The Cali Cartel Paid $220,000 to Hire El Chavo del 8 Cast for a Child's Birthday Party

One of Latin America's strangest crossovers between pop culture and organized crime has resurfaced. The members of the El Chavo del 8 cast were reportedly hired by the Cali Cartel in 1986 to perform at a private children's party for the daughter of drug trafficker José "Chepe" Santa Cruz in Bogotá. The reported payment was $220,000 in cash.

The revelation, reported by Infobae, comes from Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón, son of cartel leader Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, who said that the arrangement was made through intermediaries. He claimed that the actors, including Roberto Gómez Bolaños, María Antonieta de las Nieves, Rubén Aguirre, and Édgar Vivar, were unaware of who had hired them and performed believing it was a regular private event.

In previous statements quoted by Infobae, María Antonieta de las Nieves confirmed that the hiring was handled by a representative and that the cast never knew who the real hosts were. "We were contracted through third parties, and the deal was made by our agent," she said. "We never knew the event was linked to drug traffickers."

The reported amount of $220,000 was a significant figure at the time, roughly equivalent to more than $600,000 today. Colombian media have pointed out that the event was one of several examples of how drug money penetrated the entertainment industry during the height of the cocaine boom.

Other outlets, including Noroeste and El Tiempo, have recalled that actor Carlos Villagrán, who played "Quico," once said he was invited to a similar "narco party" and turned it down after being offered a blank check. "I refused to go. It didn't feel right," Villagrán reportedly said.

While there is no evidence that the El Chavo del 8 cast was aware of the cartel's involvement, the story highlights how deeply narcotrafficking influenced Latin America's celebrity world in the 1980s.