Narco Wars (2020) s01e05 Episode Script
Escobar Goes to War
1
♪
Ospina: How we doing?
Thanks for visiting
the city of medellín, man.
It's really a pleasure for us
to have tourists like you guys
Here right now.
Where are you from?
Man: Slovenia.
Ospina: Slovenia.
Oh, far away,
you came so far, man.
Thank you.
In medellín, we pay a high price
because of the cocaine business.
We pay the price
in blood and tears.
We were the murder capital
of the world back in 1991.
There was an average of
30 murders a day in medellín.
Hundreds of
bombs and explosions.
Pablo escobar was
one of the biggest
Drug dealers in medellín.
His net worth was
close to $30 billion us.
And pablo escobar became
like a robin hood, man.
He used to go to the
poor neighborhoods,
Giving people money,
but at the same time,
He's the gun.
He's the motorcycle.
Do this job, do this for me.
So we tour guides are trying
to show everything with a
Little respect because
there's a lot of scars on
The people of medellín.
Okay, guys.
Here we are at the cemetery
where pablo escobar is buried.
Don't expect like,
a big monument.
Drug business is a
short career, man.
I can count on my
hand the people that
were drug dealers and like,
"oh, I retired from
being a drug dealer and
now I live a happy life."
Nah, man.
The outcome of this career
is jail, sorrow or death.
Reporter (over tv):
Shake this square world
and blast off for kicksville.
Nixon: Public enemy
number one is drug abuse.
Nancy: Just say no.
Reagan: Halting the drug
problem in america is like
Carrying water in a sieve.
Bush: Take my word for it,
this scourge will stop.
Reporter 2 (over tv): There's
now an understanding that the
War on drugs was
an abject failure.
Man: You have to stop and ask
yourself, how did we get here?
Trump: We will build a wall.
Cook: Well, I was home,
sleep comfortably in my bed,
And I got a call
from an investigator.
It was probably
somewhere between 1:00
or 2:00 in the morning.
And he said, "listen."
He says, "I need help.
There's been a fire.
There's an explosion. I
have no idea what it is.
I think it may
be a bomb factory.
I need someone
from major crimes."
I said, "I'll call bob sears."
Sears: I had never
of minden, new york, so I said,
"hey, kenny, can't this
wait 'til tomorrow morning?"
He says, "no, I
think we should go."
Cook: When we got there,
it was chaos.
Sears: We'd got the firemen out,
we'd got the troopers out.
We'd got the deputies out.
We had to stabilize the scene.
Cook: By sun-up, we
had all the bosses there.
We had news media.
It was, you know, huge.
We started checking
the various buildings.
Sears: And we started opening
these 55-gallon drums and we
Started smelling,
"what do we have?"
Cook: We called the lab chemist.
He said, "get outta
there immediately."
He said, "if you open
the wrong container,"
He said, "some of
the stuff will kill you.
You've got what
appears to be a cocaine lab."
Reporter (over tv): It turned
out to be the largest cocaine
Processing
laboratory in the country,
But nobody knew until the
trailer on the farm in minden
Blew apart in a fire
last Thursday night.
Did you see anything
suspicious going on?
Woman (over tv):
None whatsoever.
Sears: We always
associated cocaine laboratories
With south america.
This was an anomaly.
Cook: In the ten days
that they were operational,
They had processed approximately
1,600 pounds of cocaine
For transport to new york city.
Sears: We, we were angry.
How could you do this
in upstate new york?
The cali cartel had not
only penetrated new york city,
But also penetrated
upstate new york big time.
They sent their soldiers
up to minden, new york
To do their dirty work.
Reporter (over tv):
They're called
'coca dollars' or 'narco bucks'
Cash accumulated
by the cocaine cartel,
Billions of dollars earned
faster than they can be spent.
Reporter (over tv): Ruling
a global corporate empire,
Controlling every phase
of the cocaine business,
Brothers gilberto and
miguel rodríguez are forcing
Are modern business
methods on a violent trade.
Shedd: The cali cartel,
they were very smart,
Strategic thinkers.
They had cells who dealt with
money and cells who only dealt
With the trafficking and
the members of each cell
Didn't know each other.
They had quite an operation.
For example; they bought a
company that specialized in
Cement posts for farms,
and these cement poles
Were probably six feet tall.
And then they applied the
packaging of the one kilo or
One pound to fit the
inside of the cement post.
Barger (over tv): The drug
bosses based here in cali like
To think of themselves
as corporate leaders
Rather than common criminals.
Shedd: If these guys
were to do something legal,
They could be the
ceos of general motors.
Producer: You learn
english in colombia or
In the united states or?
Marroquín: Watching tv, man.
Producer: Watching tv?
Marroquín: Watching tv,
hiding all the time.
My name is sebastián marroquín,
formerly called pablo escobar.
I am the son of pablo escobar.
I grew up living a life
full of money, full of power.
My, my father, at the
time, he was perhaps one of
The richest men in colombia.
I realized very early
that he was a bandit,
Because he told me
when I was seven years old.
So, you can
imagine being a child.
Perhaps you know the meaning
of the word 'bandit,' but you
Don't realize how huge
the organization was that
My father was in charge of.
Reporter (over tv): Pablo
escobar has been identified by
American authorities
as colombia's leading
exporter of cocaine.
The escobar family
has reportedly amassed
Nearly $2 billion, smuggling
1,100 pounds of refined cocaine
Into the united
states every month.
Marroquín: We were
living in a life that
We felt power was endless.
Shedd: The medellín cartel
was very rough, very vindictive.
The cali people, they looked at
it more as a business to expand.
Marroquín: The cali cartel
took control of all the
Medellín cartel
routes in new york,
And that make my
father very upset.
Marroquín: The mónaco building
was our, our family home.
We used to live there but I
started to be so aware of the
Consequences of my father's
actions because I was forced
To hide more than he.
He was more free
than I was in that time.
(explosion)
Marroquín: And my father
became even more crazy than
Ever because he felt
for one hour that all
Of his family were dead.
♪
Marroquín: I
kept saying to him,
"look, dad,
you should stop," you know.
But he was full of
excuses for violence.
Toft: Galán's campaign
was to get rid of
Trafficking in colombia.
He was vocal.
He was very
aggressive about it.
He promised the
colombian people that he
Would do away with the cartels.
Galán was gonna be
the savior of colombia.
My name's joe toft.
I was the dea agent in
charge of the bogotá office in
Colombia from 1988 to
the end of September 1994.
But when I got there, it
was actually almost like
Walking into a war zone.
There were bombs going
off all over the place,
Assassinations of
politicians, of judges.
Escobar had no fear
of colombian justice.
The only thing he feared was the
U. S. Government and dea.
Toft: There was no question that
he was gonna win the election.
Galán was going to be the
next president of colombia,
And escobar knew it.
(crowd cheering)
(gunshots)
(gunshots)
Toft: Yeah, it was chaos.
He was dragged from the
platform into a car and taken,
And later found out that
he had died in the hospital.
Toft: He was killed just like
everyone that got in escobar's
Way was killed, and the
message was very clear.
"you mess with me, you die."
Reporter (over tv): More than
100 people have been killed in
A plane crash near the
colombian capital, bogotá.
The plane, an
avianca airlines boeing 727
Was on a
domestic flight to cali.
Witnesses say the plane was
blown apart by two explosions.
Toft: You know,
blowing an aircraft out
Of the sky is um,
it's inconceivable.
Toft: Americans
died on that aircraft.
President bush took this
incident to clearly state to
The world that
escobar was a direct
Threat to the united states.
♪
Bush (over tv): This, this
is crack cocaine seized a
Few days ago by
drug enforcement agents in a
Park just across the
street from the white house.
It's as innocent-looking as
candy but it's turning our
Cities into battle zones and
it's murdering our children.
Reporter (over tv):
So far this year,
75 gang members and
their victims have died in
The wave of violence.
The police battering ram
smashing into fortified houses
Where cocaine is cooked
into the lethal crack form.
It is narcotics that is driving
this engine of destruction.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
The epidemic of crack is
Now out of control.
Man (over tv): Crack is
here to stay, like they say.
Reporter 3 (over tv): Bringing
death to american streets,
Ruining whole neighborhoods.
Bush (over tv): If
americans use cocaine,
Then americans are
paying for murder.
In colombia alone, cocaine
killers have gunned down a
Leading statesman,
murdered almost 200 judges and
Seven members of
their supreme court.
We have a responsibility not
to leave our brave friends in
Colombia to fight alone.
♪
Toft: And the u.S.
Military started using
Their
surveillance aircraft, etc.
In an effort to
help locate escobar.
Toft: There were hundreds
of raids at places where he
Allegedly was and there was
evidence that he was there,
That he'd barely escaped.
Marroquín: My
father was always like,
Pushing things to the limit.
I remember many times,
"patrón, be careful,
the police is 500 meters away."
"oh, just bring my
lunch in, I'm hungry.
Tell me when they
are 200 meters."
He'd start eating his lunch and,
"patrón, patrón,
they're 200 meters away."
"oh, just let me know
when they are 50 meters."
He was, like,
always a step ahead.
He didn't care.
He didn't felt
any fear at all.
So, 50 meters before
the police arrive,
He would just walk a little
bit and he'd hide in the woods
And he watched them,
and once they get away,
He finish his lunch.
Toft: It was a very
difficult time for escobar.
Our intelligence told us he
was moving every 24 hours,
Trying to avoid detection,
from bunker to bunker.
Escobar was, I mean he was
under incredible pressure.
Reporter (over tv):
Drug kingpin pablo escobar
Apparently is about
to turn himself in.
Reporter (over tv): Colombian
officials this morning are
Calling the surrender of
trafficker pablo escobar a
Major victory in
the war on drugs,
But escobar also won something
that he wanted: A promise that
He won't be
extradited to the u.S.
Marroquín: He changed the
constitution of a country so
He could surrender to
the authorities easily,
Confess a couple of
crimes and be out of jail,
Like, in eight years.
Reporter (over tv): It looks
more like a spanish villa
Nestled in the mountains
outside escobar's hometown.
The plans include
a soccer field,
Spacious dining hall,
game room, private baths,
Televisions, telephones
and fax machines.
Toft: One of the
conditions was that he would
Have several of his confidantes,
His sicarios and
bodyguards with him.
He had complete
autonomy of his surroundings.
He went in and out
whenever he wanted.
So, the whole
thing was a farce.
You couldn't make this up.
Marroquín: During those days,
I heard many stories about how
He was dealing with the
drug trafficking business.
He used
commercial flights with,
You know, the complicity
of the authorities in
Medellín international airport
And miami's
international airport.
So, he used to send
800 kilos per week with
The help of the authorities.
And not a single
gram was seized.
Toft: The people that
president gaviria sent to the
Prison to arrange for the
movement of escobar to a
Different location, they
become part of the whole thing
Because they're taken hostage.
He had double walls on the
building that he built where
He stashed guns and money.
He broke into the wall, got
his money and got the guns and
Walked out of the place.
I'm pretty sure that the
army were on the take also,
Because escobar had to
walk through the army.
So, you know, I mean
the whole thing was just,
Was just unbelievable.
Reporter (over tv): Pablo
escobar was king of kings in
The colombian
worldwide cocaine business,
A man so powerful he arranged
his own luxurious prison when
He finally
surrendered to authorities.
But tonight, he is out of that
prison again after a bizarre
Showdown between his guards
and government security agents.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Pablo escobar is,
Without a doubt, the most
powerful and ruthless of all
The drug bosses and his final
words to a colombian official
Before he escaped were,
"we are at war again."
Reporter (over tv): Violence
rules indiscriminately.
Twelve died and more than
200 passers-by were injured in
This recent explosion.
It was the end of the daily
lunch break in an area of
Bogotá packed with banks,
shops and restaurants.
Reporter (over tv):
This time, there was no
Mistaking the
culprit's identity.
They'd left their
signature at the scene.
'pepes', or people
persecuted by pablo escobar,
Are vigilantes waging war
on those associated with the
Notorious drug lord.
Toft: The 'los pepes'
translation into english stood
For 'people persecuted
by pablo escobar'.
We thought it was a
vigilante group that had
Formed to fight
the medellín cartel.
And initially, we were going
to have some t-shirts printed
In the office that,
"we support los pepes".
And I'm glad we didn't do it.
Marroquín: My father's enemies,
They all got together and
they start killing everybody
Who helped pablo escobar.
Toft: Los pepes were waging a
dirty war against escobar and
Having the knowledge
of the inner workings,
They were extremely effective.
Toft: We recognized from
the intelligence that we were
Getting that escobar was
desperately trying to get his
Family out of the country.
♪
Marroquín: The plan was to
leave the country and stay a
Little while in germany
because germany agreed to
Receive one of our
cousins in the past.
Toft: We recognized that his
achilles was his family and we
Were pulling every
string we could to deny
Him entry into germany.
Marroquín: When we
arrived to germany,
They stopped the plane in the
middle of the airfield and it
Was surrounded of, you know,
police and they ask us to come
Down and we went to
explain the situation,
How violent was colombia
and our life was in danger, etc.
But the decision was already
taken by the government.
Toft: The main tool that we
had at the time to capture him
Electronically was to monitor
his conversations and to use
Directional finding
equipment to locate him.
(phone ringing)
Toft: And that's
when escobar lost it.
Up to that point, he had
been very careful about
Talking on his phone.
But he was so angry,
he was so disappointed,
He started calling, you know,
everybody he could.
(phone ringing)
Marroquín: Well, my father
started to call to our room
Many times and
every time he called,
He was just saying,
"don't call anymore."
(phone ringing)
And I kept, I insist and I said,
"look, we shouldn't stay
so long in our phone calls."
He knew that if he
stayed on the line for
More than 60 seconds,
you know, it could be traced.
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
Toft: There was a lieutenant
in charge of the directional
Finding equipment.
He got in the car
and he drove around,
Trying to locate him.
Then he's driving by this
street and he's telling them,
"it's here," and he looks up
on the second story and he
Sees this bearded guy
talking on the phone.
Immediately, even though he had
a different look at the time,
He said he knew
it was pablo escobar.
Toft: They immediately sent a
group of cops to raid the place.
Caught him
completely by surprise.
As he jumped off the window
onto the roof top of the house
Next to him, and he was
shooting back at the window
Where he had jumped off
thinking that that was the
Only place that
the cops were at.
He didn't know
exactly what was happening,
He did not realize that
his place was surrounded.
(gunshots)
And so he ended up getting
shot a couple of times and
Went down as he was
firing back at the window.
Marroquín: And
ten minutes after,
I receive another call,
I thought it was him and
It was a journalist.
The journalist said to me,
"your dad just passed away,
It's confirmed, the
police confirm it is official,
Your father is dead."
Reporter (over tv):
Pablo escobar died in a
Shoot- out with police and
the military in medellín,
The base for his cartel that
once dominated the world's
Cocaine market.
Toft: I understand that
as soon as they killed him,
They started yelling,
"viva colombia."
It was a big
moment for colombia.
And he deserved it, you know,
he got what he deserved.
Marroquín: Well, I should say
that my father wasn't killed,
My father committed suicide.
We were in a hotel that
belonged to the colombian army,
So it was very easy to know
that the phones were tapped.
For ten years of his life, he
teach me that I should never
Use the phone.
Why is that?
Because he told me,
"look, son, every guy
that I kidnap or killed,
Thanks to the
phone I found them."
Suddenly, you know,
December 2nd of 1993,
This guy forgot everything
he taught to his kid.
Marroquín: And once he
understood that I think that
He committed the biggest act
of love by committing suicide
And just to set us free,
all his family.
Reporter (over tv): This
killing is the biggest single
Blow to international drug
trafficking in a decade,
But it does not mean that
fewer drugs will find their
Way onto the streets
of britain and america.
Authorities expect other drug
cartels will simply take over
Escobar's business.
The king may be dead,
the cocaine trade is not.
Rodriguez: My dad and uncle,
they had so much power in
Those moments,
they beat a score,
They're on top of the world.
Reporter (over tv): The
cali cartel is going global
In its quest for
profit and power.
Shedd: I don't think that the
cali cartel really understood
They were helping
destroy the medellín cartel
Man: Hurry! Over there!
Shedd: That the
cali cartel was next.
Captioned by cotter
captioning services.
♪
Ospina: How we doing?
Thanks for visiting
the city of medellín, man.
It's really a pleasure for us
to have tourists like you guys
Here right now.
Where are you from?
Man: Slovenia.
Ospina: Slovenia.
Oh, far away,
you came so far, man.
Thank you.
In medellín, we pay a high price
because of the cocaine business.
We pay the price
in blood and tears.
We were the murder capital
of the world back in 1991.
There was an average of
30 murders a day in medellín.
Hundreds of
bombs and explosions.
Pablo escobar was
one of the biggest
Drug dealers in medellín.
His net worth was
close to $30 billion us.
And pablo escobar became
like a robin hood, man.
He used to go to the
poor neighborhoods,
Giving people money,
but at the same time,
He's the gun.
He's the motorcycle.
Do this job, do this for me.
So we tour guides are trying
to show everything with a
Little respect because
there's a lot of scars on
The people of medellín.
Okay, guys.
Here we are at the cemetery
where pablo escobar is buried.
Don't expect like,
a big monument.
Drug business is a
short career, man.
I can count on my
hand the people that
were drug dealers and like,
"oh, I retired from
being a drug dealer and
now I live a happy life."
Nah, man.
The outcome of this career
is jail, sorrow or death.
Reporter (over tv):
Shake this square world
and blast off for kicksville.
Nixon: Public enemy
number one is drug abuse.
Nancy: Just say no.
Reagan: Halting the drug
problem in america is like
Carrying water in a sieve.
Bush: Take my word for it,
this scourge will stop.
Reporter 2 (over tv): There's
now an understanding that the
War on drugs was
an abject failure.
Man: You have to stop and ask
yourself, how did we get here?
Trump: We will build a wall.
Cook: Well, I was home,
sleep comfortably in my bed,
And I got a call
from an investigator.
It was probably
somewhere between 1:00
or 2:00 in the morning.
And he said, "listen."
He says, "I need help.
There's been a fire.
There's an explosion. I
have no idea what it is.
I think it may
be a bomb factory.
I need someone
from major crimes."
I said, "I'll call bob sears."
Sears: I had never
of minden, new york, so I said,
"hey, kenny, can't this
wait 'til tomorrow morning?"
He says, "no, I
think we should go."
Cook: When we got there,
it was chaos.
Sears: We'd got the firemen out,
we'd got the troopers out.
We'd got the deputies out.
We had to stabilize the scene.
Cook: By sun-up, we
had all the bosses there.
We had news media.
It was, you know, huge.
We started checking
the various buildings.
Sears: And we started opening
these 55-gallon drums and we
Started smelling,
"what do we have?"
Cook: We called the lab chemist.
He said, "get outta
there immediately."
He said, "if you open
the wrong container,"
He said, "some of
the stuff will kill you.
You've got what
appears to be a cocaine lab."
Reporter (over tv): It turned
out to be the largest cocaine
Processing
laboratory in the country,
But nobody knew until the
trailer on the farm in minden
Blew apart in a fire
last Thursday night.
Did you see anything
suspicious going on?
Woman (over tv):
None whatsoever.
Sears: We always
associated cocaine laboratories
With south america.
This was an anomaly.
Cook: In the ten days
that they were operational,
They had processed approximately
1,600 pounds of cocaine
For transport to new york city.
Sears: We, we were angry.
How could you do this
in upstate new york?
The cali cartel had not
only penetrated new york city,
But also penetrated
upstate new york big time.
They sent their soldiers
up to minden, new york
To do their dirty work.
Reporter (over tv):
They're called
'coca dollars' or 'narco bucks'
Cash accumulated
by the cocaine cartel,
Billions of dollars earned
faster than they can be spent.
Reporter (over tv): Ruling
a global corporate empire,
Controlling every phase
of the cocaine business,
Brothers gilberto and
miguel rodríguez are forcing
Are modern business
methods on a violent trade.
Shedd: The cali cartel,
they were very smart,
Strategic thinkers.
They had cells who dealt with
money and cells who only dealt
With the trafficking and
the members of each cell
Didn't know each other.
They had quite an operation.
For example; they bought a
company that specialized in
Cement posts for farms,
and these cement poles
Were probably six feet tall.
And then they applied the
packaging of the one kilo or
One pound to fit the
inside of the cement post.
Barger (over tv): The drug
bosses based here in cali like
To think of themselves
as corporate leaders
Rather than common criminals.
Shedd: If these guys
were to do something legal,
They could be the
ceos of general motors.
Producer: You learn
english in colombia or
In the united states or?
Marroquín: Watching tv, man.
Producer: Watching tv?
Marroquín: Watching tv,
hiding all the time.
My name is sebastián marroquín,
formerly called pablo escobar.
I am the son of pablo escobar.
I grew up living a life
full of money, full of power.
My, my father, at the
time, he was perhaps one of
The richest men in colombia.
I realized very early
that he was a bandit,
Because he told me
when I was seven years old.
So, you can
imagine being a child.
Perhaps you know the meaning
of the word 'bandit,' but you
Don't realize how huge
the organization was that
My father was in charge of.
Reporter (over tv): Pablo
escobar has been identified by
American authorities
as colombia's leading
exporter of cocaine.
The escobar family
has reportedly amassed
Nearly $2 billion, smuggling
1,100 pounds of refined cocaine
Into the united
states every month.
Marroquín: We were
living in a life that
We felt power was endless.
Shedd: The medellín cartel
was very rough, very vindictive.
The cali people, they looked at
it more as a business to expand.
Marroquín: The cali cartel
took control of all the
Medellín cartel
routes in new york,
And that make my
father very upset.
Marroquín: The mónaco building
was our, our family home.
We used to live there but I
started to be so aware of the
Consequences of my father's
actions because I was forced
To hide more than he.
He was more free
than I was in that time.
(explosion)
Marroquín: And my father
became even more crazy than
Ever because he felt
for one hour that all
Of his family were dead.
♪
Marroquín: I
kept saying to him,
"look, dad,
you should stop," you know.
But he was full of
excuses for violence.
Toft: Galán's campaign
was to get rid of
Trafficking in colombia.
He was vocal.
He was very
aggressive about it.
He promised the
colombian people that he
Would do away with the cartels.
Galán was gonna be
the savior of colombia.
My name's joe toft.
I was the dea agent in
charge of the bogotá office in
Colombia from 1988 to
the end of September 1994.
But when I got there, it
was actually almost like
Walking into a war zone.
There were bombs going
off all over the place,
Assassinations of
politicians, of judges.
Escobar had no fear
of colombian justice.
The only thing he feared was the
U. S. Government and dea.
Toft: There was no question that
he was gonna win the election.
Galán was going to be the
next president of colombia,
And escobar knew it.
(crowd cheering)
(gunshots)
(gunshots)
Toft: Yeah, it was chaos.
He was dragged from the
platform into a car and taken,
And later found out that
he had died in the hospital.
Toft: He was killed just like
everyone that got in escobar's
Way was killed, and the
message was very clear.
"you mess with me, you die."
Reporter (over tv): More than
100 people have been killed in
A plane crash near the
colombian capital, bogotá.
The plane, an
avianca airlines boeing 727
Was on a
domestic flight to cali.
Witnesses say the plane was
blown apart by two explosions.
Toft: You know,
blowing an aircraft out
Of the sky is um,
it's inconceivable.
Toft: Americans
died on that aircraft.
President bush took this
incident to clearly state to
The world that
escobar was a direct
Threat to the united states.
♪
Bush (over tv): This, this
is crack cocaine seized a
Few days ago by
drug enforcement agents in a
Park just across the
street from the white house.
It's as innocent-looking as
candy but it's turning our
Cities into battle zones and
it's murdering our children.
Reporter (over tv):
So far this year,
75 gang members and
their victims have died in
The wave of violence.
The police battering ram
smashing into fortified houses
Where cocaine is cooked
into the lethal crack form.
It is narcotics that is driving
this engine of destruction.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
The epidemic of crack is
Now out of control.
Man (over tv): Crack is
here to stay, like they say.
Reporter 3 (over tv): Bringing
death to american streets,
Ruining whole neighborhoods.
Bush (over tv): If
americans use cocaine,
Then americans are
paying for murder.
In colombia alone, cocaine
killers have gunned down a
Leading statesman,
murdered almost 200 judges and
Seven members of
their supreme court.
We have a responsibility not
to leave our brave friends in
Colombia to fight alone.
♪
Toft: And the u.S.
Military started using
Their
surveillance aircraft, etc.
In an effort to
help locate escobar.
Toft: There were hundreds
of raids at places where he
Allegedly was and there was
evidence that he was there,
That he'd barely escaped.
Marroquín: My
father was always like,
Pushing things to the limit.
I remember many times,
"patrón, be careful,
the police is 500 meters away."
"oh, just bring my
lunch in, I'm hungry.
Tell me when they
are 200 meters."
He'd start eating his lunch and,
"patrón, patrón,
they're 200 meters away."
"oh, just let me know
when they are 50 meters."
He was, like,
always a step ahead.
He didn't care.
He didn't felt
any fear at all.
So, 50 meters before
the police arrive,
He would just walk a little
bit and he'd hide in the woods
And he watched them,
and once they get away,
He finish his lunch.
Toft: It was a very
difficult time for escobar.
Our intelligence told us he
was moving every 24 hours,
Trying to avoid detection,
from bunker to bunker.
Escobar was, I mean he was
under incredible pressure.
Reporter (over tv):
Drug kingpin pablo escobar
Apparently is about
to turn himself in.
Reporter (over tv): Colombian
officials this morning are
Calling the surrender of
trafficker pablo escobar a
Major victory in
the war on drugs,
But escobar also won something
that he wanted: A promise that
He won't be
extradited to the u.S.
Marroquín: He changed the
constitution of a country so
He could surrender to
the authorities easily,
Confess a couple of
crimes and be out of jail,
Like, in eight years.
Reporter (over tv): It looks
more like a spanish villa
Nestled in the mountains
outside escobar's hometown.
The plans include
a soccer field,
Spacious dining hall,
game room, private baths,
Televisions, telephones
and fax machines.
Toft: One of the
conditions was that he would
Have several of his confidantes,
His sicarios and
bodyguards with him.
He had complete
autonomy of his surroundings.
He went in and out
whenever he wanted.
So, the whole
thing was a farce.
You couldn't make this up.
Marroquín: During those days,
I heard many stories about how
He was dealing with the
drug trafficking business.
He used
commercial flights with,
You know, the complicity
of the authorities in
Medellín international airport
And miami's
international airport.
So, he used to send
800 kilos per week with
The help of the authorities.
And not a single
gram was seized.
Toft: The people that
president gaviria sent to the
Prison to arrange for the
movement of escobar to a
Different location, they
become part of the whole thing
Because they're taken hostage.
He had double walls on the
building that he built where
He stashed guns and money.
He broke into the wall, got
his money and got the guns and
Walked out of the place.
I'm pretty sure that the
army were on the take also,
Because escobar had to
walk through the army.
So, you know, I mean
the whole thing was just,
Was just unbelievable.
Reporter (over tv): Pablo
escobar was king of kings in
The colombian
worldwide cocaine business,
A man so powerful he arranged
his own luxurious prison when
He finally
surrendered to authorities.
But tonight, he is out of that
prison again after a bizarre
Showdown between his guards
and government security agents.
Reporter 2 (over tv):
Pablo escobar is,
Without a doubt, the most
powerful and ruthless of all
The drug bosses and his final
words to a colombian official
Before he escaped were,
"we are at war again."
Reporter (over tv): Violence
rules indiscriminately.
Twelve died and more than
200 passers-by were injured in
This recent explosion.
It was the end of the daily
lunch break in an area of
Bogotá packed with banks,
shops and restaurants.
Reporter (over tv):
This time, there was no
Mistaking the
culprit's identity.
They'd left their
signature at the scene.
'pepes', or people
persecuted by pablo escobar,
Are vigilantes waging war
on those associated with the
Notorious drug lord.
Toft: The 'los pepes'
translation into english stood
For 'people persecuted
by pablo escobar'.
We thought it was a
vigilante group that had
Formed to fight
the medellín cartel.
And initially, we were going
to have some t-shirts printed
In the office that,
"we support los pepes".
And I'm glad we didn't do it.
Marroquín: My father's enemies,
They all got together and
they start killing everybody
Who helped pablo escobar.
Toft: Los pepes were waging a
dirty war against escobar and
Having the knowledge
of the inner workings,
They were extremely effective.
Toft: We recognized from
the intelligence that we were
Getting that escobar was
desperately trying to get his
Family out of the country.
♪
Marroquín: The plan was to
leave the country and stay a
Little while in germany
because germany agreed to
Receive one of our
cousins in the past.
Toft: We recognized that his
achilles was his family and we
Were pulling every
string we could to deny
Him entry into germany.
Marroquín: When we
arrived to germany,
They stopped the plane in the
middle of the airfield and it
Was surrounded of, you know,
police and they ask us to come
Down and we went to
explain the situation,
How violent was colombia
and our life was in danger, etc.
But the decision was already
taken by the government.
Toft: The main tool that we
had at the time to capture him
Electronically was to monitor
his conversations and to use
Directional finding
equipment to locate him.
(phone ringing)
Toft: And that's
when escobar lost it.
Up to that point, he had
been very careful about
Talking on his phone.
But he was so angry,
he was so disappointed,
He started calling, you know,
everybody he could.
(phone ringing)
Marroquín: Well, my father
started to call to our room
Many times and
every time he called,
He was just saying,
"don't call anymore."
(phone ringing)
And I kept, I insist and I said,
"look, we shouldn't stay
so long in our phone calls."
He knew that if he
stayed on the line for
More than 60 seconds,
you know, it could be traced.
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
Toft: There was a lieutenant
in charge of the directional
Finding equipment.
He got in the car
and he drove around,
Trying to locate him.
Then he's driving by this
street and he's telling them,
"it's here," and he looks up
on the second story and he
Sees this bearded guy
talking on the phone.
Immediately, even though he had
a different look at the time,
He said he knew
it was pablo escobar.
Toft: They immediately sent a
group of cops to raid the place.
Caught him
completely by surprise.
As he jumped off the window
onto the roof top of the house
Next to him, and he was
shooting back at the window
Where he had jumped off
thinking that that was the
Only place that
the cops were at.
He didn't know
exactly what was happening,
He did not realize that
his place was surrounded.
(gunshots)
And so he ended up getting
shot a couple of times and
Went down as he was
firing back at the window.
Marroquín: And
ten minutes after,
I receive another call,
I thought it was him and
It was a journalist.
The journalist said to me,
"your dad just passed away,
It's confirmed, the
police confirm it is official,
Your father is dead."
Reporter (over tv):
Pablo escobar died in a
Shoot- out with police and
the military in medellín,
The base for his cartel that
once dominated the world's
Cocaine market.
Toft: I understand that
as soon as they killed him,
They started yelling,
"viva colombia."
It was a big
moment for colombia.
And he deserved it, you know,
he got what he deserved.
Marroquín: Well, I should say
that my father wasn't killed,
My father committed suicide.
We were in a hotel that
belonged to the colombian army,
So it was very easy to know
that the phones were tapped.
For ten years of his life, he
teach me that I should never
Use the phone.
Why is that?
Because he told me,
"look, son, every guy
that I kidnap or killed,
Thanks to the
phone I found them."
Suddenly, you know,
December 2nd of 1993,
This guy forgot everything
he taught to his kid.
Marroquín: And once he
understood that I think that
He committed the biggest act
of love by committing suicide
And just to set us free,
all his family.
Reporter (over tv): This
killing is the biggest single
Blow to international drug
trafficking in a decade,
But it does not mean that
fewer drugs will find their
Way onto the streets
of britain and america.
Authorities expect other drug
cartels will simply take over
Escobar's business.
The king may be dead,
the cocaine trade is not.
Rodriguez: My dad and uncle,
they had so much power in
Those moments,
they beat a score,
They're on top of the world.
Reporter (over tv): The
cali cartel is going global
In its quest for
profit and power.
Shedd: I don't think that the
cali cartel really understood
They were helping
destroy the medellín cartel
Man: Hurry! Over there!
Shedd: That the
cali cartel was next.
Captioned by cotter
captioning services.