Former Drug Lord ‘Comes Clean’ At Sacred Heart

PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: October 21, 2004

ATLANTA—Former drug lord Jorge Valdés challenged attendees at the first monthly Catholic Business Leader Breakfast at Sacred Heart Church to commit themselves fully to Christian living in all aspects of their lives.

Attempting to break down the “Scarface” mystique of drug dealing, Valdés explained that the driving force behind the U.S. operations for the Colombian Medellin drug cartel was three broke 20-year-old kids seeking to get rich. And after all, he told those at the breakfast, if these three kids could do amazing work for Satan to create what was once “the most powerful criminal enterprise on earth,” just think what good, enterprising Catholics can do through faith to build up God’s kingdom on earth.

“I didn’t want to be a Christian because Christians weren’t willing to die for each other. They were on an ego trip,” recalled Valdés. “We were willing to die for each other. I lay in a Panamanian cell, tortured so much that I bled for 15 years (afterwards) when I went to the bathroom. I was willing to die for that lie because I believed in that lie. When we become missionaries for Christ, you are a missionary right in your workplace, not by the words you say but by the words you live by,” said Valdés, with a self-confident and commanding voice.

“If three 20-year-old kids with Satan can change the world for Satan and lie and die in a Panamanian cell (rather than implicate their partners), I believe that (every) one of you can change the entire world, your community, your home.”

The business breakfast was held on Sept. 17, the day after Hurricane Ivan raged through Atlanta causing flooding and power outages and knocking down trees throughout the metro area. Even so, some 25 people attended the opening event. The breakfast will be held on the first Friday of each month from 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the parish hall of the historic Sacred Heart Church.

In his testimony Valdés spoke about how his devout Catholic parents, from one of the richest families in Cuba, fled the island to escape the regime of Castro and his repression of the Catholic Church. They left behind everything. Valdés and his family lived in poverty as he grew up in Florida. He recalled thinking how his parents must have been crazy to flee for their faith, as “nobody helped us.” He developed a hatred for God and the church, even as he went to a Catholic high school where he was an honor student. Bright and aggressive with a penchant for numbers, the young Valdés was working for the Federal Reserve Bank by age 16 and went on to earn a college degree from the University of Miami. He got involved with dishonest businessmen and started a money-laundering business which took him to Colombia. He later began working for the Medellin drug cartel and eventually was put in charge of all the U.S. finances of the cartel, laundering money through foreign accounts. At the age of 21, he said he did his first cocaine deal in California, profiting $36,000 on three kilos of “coke.” Two weeks later, he made another deal and garnered an $80,000 profit. Before long, he was making more than $1 million a month as head of the cartel in the United States.

“Running a drug cartel is very simple,” and some of the principles they operated by included a willingness to die for their cause and for their friends. But Valdés now encourages people to take every opportunity to live out their faith fully.

“We are ministering for Christ every minute we live … It’s about changing the culture through faith,” he said. “You’re either hot or cold. The question for you today is how real is your faith? And if you were to die now would there be enough people whose lives you had changed by your faith?”

Valdés, pacing back and forth and making emphatic gestures with his hands, recalled buying a $7 million ranch complete with state-of-the-art basketball court and gym. He lived licentiously, having casual sex and dating “the most beautiful women in America.”

“If you don’t think sin is fun, it’s because you haven’t seen as much as I have; but it’s not fulfilling.”

While he had anything the world could buy, he hated himself and wanted to die every day.

In 1987 he decided to retire from the drug business and to start a new life. He began taking classes for three years from a simple Christian karate instructor who changed his life. The instructor began sharing his faith with Valdés, and one day invited him to his home. The instructor had told him how deeply he loved his wife, so when Valdés met her, expecting an exotic Asian beauty, he was surprised to see an ordinary middle-aged woman. His reaction was “‘you’ve got to be kidding. You love her?’ I thought he was on drugs. How could he love this woman of 40-something years when I had these beautiful models, and I hated every one of them. How could he be happy when I wanted to die every day?”

Valdés asked his instructor what made him tick. His response was “I have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.”

The seventh-degree blackbelt continued to share Scripture and to influence Valdés not through his words but his life, and in 1989 Valdés dedicated his life to Jesus Christ. He came to see that his parents survived in exile through their faith, and they knew what truly mattered in life.

“For the first time my life had meaning because I realized that I was created for something that God told me I was to live for.”

He was arrested at 34 on Sept. 8, 1990, for his previous crimes, and federal authorities seized more than $15 million of his assets. Then he found out that his father had cancer, and he knew this would gravely harm his parents. He felt it was the lowest point of his life. But Christ’s light broke through, as Valdés faced eight life sentences. The key witness who was to testify against him had died, and his lawyer encouraged him to plead innocent, telling him he’d die in jail otherwise. With a horrendous sense of guilt over his drug dealings and all of those he had hurt or who were dead through bringing tons of cocaine to America, he said, “You don’t understand. I’m dead whether or not I plead guilty.”

One day a woman who was leading a prayer service at the jail where he was imprisoned said to him, not knowing his background, “while we were praying, the Lord told me that you are going to have a great ministry. You are going to impact many lives for Christ.”

As he despaired in prison after government officials confiscated his property, which he had intended to surrender voluntarily, he was reassured in his faith as he randomly flipped in his Bible to the passage in Hebrews: “Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”

As his lawyers and interrogators testified to his Christian conversion and honesty and cooperation during interrogation, the judge made a radical, risky decision and only gave him a 10-year sentence. Valdés was elated. He served five years in a federal prison before getting out on parole. While incarcerated, he completed a second bachelor’s degree in Bible studies from Southeastern Bible College, feeling God was calling him back to school after he received a perfect score on an initial test. After his release from prison he earned a doctorate in New Testament studies from Loyola University in Chicago. He began teaching at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., before realizing that God was calling him to youth ministry. He wrote his autobiography entitled “Coming Clean,” which was published by Random House/Doubleday in 1999. As founder of Coming Clean Ministries, he speaks on the dangers of bad choices and encourages people to use their God-given talents in constructive ways. He focuses on helping youth with programs in areas including aviation, drug awareness and outreach programs such as youth rallies and school assemblies. He now lives in Tyrone and attends Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City.

He spoke of how the nation is in trouble as it tries to redefine morality and how “we’re in the most dangerous of times in history” as every 17 minutes an American teenager attempts suicide. He estimated that 60-70 percent of the teenagers here are using drugs today, as youth in Peachtree City surveyed their public high school and found 70 percent are using them.

“And we’re going to lose 25,000 teenagers this year to drugs and alcohol.”

Faith, he continued, is part of who Christians are called to be and faith must be lived out in every aspect of one’s life, including one’s career. He commented on the Catholic tendency to look at it as the job of priests to reach out to those without faith, while it is just as much the job of the laity, as it was through the karate teacher that he met Christ. As all will one day stand in God’s presence, “If we were charged with being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict us?” he concluded. “I believe that (every) one of you can change the entire world, your community, your home.”

“When we become missionaries for Christ, you are a missionary right in your workplace, not by the words you say but by the words you live by … If your relationship with Jesus Christ is not one of intimacy you’re missing what you are here for.”

Those attending applauded Valdés’ inspiring testimony, and the ministry which they see as a needed service for the downtown business community. Jerry Zukauckas, an international tax accountant, was moved by Valdés’ challenge to be willing to die for Christ. He felt at home at the breakfast and looks forward to the next one.

Lee Echols, a Sacred Heart member, enjoys this opportunity for fellowship.

“This is going to be a really great thing for Sacred Heart and for the downtown business community … Sacred Heart is a remarkable parish with great history. It’s an intown parish that has faced a lot of challenges that other parishes don’t face yet has more opportunities than many parishes have because of its location and the diversity of its parishioners,” said Echols, of the public relations agency The Echols Group. “It’s really an ideal opportunity to connect the church with the business community in continuous outreach in that way. I’m really excited about this event and its potential in the future, and even with Hurricane Ivan, we’ve got a pretty good turnout for the first meeting.”

Father T.J. Meehan spoke a prayer of blessing for the ministry. “It’s a pleasure and a privilege for us to welcome you here. This is a wonderful thing you’re doing, bringing people together, networking and applying your faith to the workplace in decisions you make each day. So we’re grateful you’re here.”

Joanne Wakim, one of the ministry coordinators and a member of Sacred Heart, said she found the Valdés book “riveting.” She said they will feature a variety of highly successful Catholic and non-Catholic speakers “that will convey a Christian approach to the workplace.” She said that the mission of the ministry is to create a network of Atlanta business leaders striving to integrate their faith and work, and people of all faiths are welcome.

“We are called by God, and what we do every week really matters, and God has a special cause for each of us in our workplace,” she said. “We will invite outstanding, successful business leaders … and provide an environment that fosters a strong Catholic Christian business community.”

The speaker on Nov. 5 is Leo Wells, founder and sole shareholder of Wells Real Estate Fund. The company was the largest purchaser of real estate in the United States last year, and Wells has been featured prominently on several national financial news programs and in the financial press, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

For more information on Valdés’ ministry visit comingclean.org. For parking and other information on the breakfast visit

www.SacredHeartAtlBB.com. Sacred Heart Church is located at 353 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta, and can be reached at (404) 522-6800.