Very little is known about Villa's early life. She is part of a drug trafficking family known as the Cifuentes Villa clan[4] or the Cifuentes-Villa Drug Trafficking Organization.[5] Originally, the clan was led by three of Villa's brothers. Francisco Cifuentes Villa was a pilot for Pablo Escobar with assets estimated at over US$200 million before his death.[6] Fernando Cifuentes Villa was associated with the Cali Cartel before his death.[7] The third, Jorge Milton Cifuentes Villa, was arrested in Venezuela in 2012.[8] It is unknown if Villa has a husband.
Dolly Cifuentes Villa gained notoriety upon her arrest in 2011 after Colombian media discovered her romantic affair with Jaime Alberto Uribe Velez, the brother of a former President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe.[9] The affair between Uribe and Villa occurred before the time of Alvaro Uribe's presidency; however, he was already a prominent public figure at the time. Jaime Uribe died in 2001.[10]
He allegedly had ties to Pablo Escobar, a business partner of Villa's brother Francisco.[3] He had a wife, Astrid Velez, and two children.[10] He and Dolly Cifuentes Villa also shared two children, Ana Maria Uribe Cifuentes and Daniel Alberto Uribe Cifuentes.[9]
Alvaro Uribe, publicly recognized as a major supporter of the United States war on drugs,[11] claimed to have no knowledge of the affair in a Twitter post on the subject.[10]