small aircraft, staying below radar level and landing on dry lake beds. Inspired by the idea, Lehder decided to apply the principle to cocaine transport and formed a partnership with Jung. While in prison, he set out to learn as much information as possible that could be useful to him in the cocaine business. Lehder would sometimes even spend hours questioning fellow inmates on money laundering and smuggling. George Jung allegedly said that Lehder kept countless files and constantly took notes.

Lehder's ultimate scheme was to revolutionize the cocaine trade by transporting the drug to the United States using small aircraft. Previously, drug dealers had to rely on human "mules" to smuggle the drug in suitcases on regular commercial flights. In Lehder's vision, much greater quantities could be transported directly by small private aircraft, with far less risk of interception.