 |
| Part of the War on drugs and the Colombian conflict | |
 Members of Search Bloc celebrate over Escobar's body. His death ended a 16-month search effort. | |
| Date | 2 December 1993 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Medellin, Colombia |
On December 2, 1993, Pablo Escobar the leader of the Medellin cartel was captured and killed by members of Search Bloc in Medellin, Colombia. [1]
| Medellín Cartel |
|---|
That they will never catch me in the great fucking life, and that from the jungle I will order them all to be killed and in the long run the ones who will lose will be them.
— Audio intercepted of Escobar speaking in a threatening tone. [2]
Although he managed to evade the Search Bloc for another 6 months, by October 1992, Escobar had lost all of his power; his last chief of bodyguards, 'El Angelito', was killed by the police on October 6 along with his brother, Álvaro Puerta. [3] Escobar tried on several occasions to negotiate his surrender in exchange for safeguarding his family, but his proposal found no support in the government. His mother was the victim of several unsuccessful assassination attempts by the Pepes, [4] and his brother Roberto, despite being in prison, was the victim of a letter bomb sent by the Pepes that left him blind in one eye. [5] [6]
Escobar faced threats from the Colombian police, the U.S. government and his rivals Los Pepes, and the Cali Cartel. By this reason Escobar attempted to get his family (his wife Victoria Henao and his children Juan Pablo along with his girlfriend Doria Andrea Ochoa, and his youngest daughter Manuela) [7] out of the country; twice to the United States without any success, and finally to Europe with a stopover in Germany, but the German authorities were warned by both the Colombian police and the DEA (with two agents on board the plane), and they were all immediately deported to Colombia. [8] [9] [10] [11] Upon arrival at El Dorado airport, the Escobar Henao family was taken into the custody of the Colombian authorities and confined to an apartment in the Hotel Tequendama Residences in the International Center of Bogotá, under strict police surveillance. [12] [13] [14]
Knowing that the Tequendama Residences belonged to the Retirement Fund of the Military Forces, Escobar knew that the phones were tapped. The government took advantage of Escobar's constant concern for his family, which they used as bait to locate him with French and British technology that they had acquired with the help of the DEA; which not only identified the calls but also triangulated his location. [15] Escobar also knew that he could not spend more than two minutes making a call. When calling Residencias Tequendama he used to fake his voice, pretending to be a reporter, in order to be able to speak to his family. [16] [17] With no men or money, Escobar, who was already suffering from gastritis, tried to create a guerrilla movement called 'Antioquia Independiente', but instead preferred to make approaches to the FARC to become an accountant for the money from extortion and kidnappings, and for the drug trafficking business in which they had begun to venture a few years earlier. None of these initiatives came to fruition. [18] [19]
On December 1, 1993, Escobar celebrated his last birthday accompanied by his cousin Luzmila Gaviria, [20] [21] his mother and Álvaro de Jesús Agudelo 'Limón', the latter being his last bodyguard but who had previously been his brother Roberto's driver. [20] [22] [23] The next day, on 2 December 1993, desperate, Escobar called his family again. Although in the previous days Escobar had been moving in a taxi accompanied by his Bodyguard 'Limón' to avoid being located and calling for less than 2 minutes, Escobar remained inside the house, but that day he managed to avoid being located by speaking for less than two minutes. Following the same routine, Escobar continued calling pretending to be a journalist, but the second call went over two minutes, so he was immediately located. Escobar was found in a house in Los Olivos neighbourhood, a middle-class residential area of Medellín close to Atanasio Girardot Sports Complex by Colombian special forces, using technology provided by the United States, which allowed them to trace Escobar's location after he made a long call to his family. Police tried to arrest Escobar but the situation quickly escalated to an exchange of gunfire. Escobar was shot and killed while trying to escape from the roof, along with 'Limón', who was also shot. He was hit by bullets in the torso and feet, and a bullet, which struck him in the head, killing him. This sparked debate about whether he killed himself or whether he was shot and killed. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [ excessive citations ]
There are several hypotheses about his death:
Escobar's death would lead to the subsequent fragmentation of the Medellín Cartel, the cocaine market became dominated by the rival Cali Cartel until the mid-1990s when its leaders were either killed or captured by the Colombian government. The Robin Hood image that Escobar had cultivated maintained a lasting influence in Medellín. Many there, especially many of the city's poor whom Escobar had aided while he was alive, mourned his death, and over 25,000 people attended his funeral. Some of them consider him a saint and pray to him for receiving divine help. Escobar was buried at the Monte Sacro Cemetery. [49]
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is considered the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death—equivalent to $70 billion as of 2022—while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The Medellín Cartel was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major "drug cartel" and was referred to as such due to the organization's upper echelons and overall power-structure being built on a partnership between multiple Colombian traffickers operating alongside Escobar. Other members included Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, and Carlos Lehder. Escobar's main partner in the organization was his cousin Gustavo Gaviria, who handled much of the cartel's shipping arrangements and the more general and detailed logistical aspects of the cocaine trafficking routes and international smuggling networks, which were supplying at least 80% of the world's cocaine during its peak.
Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento was a Colombian liberal politician and journalist who ran for the Presidency of Colombia on two occasions, the first time for the political movement New Liberalism that he founded in 1979. The movement was an offspring of the mainstream Colombian Liberal Party, and with mediation of former Liberal president Julio César Turbay Ayala, Galán returned to the Liberal party in 1989 and sought the nomination for the 1990 presidential election, but was assassinated before the vote took place.
Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas is a Colombian and German former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medellín Cartel. Born to a German father and Colombian mother, he was the first high-level drug trafficker extradited to the United States, after which he was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020. Originally from Armenia, Colombia, Lehder eventually ran a cocaine transport empire on Norman's Cay island, 210 miles (340 km) off the Florida coast in the central Bahamas.
Carlos Castaño Gil was a Colombian paramilitary leader who was a founder of the Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá (ACCU), a far-right paramilitary organisation in Colombia and a former member of the Medellin Cartel. Castaño and his brothers Fidel and Vicente founded the ACCU after their father was kidnapped and killed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in association with other enemies or victims of the guerrillas. The ACCU later became one of the founding members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Los Pepes, a name derived from the Spanish phrase Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar, was a paramilitary group composed of enemies of Pablo Escobar. They waged a small-scale war against the Medellín Cartel in 1993, which ended the same year following the death of Escobar. The group was financed by the Cali Cartel and was led by the Castaño brothers. An example of their acts could be seen on the streets of Medellín, such as hangings of Pablo's hitmen.
Fidel Antonio Castaño Gila.k.a.Rambo was a Colombian drug lord and paramilitary who was among the founders of Los Pepes and the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Cordoba and Uraba (ACCU), a paramilitary group which ultimately became a member of the larger United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) from which he became its leader until his death in 1994. He was also the brother of Vicente Castaño, the presumed chief of the narco-paramilitary group Águilas Negras, and Carlos Castaño Gil, founder and leader of the AUC paramilitary forces until his death. He is the grandfather of Gabriella Castaño. There is a theory that Fidel Castaño is still alive as there is no proof of him being dead and was the one that also killed Victor “Chepe” Crespo.
José Gonzalo Rodríguez Alvarez Gacha, also known by the nicknames Don Sombrero and El Mexicano, was a Colombian drug lord who was one of the leaders of the Medellín Cartel along with the Ochoa brothers and Pablo Escobar. At the height of his criminal career, Rodríguez was acknowledged as one of the world's most successful drug dealers. In 1988, Forbes magazine included him in their annual list of the world's billionaires.
Our Lady of the Assassins is a semi-autobiographical novel by the Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo about an author in his fifties who returns to his hometown of Medellín after 30 years of absence to find himself trapped in an atmosphere of violence and murder caused by drug cartel warfare. The novel was later adapted into a film that received different international recognitions like the Award of the Italian Senate, the Venice Film Festival (2000) as the best Latin American film and the Havana International Festival Nuevo Cine (2000).
Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who served as Minister of Justice under President Belisario Betancur, and was assassinated by orders of Pablo Escobar because of his work as Minister in prosecuting cocaine traffickers mainly belonging to the Medellín Cartel.
Virginia Vallejo García is a Colombian author, journalist, television and radio director, anchorwoman, model, columnist, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America.
Escobar: El Patrón del Mal is a 2012 Colombian biographical TV series produced and broadcast on Caracol TV, based on a true story about the life of Pablo Escobar – the notorious druglord.
Drug barons of Colombia refer to some of the most notable drug lords which operate in illegal drug trafficking in Colombia. Several of them, notably Pablo Escobar, were long considered among the world's most dangerous and most wanted men by U.S. intelligence. "Ruthless and immensely powerful", several political leaders, such as President Virgilio Barco Vargas, became convinced that the drug lords were becoming so powerful that they could oust the formal government and run the country.
Narcos is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug lord Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medellín Cartel and billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine. The series also focuses on Escobar's interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and various opposition entities. Season 3 picks up after the fall of Escobar and continues to follow the DEA as they try to shut down the rise of the infamous Cali Cartel.
Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria, nicknamed El Osito, is the brother of deceased drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar, and the former accountant and co-founder of the Medellín Cartel, which was responsible for up to 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States.
Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, also known by the alias "Popeye" or "JJ", was a Colombian hitman, who was part of the criminal structure of the Medellín Cartel until his surrender to the Colombian justice system in 1992. Within this structure he claimed to be a lieutenant commanding half of the sicarios.
The second season of Narcos, an American crime thriller drama web television series produced and created by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, follows the story of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine, while also focusing on Escobar's interactions with drug lords, DEA agents, and various opposition entities.
John Jairo Arias Tascón, known as Pinina, was a member of the Medellín Cartel. He took power in the cartel's military wing and was accused of hundreds of murders. He was considered to be ranked fifth within the cartel structure. He was a hit man, the boss of hit men and leader of a criminal group at the disposal of the Cartel, known as Los Priscos.
On August 18, 1989, Luis Carlos Galán, a liberal presidential candidate for Colombia for the 1990-1994 period, was gunned down while greeting a crowd of supporters in the central square of the town of Soacha, near Bogotá. Galán was campaigning and stood on an improvised platform, along with his bodyguards Santiago Cuérvo Jiménez and Pedro Nel Angulo Bonilla, and Julio César Peñaloza Sánchez, a councilman from Soacha, when Galán, Peñaloza and Cuervo were shot dead by Jaime Eduardo Rueda Rocha and Henry Pérez, hitmen in the service of drug lord Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha 'El Mexicano', a member of the Medellín Cartel, an organization also known as 'Los Extraditables', also led by drug lord Pablo Escobar, and allied with them the politician Alberto Santofimio Botero. Although the regional hospital of Soacha was nearby, Galán was taken by car to the hospital in the town of Bosa in Bogotá, a bit far away, but the hospital lacked the equipment to save him, Galán had to be transferred to the Kennedy Hospital, in the town of the same name in Bogotá, where he was declared dead at 11 pm that same day after medical efforts.
