Xorge Noble told us the immoralities of illicit drug use in Cocaina: Vicio Mortal and now he brings us a new story of where & how the drugs come about. Drug pushing is brutal & many lives are taken away because of it. Much corruption & bloodshed arise in El Cartel De La Droga ("Drug Cartel").
An important meeting of drug bosses takes place where they discuss that their country (which is never named, but assumed to be South American) is declaring war on them after much pressure from other nations that are being affected by the cocaine that is swarming into their territories. The drug cartel bosses feel betrayed by their own country that has always cooperated with them, but with the sudden change of circumstances—they’re ready to fight them. It begins with the kidnapping & brutal torture of one drug lord and then the nation’s president’s daughter is kidnapped, raped & dismembered. Afterwards, it is back & forth gun battles & torture between the military & drug traffickers. All this happens while the cocaine is still being smuggled & provided by those asking for it!
El Cartel De La Droga is one of Xorge Noble’s best movies since it goes to great lengths to tell a drug war story and with whatever resources that its low budget could provide. El Cartel De La Droga is indeed an example of how anyone and with any budget can make a great movie. With a little bit of imagination and a great cast; Xorge managed to take us to a fictional country with so much corruption & crime and he even somehow pulled off having an LA nightclub turn into a presidential residence (somewhat). What’s even more intriguing is how much brutality & drug trafficking craziness the movie has! We are treated to some nice scenes of brutal-bloody torture, gun-firing action and scenes of the crazy lengths that drug traffickers go through in order to provide cocaine for the many people that demand it. One scene has producer/actor Jorge Gomez & producer/actress Yamila putting cocaine into latex condoms and another scene features Yamila getting an all-female dance group to wear fake bloody pads stuffed with cocaine inside them so they can smuggle it to its destination. It’s completely bonkers, but reality as well.
It’s fairly obvious that El Cartel De La Droga was super low-budget, but despite the short in cash; Xorge & his producers still managed to gather up an excellent cast of unknown actors and a couple of big names which are Maritza Olivares and the famous David Reynoso. David appears in only a few scenes, but regardless of that, he still pulls off playing a great President of a corrupt country trying to be good. His facial expressions & general demeanor are always believable. Maritza also appears in just a few scenes, but her scenes with her getting tortured are believable & sickening. The rest of the cast just seem believable since they have the look of drug traffickers & general scum. Xorge truly lucked out here.
El Cartel De La Droga is a grand ol’ time overall. It’s a brutal & simple movie all about drug trafficking & the bloodshed behind it which not only involves criminals, but political affiliates as well. If you enjoy Xorge’s other movies, then this one will be just as enjoyable and perhaps more so. Don’t skip it. Don’t hesitate. Just take a hit of this cocaine-induced madness and enjoy!