Who Is Jorge Salcedo in ‘Narcos’? Your Guide to the Man Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel

Part of the charms of Narcos — if you can refer to a show about a coke-fueled war as “charming” — comes from its addicting-to-watch villains. For two seasons, Wagner Moura’s take on Pablo Escobar enthralled audiences, and with Season 3, it looked like the Kings of Cali would replace Escobar as the coke kingpin we love to hate. However, with no disrespect to Narcos’ incredible portrayal of the heads of the Cali Cartel, this past season brought along a character even more compelling than the bad guys — Jorge Salcedo.

Portrayed by Matías Varela, both the real Salcedo and his fictional portrayal were the head of security for Miguel Rodrigo-Orejuela (Damian Alcazar), and if Narcos’ version of Salcedo is a complicated figure, that’s nothing compared to his real life counterpart. Though Salcedo willingly volunteered to work with the Cali Cartel and seemed to have a good relationship with his bosses, he was also the man mostly responsible for bringing down the Cali Cartel from within. Who exactly was this man? Is he on the side of the DEA or the side of the cartels? Did he actually kill anyone? And does Jorge die in Narcos? Here’s your guide to one of the most complicated figures Narcos has ever tackled.

Who was the real Jorge Salcedo?

Jorge Salcedo had a stable career before he started working with the Cali Cartel. The eventual head of security had a background in civil engineering and used to work for oil refinery companies on special projects. He later branched into working with high-level communication and location equipment, which caught the attention of the Colombian military and later the Cali Cartel.

Salcedo, who saw it as his patriotic duty to help end Pablo Escobar’s’ reign, was involved in an assassination attempt on the drug kingpin’s life. The attempt ultimately failed, and Salcedo was lucky to escape. However, the plan put him a difficult situation. Because the plan ultimately involved assisting the Cali Cartel, Salcedo was labelled as a criminal and the Colombian government could no longer confidently align itself with him. In 1988, Salcedo was recruited to work as head of security for the Cali Cartel to protect them from the threat of Pablo Escobar.

To hear Salcedo tell it, he was never completely on board with or opposed to his employers. He mostly saw the job as an opportunity to eventually launch his own security company. That changed when Guillermo Pallomari (Javier Cámara) came more into the picture.

Was Jorge Salcedo really asked to kill Guillermo Pallomari?

Yes, and by all accounts, this was the moment that changed things for Salcedo. By the time Salcedo was asked to organized the murder of Cali’s accountant, he had already witnessed several murders, both directly and indirectly. Instead of going through with the Cali Cartel’s plan, Salcedo hid Pallomari and his family and decided to become a DEA informant.

It’s been debated whether Salcedo made this choice out of the goodness of his heart or because he didn’t want to be personally connected to a murder. However, he has revealed that after he decided to become a DEA informant, Salcedo was convinced he would be killed.

Did Jorge Salcedo really kill the hitman Navegante?

Season 3 of Narcos shows Salcedo killing a hitman in self-defense. The real Salcedo maintains that he didn’t kill anyone and “the DEA guys” are the ones who were actually responsible for the death. However, others are a bit more skeptical, including Varela.

Did Jorge Salcedo die?

Narcos ends in much the same way that real life ended for Salcedo — stuck in America under witness protection. Salcedo was not allowed to return to Colombia after helping to bring Cali down. He still lives in America under witness protection with his family but has been very vocal about the show.

Does the real Jorge Salcedo like Narcos Season 3?

He seems to. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Salcedo said, “From what I have seen of Narcos — and I haven’t seen the whole thing — it’s a very good, dynamic production.” He also confirmed that this season was mostly true, though it took a couple of artistic liberties.

Stream Narcos on Netflix