Pablo Escobar : le roi de la cocaïne

Pablo Escobar a sûrement été l’homme le plus pourchassé au monde. Au début des années 1990, toutes les polices colombiennes, ainsi que la DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) et la CIA américaines, et même une unité d’élite créée spécialement, la Section de recherche, étaient à ses trousses, de Bogotá à Medellín. Manolo d’Arthuys et Renaud Fessaguet revivent, avec ceux qui les ont organisées, ces longues heures de poursuite au coeur de la jungle équatoriale, où se terrait Escobar, dans de somptueuses villas, au milieu d’oeuvres d’art d’une valeur inestimable. C’est là que Tony Comiti a réalisé sa fameuse interview d’Escobar, véritable scoop mondial

0:00 La famille d’Escobar est en fuite et est placée sous haute surveillance dans un hôtel à Bogota, tandis que Pablo Escobar est en cavale en Colombie.
8:58 Pablo Escobar, le chef du cartel de Medellin en Colombie, a révolutionné le commerce de la cocaïne en transformant les feuilles de coca en poudre et en développant des moyens de transport innovants pour acheminer la drogue vers les États-Unis et l’Europe.
16:27 La chasse à l’homme de Pablo Escobar en Colombie.
23:47 La famille d’Escobar révèle certains secrets de sa cavale.
34:48 Pablo Escobar était caché dans différentes planques à Medellin pendant sa cavale, et il communiquait avec son frère Roberto grâce à un téléphone caché dans sa télévision.
41:00 La traque de Pablo Escobar par les services secrets colombiens et les policiers américains.
51:56 La capture de Pablo Escobar en Colombie.
58:06 Pablo Escobar, le parrain de Medellin, a dilapidé une immense fortune dans la guerre contre l’État colombien et l’argent restant est soit caché, soit entre les mains de sa famille.
1:06:52 Le fils de Pablo Escobar parle de la fortune de son père et de ses secrets.

On the tarmac of Bogota airport, a lost family. This family is not any one, it’s that of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian godfather of ***. The most wanted criminal in the world. They hoped to take refuge in Frankfurt, but Germany turned them back. The Escobar family is first and foremost the godfather’s son,

Juan Pablo. In her arms, his little sister Manuela. And behind, Maria Victoria, Pablo Escobar’s wife. They are tired, no longer know where to go, but above all, they are afraid. Pablo Escobar is on the run and he is no longer the man almighty who terrorized, Colombia for years.

Public enemy number one lives now like a hunted beast. From his hiding place somewhere in Colombia, the drug trafficker can do nothing more for them. – Escobar had an Achilles heel. It was his family, his daughter, his son. It was his whole life. This Achilles heel, Colombian police intends to use it.

As soon as they arrived, the woman and the Escobar children, are placed under close surveillance in this hotel. They have become bait. All we have to do is wait that the godfather makes a mistake and finally falls in the police trap. – Escobar has escaped us so much often. It was truly incredible.

– Escobar threw bombs in schools, in supermarkets. He was throwing bombs everywhere. – He had infiltrated the families of all the police officers in Medellin. He knew where he lived their mother, their father, how many brothers they had. Sixteen years later, Medellin. The sulphurous city at the heart of the Andes mountain range,

50 minutes flight from Bogota, the capital. Medellin is the second city ​​of the country, one of the most active and the richest, the breadbasket of Colombia. But it also remains the most violent all over the walls, wanted notices. Sixteen years later, Medellin keeps its bad reputation. The settling of scores continues,

But they are done today between small d*** traffickers. Nothing to do with the Escobar era. – Medellin at the time, it was crazy, you know. We ate balls for breakfast, lunch and for dinner, we took bombs at each other. Yes, that’s it, we ate each other bullets all the time.

– There were deaths every day? – Every morning, we discovered corpses at the foot of the mountain. At the time, we called it the Escobar Public Cemetery. Escobar began his career by stealing tombstones. Afterwards, he stole cars. And then he attacked to the traffic of d***, with a small local sponsor.

And you know, here, the bad ones tongues say he killed, with his own hands this godfather to take power and keep it. In Medellin, Escobar’s relatives are no longer very numerous, but there would be a few survivors. This is the first track which we decide to go back up.

According to the information collected, a lieutenant of Pablo Escobar would still be alive. Some pictures of him at the time exist. We found them. It’s about this man, Jhon Jairo Velesquez, aka Popeye. At the time, on wanted posters, the photo of Popeye is in good place below that of Escobar.

He was accused of several murders. According to our sources, the man is in prison for several years. Our investigation tells us that Popeye passed by, through the safest neighborhoods, from the old prison of Modelo in Bogota. A prison where violence was almost daily, where the prisoners themselves often made the law.

Since then, Escobar’s former right-hand man, was secretly transferred to a safe place. During many days, Popeye is nowhere to be found. Nobody knows where he is. But ultimately, our tenacity will be rewarded. Popeye is now incarcerated about a hundred kilometers from Bogota, in this more modern prison.

In fact, a high power plant security where they are locked up, blocks by blocks, common law murderers, d*** traffickers, hitmen. No camera ever enters here. Too dangerous. At our insistence, an authorization exceptional was granted to us. A one-on-one interview with the one who was at the time, the most loyal lieutenant.

He is in the best position today, to tell what everyday life was like, the run of Pablo Escobar. – At the time, in Medellin, there were more than 1500 men on our heels. Israelis, English, Americans. The Colombian secret services, the CIA, the DEA, the research section and I’m probably forgetting some.

Everyone, everyone was chasing us! Popeye never argued an order from his boss, executor of dirty work. He claimed responsibility for 250 assassinations, out of the 10,000 that would have sponsored by Escobar. – One day I had a very important to go and kill in Cartagena. We executed it at the Intercontinental Hotel,

But leave the hotel was very difficult. The cops had sent a helicopter. They shot me and reached me here, at the artery. I came home and there, I received a visit by Pablo Escobar himself. I then understood that I had a boss, but also a friend,

The Medellin cartel was an army of lamb with a lion at its head. I was a lamb. The boss was the lion. Mid 70s, this is the omnipotence of Escobar. At the head of a horde cousins ​​and friends, he reigns over the traffic in d***. At their side, an army of killers.

We call them here the Sicarios. 300 men dedicated body and soul. The famous Medellin cartel, they are the ones. The specialty of this cartel, the trade of ***. The very particular geography from Colombia, a country covered two thirds of forests, Pablo Escobar will exploit it for his benefit.

For centuries, farmers Colombians cultivate coca plants there. Pablo Escobar offers them to move on to another stage, that of industrialization. In the middle of the jungle, he then installs, tens clandestine laboratories. There, in the greatest secrecy, the best chemists will apply their recipe, to obtain the pasta, the dough.

First stage of transformation coca leaves. – There is kerosene there mixed with water and 20 centiliters of acid are added. Afterwards, we add ammonia, to separate the coca and it turns her white. Otherwise, you can filter with this cloth. So here is the pasta, which, once dry and refined,

Will give powder ***, the famous ***. The sequel, Pablo Escobar also revolutionizes it. To transport your goods, he multiplies the roads, by sea, by air, with hundreds of kilos, the c*** is routed to the United States and Europe. At that time, this drug was fashionable. Demand is exploding.

The scourge of *** is going global. Escobar is never short of ideas. To deliver to home its good American customers, he even goes so far as to build this submarine. In 1980, Escobar has definitely established itself. He became the godfather world of ***. Bold, cruel, inescapable.

– He had introduced a tax on all *** shipments. For example, if a trafficker shipped 100 kilos. Escobar told him: “Me, I take 50, because I protect you against the police and the Colombian State.” And if the guy didn’t want to pay, he was killing him.

In just ten years, Escobar will changed in scope and status. From grave robber in Medellin, he became the king of ***. An almighty godfather and multi-billionaire. His fortune at the time is estimated to $5 billion. – All this money gave him such confidence, that soon he felt owner of the state.

And as if its power had no more limits, Escobar pushes the nerve up be photographed with your son, in front of the gates of the White House. In Miami, Florida, it’s his money dirty as the drug trafficker, invests in real estate to the nose and the beard, American authorities.

Escobar becomes the worst nightmare the United States. In Washington, federal justice requests his immediate extradition. – It was then that he formed with his friends traffickers a group called, the Extradables, they have this incredible motto, rather a coffin in Colombia than a cell in the United States.

He declares war on the Colombian state because he does not want to be extradited. And this war, we were far from imagining it, all the consequences. The true nature of Escobar is then revealed, that of a psychopath. He massacres all those who promised to extradite him. Magistrates, journalists, politicians, police and anonymous.

For Colombia, Those years were terrible. An estimated 10,000 the number of his victims, direct or indirect. – Sometimes we went there, we saw torn bodies, dead children, babies, simply because their parents were there, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The most serious attack spectacular occurs, some time before Christmas 89,

Right in the center of Bogota. That day, it’s the service tower Colombian secrets which is targeted. The 500 kilos of dynamite kill 89 people, but the explosion misses its main target, General Miguel Maza Marquez, boss of the secret services. Since Pablo Escobar declared the war on the Colombian state,

This man went after him. He swore to have the skin of the drug trafficker. – My secretary was crushed under the rubble. All my bodyguards killed. Below, there were ten floors pulverized. There were dead people everywhere, mutilated, headless people. And it took me a long time, to get out of this nightmare.

I even needed to see a psychiatrist, for ten years. This is one blow too many. The Colombian government decides to get rid of the godfather. There is a price on his head. He becomes public enemy number one. Pablo Escobar, aka the Doctor, disappears into nature.

It is in the Sierra that a team French television, finds him in the course of a report. The meeting is a global scoop. The first time that a foreign journalist, films the drug trafficker. Pablo Escobar will take advantage of it to justify his business.

We have to be realistic. We are in living the civilization of ***. The shit is happening to invade the world. For what ? Because she’s a weaker bitch, less harmful than others. The drug problem is a problem lack of education and discipline, It’s the same with alcohol.

There is no difference between a drunk man lying on the sidewalk and a drug addict. And a little later, the godfather dismantles American arguments, against the *** trade. Currently, it’s the *** which is dangerous. She is the evil one because she escapes American control, because they are the Colombians who produce it.

That’s the fundamental problem. That year, the Medellin cartel, exports 300 kilos of c*** per day in the United States. For Americans, It’s more than time to put an end to it. Once again, the extradition of the godfather, is claimed. Wanted in his country, hunted down by American justice, Escobar is stuck.

He then decides to give it a shot, bargain for your freedom with the Colombian government. A real asset to avoid to be delivered to the Americans. June 1991, a strange caravan, rises to the heights of Medellin, at a place called La Catedral. In cars, the godfather flanked by his killers.

Escobar accepts to surrender to justice, but in a prison that it is being built, from plans he had drawn. Here everything has been decided by Escobar himself. In short, a prison without a key, without bars. Never seen. On the radio, Escobar then comments on his surrender.

A surrender for good of the Colombian people, he says. In this historic moment when the combatants surrender their arms, for the pacification of the country, I cannot remain indifferent in need of peace, claimed by the majority Colombians. Pablo Escobar Gaviria. Envigado, Colombia, June 1991. The Catedral is a prison five stars,

Equipped with the most sophisticated comfort. High tech kitchen, stereo, phone. An incredible luxury for the time. Outside, an astronomical telescope. The telescope allows for the godfather to monitor, the comings and goings of the police. And also his family who remained downstairs in the Medellin Valley.

During the day, Pablo and his friends don’t get bored. They continue to manage exports of ***. – The Catedral Prison, it was the HQ of delinquency, the traffic center of d*** and the government knew it full well. At night, the Catedral transforms, like a real brothel.

– The boss had all the women That he wanted. At the time there were only 2 guys who had a private plane in Colombia, him and another, with his plane, he was going to pick up the girls in Brazil and Argentina. – One day, he had sent for 50 girls, very pretty,

Type of model for one of his private parties. We had managed to infiltrate one of them. He learned it. And he had her murdered, with the 49 others. And at the end of the week, we found in the four corners of Medellin, bodies, heads, feet. It was terrible.

You have to know that when he was threatened, or when we represented a danger for him, it was certain death. When the country discovers the conditions detention of Escobar, it’s a scandal. The Colombian President of the time is justified. – No, the Catedral was not a joke.

What happened was he had such a capacity for intimidation, that we discovered very late that all the soldiers who guarded Escobar, were actually paid by him. The Colombian government demands that Escobar be locked up, in a real prison. This one senses a trap. He refuses. The following night,

Escobar escapes with his friend Popeye and a dozen men. – Pablo and I escaped through the fence. No policemen, no soldiers, person. We left around 11 p.m., at this At that time, the fog was very thick. We joined a friend’s farm from the boss at 5 a.m.

For our safety, we prevented his children to go to school and we waited. The general alert is given. After a year behind the walls, Pablo Escobar comes again, to return to clandestinity. For the police, we have to act quickly. The godfather is here, everywhere at home.

Every wasted hour can give him time to disappear completely. Nothing is left to chance. Every house in the suburbs of Medellin is systematically searched. To start of course by that of his lieutenants. But in the name of God, who are you looking for ? In the early morning of July 22, 92,

We must face the facts, Escobar has disappeared. The government in Bogota is exasperated. Barely 24 hours after the invasion, he creates the “busqueda block”, a search section specially assigned, tracking down Escobar. She is housed right in the center of Medellin. An elite unit, 1000 police officers and highly trained soldiers,

Selected with great care. The general staff ensures that they do not have family in the city, that they all have a score to settle with Escobar for a cousin, a brother, or a murdered father. At their head, the Colombian government, places Colonel Hugo Martinez. At the time, the man was rather discreet.

Photos of him are extremely rare. At his side, to support him, an intelligence professional, a master spy. Major Hugo Aguilar. For journalists, ban on filming it. To her only, this image is a document. Aguilar, Martinez, upon their appointment, Escobar placed them, on his list of men to kill.

Sixteen years later, we have found the two men. Aguilar, first of all. He agreed to meet us and take all the risks. Even today, it remains threatened, especially in Medellin. The former soldier became a man politics, regional governor, but above all it is protected 24 hours a day,

For the manhunt he led at the time against Pablo Escobar. Martinez, he never left the army. He became a general. The years spent chasing the biggest criminal in Colombia, marked him forever. For us, he finally accepted to break his duty of reserve. For the first time, he will give us every detail,

Every moment lived on Escobar’s heels. From the creation of the section of research, the Americans send also their men, very special diplomats, specialized soldiers, on these archive images, these gringos in civilian clothes are numerous. For its part, the DEA, American narcotics, designate its two best agents. Javier Pena and Stephen Murphy.

They will work in the field with the Colombians. The section brought together the best and the brightest. We had all the resources that we wanted. Money, equipment, intelligence services. It was at this time that the DEA, launched a real hunt to the man against Escobar.

But this time on a scale of the planet. In Medellin, it is a state of siege. The search section is everywhere. She has all the power. The checks are permanent, systematic raking. The first weeks in the police net, few things. Weapons, telephone, dynamite, classic in Medellin. Classic too, the arrest second knives.

In truth, what the police hope for, it’s finding the informer, the informant, which will take them back to Escobar. But despite the rewards, television calls to denunciation have little effect. Because denounce the godfather and his lieutenants, amounts to certain death. Result, the months pass and Escobar remains nowhere to be found.

Despite the weariness and the risks, the research section is required to check each pipe. And often the informants bring them back to Envigado, Escobar’s childhood neighborhood. – We must remember that people protected him. For many, he was Robin Hood. He had helped the poor, he had built churches, distributed a lot of money.

In fact, these people idolized him and so they hid it. That day, what the police expect to find in this house, these are some cartel men. Unfortunately, the police arrived, a few minutes late. There were Pablo’s accomplices here. They were there a short time ago. In meeting.

To block it, the fiascos like this will repeat itself. Elite soldiers, well-paid informants. This is still not enough. To catch Escobar, something else needs to be considered. Priority is now given to telecommunications. The Americans send an Awacs radar plane and continuously run a twin-engine voice frequency detector. In a manhunt, It’s a first.

Suddenly, Colonel Martinez and his men can listen, hundreds of conversations on the telephone and on the radio, without interruption every day, 24 hours a day. Until this early morning in March 93. – We hear Escobar start a discussion, with his son from his cell phone. The problem, he moves around a lot.

The American twin-engine, which turns constantly above Medellin, still manages to locate the frequency of the call. The pilot sends me immediately contact details and I postpone them on a city map, to know the exact area of the call. This time, the triangulation calculations indicate a residence, in the chic suburbs of Medellin.

Escobar is there, that’s for sure. All that remains is to pick it. At dawn, the assault is given, the house is searched. But inside, the police do not find, only a few poorly awakened employees. Elephant tusks! – Who owns this house? – To Adrian Moreno. Moreno, a name often used by Escobar.

– What is his business? – I swear I don’t know. – What bad taste these narcos have! Upstairs, the police are not at the end of their surprises. Everything is extravagant there. As in all residences where the godfather of Medellin lives. A real collection of shoes! It’s a shell bathtub!

Men may search the 1000 square meters of the building, no trace of the drug trafficker. The bed is unmade, still warm, one more time, Escobar was warned in time. It’s always the same… We only find the employees. And that’s how it is in all these properties.

It’s been 8 months now that Pablo Escobar fled, of his tailor-made prison. Every day that passes is a snub for men, of the research section. At the beginning, we missed it quite a bit twenty times. Yet we heard it on the radio. We sent the intervention groups in the zone,

But we always missed it. Over time, Pablo Escobar becomes increasingly popular. His escape and especially his baraka make him a true hero. In the streets of poor neighborhoods, there are many of them now to want to protect him. – If Pablo came here, he wouldn’t even need to ask me for hospitality.

He is here, at home, whenever he wants. If he comes, we will welcome him with open arms. He is always welcome. Protections, Escobar also finds some of his cartel accomplices, with other sponsors who he can count on. Sixteen years later, the vast majority of them has disappeared.

A few members remain today of the Escobar family, the only ones now to hold, the secrets of the Godfather’s escape. So these are the ones we are going to seek to meet. According to our information, the son, Juan Pablo and the widow of Pablo Escobar, Maria Victoria, left Colombia.

They took refuge in Argentina. Only his brother, Roberto. And his younger sister Alba Marina, still live in Medellin. During Pablo’s time, the Escobar family was untouchable. The brother and sister liked to go out, to show oneself. Today, it’s rather low profile and discreet existence. Thanks to the complicity from a local correspondent,

We get the address of the Escobar sister. – Is this where Mrs. Escobar lives? – Yes. – She’s there ? – No, sorry, she just came out. – We’ll leave him a note then. Waiting at the hotel will last three days. No call, no answer, to our meeting proposal.

You have to say that in the Escobar family, distrust remains the rule. And then on the fourth day, phone call, finally. Alba Marina accepts to welcome us into her home. We know now, Alba Marina was the accomplice of Escobar during the hunt, persecution, as she says. So she knows all his secrets.

And always devoted to his brother deep admiration. – This is my favorite photo of Pablo, at the time when he was politics. He looks so happy. Nobody knows that I kept all these memories. These are Pablo’s objects that I have recovered in different hiding places. These are the tennis shoes he used.

Her indoor slippers that he adored. This shirt is very famous, we saw it in all the newspapers. And here is Pablo’s latest diary, where all his appointments are registered and a map too. It’s a map of a hiding place where I was going to find him.

In this diary, there was also the names of all his enemies, their addresses, their contact details. The names of their fathers, their mothers. And here is the hairpiece with which he disguised himself. I look like him, don’t I? The souvenir trunk has had its effect. Alba Marina is reassured.

She now accepts us make further revelations. – This place is called Peñol, but we also nicknamed him Escobar’s independent Republic. In fact, Peñol is a Escobar’s hideouts. At the time, Alba Marina and his son often arrive there, when police pressure is becoming too strong in Medellin.

– Do you see these houses? This is where Pablo came to hide. Depending on the circumstances, he spent 3 or 4 days there, sometimes even a week. The sister brings her brother on the run, food, letters and information, in the greatest secrecy. Despite the risk, it is often accompanied by her son Francisco.

– It was all ours. We owned all the farms around the lake. Pablo had given them to trusted friends or relatives. And this house where we are belonged to one of his cousins. Even surrounded by family and his loved ones, the godfather remains alert.

– I remember we had 25 or 30 houses scattered around, throughout Medellin. We never stayed in the same place. I especially remember that we had to move every week. Every month. That’s where I learned to move in 6 or 7 hours. Pablo Escobar also a brother, Roberto, two years older than him.

Images of this man at the time are not numerous. It must be said that Roberto Escobar is a key man in the Medellin cartel. His specialty, accounting. In his memoirs, Roberto Escobar, even admits to having been one of the 15 financiers, of the *** Empire. He will play of course, an essential role,

On the run from his brother. Before leaving us, Alba Marina gave us some advice. To contact Roberto, his brother, you need to call a contact in the USA. – Hello, we would like interview Roberto Escobar. – To do an interview with Don Roberto to talk about Pablo’s life.

We need to discuss it, I mean, pay compensation. I do not know exactly by what amount. We agree to set the conditions of the interview, with the person concerned himself. The woman finally accepts to give us his number. – Don Roberto? – Yes. – Good morning. – Who is speaking ?

– I am a French journalist. How are you doing ? – Yes I’m fine and you ? – Don Roberto, can we see at your office or elsewhere? – Yes of course. – Where ? – Come to the gas station Las Palmas. I’m sending someone. – Thank you very much, Don Roberto. Bye.

The appointment has been set for us, right in the residential area from Medellin. The only condition imposed, that we come without a camera. We decide despite everything to film this meeting. In his youth, Roberto Escobar, was a professional cyclist, before changing route and follow his brother.

Even today, on the walls spreads out in black and white, memories of that time. These years in the cartel and in the *** traffic, Don Roberto no longer wishes come back, except for Hollywood producers, to whom he promised exclusivity of his testimony. – The story of Pablo’s escape, I know her well.

I am even one of the best placed to tell it, you know. I lived alongside by Pablo since 1983. We were the best friends in the world, inseparable brothers. We did everything together, we traveled together, we went everywhere, even during the Great Hunt, You know. We won’t know more.

He just consents to give us a small detail. During Pablo’s run, he never went without news. In his cell, Roberto tampered with a phone, that he had hidden in television. And that’s how he continued to communicate with his brother. – The people who came see me in prison, saw only a simple television.

But I could speak every day with my brother, because I had installed there a phone. I disguised my voice and I asked him: “Hey brother, are you okay? What are you doing ? Are you okay or not?” That’s it, that’s how it is that it was happening. June 1993,

A year after his escape, Escobar remains nowhere to be found. He moves around Medellin, jumping from one hideout to another and changing every week. It’s one of his aunts, Luzmila, who does the shopping and cooking for him. At each appointment he sets for her, she discovers a new neighborhood.

– There it is, it’s here. There, on the third floor. During the day, he was standing on the balcony, with a towel on his head. He looked at people pass in the street. I told him: “So Pablo, are you sunbathing?” And we both laughed.

In his escape, Escobar takes advantage also a rampart of friends and mistresses always ready to hide it. – We often went out to the center from Medellin with Pablo, on foot, by taxi or in a minibus. I had just had my baby and he held it like that, to hide his face.

One day we went at an ice cream shop. There were a crazy crowd. We were waiting in line. A kid pushed several people to free ride. People told him: “You are the store owner Or do you think you’re Pablo Escobar?” Behind, Pablo watched the scene with a knowing smile.

At the same time, day and night, thousands of men are after him. The research section, the Colombian secret services, the CIA, the DEA, Pablo Escobar doesn’t care, he continues to taunt them to the city center. – Pablo had a habit. He set up roadblocks with a hundred killers, on Las Palmas Avenue.

In fact, he was waiting when leaving the clubs, secret service police officers. I’m going elsewhere tell you an anecdote. One evening, a policeman arrives at a roadblock by car. He presents himself as being Major Riano. Escobar recognizes him and says to him: “It was you who killed one of my friends!”

So immediately he kills the major and his girlfriend. This is Escobar’s response to rewards offered for its capture. He is offering $2000 for each murdered policeman. 1600 will thus fall under the bullets of his killers. In the streets of Medellin, it’s a massacre. The research section barracks, becomes the theater daily burial.

In Escobar’s crosshairs, there are also those who dream to condemn him and extradite him to the United States. For the year 92 alone, 70 magistrates fell for being too curious. This judge who goes on an operation with the soldiers of the section, knows she can die at any moment.

Colombian newspapers do not have the right to say his name, nor show his face. The helicopter raid takes him in an Escobar hideout, in the middle of the mountain range. An informant has just informed that the capo, was there that morning. DEA Agent Stephen Murphy is also part of the journey,

Normal, for capture public enemy number one, the Americans want to be there. But once again, Pablo Escobar is gone. – It was discouraging. We started to say to ourselves: “We’ll never catch this guy.” We had the best with us information system in the world. And yet, we missed it every time.

Failing to find Escobar, the judge and the soldiers are looking for physical evidence of the godfather’s crimes, underground. We’re looking for evidence. – Which ones? – Pits. Mass graves. He kills people and buries them. It’s for making bombs! The shelter is full of automatic weapons, additional evidence. Pablo Escobar is still running.

There had been so many operations failed only at the end, we had lost our credibility and our courage. Our leaders were beginning to doubt. There was talk of replacing us, to change strategy. It is the fall of 93. The Colombian government decides to increase the pressure a little more. It triples the reward.

Escobar’s head is now worth 1 billion pesos, $5 million. On television, campaigns denunciations multiply, listening systems are perfected. Escobar is one of the few to have a cell phone at the time, but he knows he must move constantly, never speak for more than three minutes, to prevent the police to locate it.

One day, an American technician warns us, that he had information very precise. He had located a point of emission exact in a hideout. It was very difficult terrain because it is mountainous. We had prepared a helicopter operation, in the greatest secrecy. However, a few minutes later,

We hear someone on the radio tell Escobar: “Sir, they have located you, they arrive. On our arrival, he was gone. A conclusion is necessary, there is a traitor among the police, a mole that warns almost live, the cartel leader of all raids. The colonel does not take long to unmask him.

This informant was a young police auxiliary, with a particularity. He was very good with his hands for woodworking. He sculpted small figurines police officers and helicopters. He always hung out with us at the command post, especially when we were focusing our operations against Escobar. The informant is directly paid by Escobar.

With the money, he rents an apartment in this building, just behind the barracks. As soon as this policeman learned the existence of an operation, he was running to this house. Using a coded radio, he called Pablo Escobar’s lieutenants. He spoke in secret language and said to them:

“Tell the senior or the doctor, as they called Escobar, They arrive, They will fall on you! When we arrived at the scene, there was no one left, where we came across an armed group who was shooting at us. And that’s how so many police officers were murdered. The traitor is eliminated.

The manhunt can start again more beautiful. The individual we target, is called El Chopo. And according to our information, He would be hiding in this area. – Chopo was essential. He was the fireworks maker, he made and planted the bombs for Escobar. This is our photo album for our operations.

The guy we want to catch tonight… It’s him. The change in tactics is complete. The objective is now to isolate Escobar, removing 1 to 1 all his lieutenants. That night, It’s Mario Castaño’s turn, aka El Chopo. The operation against El Chopo is a success. She will be followed by many others.

Executives of the Medellin cartel, fall one after the other. Pablo Escobar is weakened. – In the end, Escobar has no one left solid around him. He no longer has a leader and he no longer has a bodyguard. Fear then changes sides. From predator, the godfather becomes game.

Especially since it comes into play a new enemy, those persecuted by Pablo Escobar, nicknamed in Medellin, the Pepes. – The Pepes were a group of criminals who had been part, of the Medellin Cartel. They parted ways with Escobar and started to fight him. At their head, 2 formidable traffickers,

2 former accomplices of Escobar, revolted by his paranoia and his cruelty. Unlike the police, the Pepes know all the secrets, all the habits of the cartel leader. The carnage does not take long. The Pepes murder with all their might the relatives of the godfather. And that changes the whole perspective for Escobar.

He’s really starting to worry for her family. In fact, the Pepes use of the same methods as Escobar. They target the family. Like this day when they plastic the apartment where his mother lives, his wife and children. No one is hurt, but the warning for Pablo is serious.

– One day, they put a bomb that destroyed an original Dali painting, $5 million thing. Escobar’s wife is devastated, so she calls Pablo. Look, they ransacked the Dali. But what are we going to do? Pablo replied: What is the Dali? Who is most valuable to me? these are our children, so don’t worry.

Little by little, Escobar takes fear for his own and it is this love for his daughter and son, who will finally lose it, as long as they are in Colombia, he will never be at peace. So he decides to send them to Europe, more precisely in Germany. On November 27, 1993,

Maria Victoria, Juan Pablo and little Manuela embark for Frankfurt, under police protection and under the eye of the cameras. Escobar thinks they’re out of the woods. He doesn’t know it yet, but its countdown, just started. – His wife and children leave for a safe country. But no country wants to accept them.

The plane goes back and forth and rests in Colombia. Nobody wanted to hear anymore talk about Pablo Escobar. Following diplomatic pressure, the German government ends up pushing them back. On November 29, the Escobar family is back in Colombia, under the protection of the government, without imagining a single second,

That they fell into a trap stretched by the Americans and the Colombian authorities. – I was sure that once rejected from Germany and back to Colombia, the family would exert pressure terrible on Escobar. Upon landing, the family Escobar is transferred, in a residence in Bogota held by the police.

They are in fact prisoners. The journalists rush. Her children are exposed to the eyes of whole world like curious beasts. For Escobar, the ordeal is terrible. Isolated, far from his family and now powerless to protect them. Especially since at the same time, the Pepes increase the pressure,

By claiming responsibility for an attack with a grenade against the hotel. Without causing any casualties. In his den, Escobar becomes hysterical, until you forget the rules the most basic, of security. – We knew that Escobar and his son spoke to each other every evening at 6 p.m.,

On the same frequency, and that’s how, that we started to intercept their communications. For the research section, it’s the commotion of battle. All men are mobilized. All means deployed. On the front line, 4 vehicles voice recognition. They travel constantly the streets of Medellin, looking for the slightest word spoken by the Godfather.

– At this moment, we listen 24 hours a day, throughout the search area. Our teams are on alert, ready to intervene, in case a call is spotted. On December 1, police technicians, spot 5 calls from Escobar at different points in the city center. – The problem, it was because he was constantly moving.

He had been calling since a car that was moving. The police have just understood one of Escobar’s tricks, to avoid being spotted, the fugitive has long since adopted, a simple but effective method, roll continuously in a of the countless taxis of Medellin and have from his phones, very short conversations.

– After 4 days of continuous listening, we were exhausted, we thought we wouldn’t arrive never able to locate it. When suddenly, on the fifth day, his last call is intercepted. Incredibly, the signal is fixed and everything tells us that this time, he is in a house.

The first policeman to arrive on site confirms the information. He reports immediately to his superior. And there, this policeman said to me: “That’s it. I identified the house, I am in front of the house, I think I see it. Yes ! He is near the window, he has a phone in his hand.

No more doubt, the group intervention rushes. It is led by Major Aguilar. – We entered the house with great caution. The first thing we see, this is the taxi in which he was used to moving around. And there I hear Pablo talk on the phone. It is located on the second floor.

We start to move forward, with my rifle, I lead the way, in silence. Very slowly. And there I see it. He’s right in front of me. But since I don’t have a good visibility, I can’t shoot. So I move forward a little. He turns around and sees me. He said, “What’s going on?”

Then he drops his phone and goes out his revolver and shoots me. I run up, I have my pistol in my hand. I shoot and hit him in the back. The policeman behind me takes his rifle and shoots in turn. He hits him here, right in the temple.

The ball goes in here and comes out there. And suddenly he throws himself out of the window. I jump too. It was rough because the window at the time was much higher. I advance. I take his gun away from him. I take the radio, I call my bosses. And I shout:

“Long live Colombia! Pablo Escobar is dead.” Half an hour later, the 1000 men of the section, are in front of the house. The whole town runs. Those who applaud like those who cry, the death of Pablo Escobar. And then there are those who don’t believe it,

Like the godfather’s mother who arrives in shock at the scene. She’s going to take a long time to accept reality. Hand on face, American agent Stephen Murphy sneaks in, in the crowd of soldiers. He didn’t want to miss the trophy afterwards several years of merciless hunting. Everyone was delighted, but very tired.

You can’t imagine the pressure that we had on our shoulders, Especially if we think than the Colombian police. could have missed his shot, once again. At 1:30 p.m., this December 2, 1993, the biggest manhunt of all time has just ended. Pablo Escobar is buried the next day, at the gates of Medellin.

10,000 people are present, in a communion which sometimes borders on idolatry. In a corner, there are the women of the family, crushed by the crowd who wants to touch the remains, one last time. That day, a page in history of Colombia turns. But on Escobar’s long run, about its secrets,

Much remains to be written. Sixteen years after the man’s disappearance the most sought after in the world, remains one last mystery. Where did the fortune go? of the godfather of Medellin? Where would be hidden the 5 billion dollars, that legend attributes to him? – Colombian traffickers had used to bury their money.

Escobar had done it, that’s for sure. I think there are some left necessarily somewhere, if only because Escobar always got people killed, who buried the bags of dollars. The money rotted, it was buried in cellars or in containers, under water.

– Pablo didn’t take the money, that’s for sure. He never buried the money. – All the fortune of Pablo Escobar was in works of art, in gold and diamonds. There was no liquid. – Money is partly the State. Partly the enemies who took it. Another part may be in the United States, Europe,

Or maybe here. The rest has disappeared. I believe that money has not completely disappeared. It is in the hands of the family. I think it’s his family who benefits from the money. Because Pablo Escobar’s money, no one ever has found in Colombia. If it is true, that he had so many millions.

I think he himself didn’t know how much. Even with 50% of that. His wife and children must be archi millionaires, today in Argentina. These statements by General Maza, we wanted to check them out. Buenos Aires, Capital of Argentina. After the death of the godfather, Maria Victoria and her 2 children,

Have settled well here. But they blended in and changed their identity. Maria Victoria became Maria Isabel. Juan Pablo is now called Sebastian Maroquin. It took us several days to find their trace. The Escobar family has reconverted In the real estate. Maria Victoria started a business interior design with his son,

In the heart of Palermo, a chic district of the capital. We sit opposite and decide to call them. – The studio, hello. – May I speak to Sebastian Maroquin? – He is not there. Do you know when he comes back? Is he in Buenos Aires? I think he’s traveling.

I don’t know when he comes back. Yes, he must be abroad. – Thank you so much. In the meantime, we are looking to know more, on family activities Escobar in Argentina. This journalist was interested to them upon their arrival in Buenos Aires. When they arrive, they begin by meeting people from here,

Especially an accountant. At first, Maria Victoria and this accountant, have a friendly relationship, then, they become lovers. And together, they buy an apartment. It was their little love nest. It’s from this apartment that Maria Victoria and her lover, organize money laundering. The accountant begins to do back and forth to Colombia

And brings back suitcases of tickets. Double bottom suitcases which could contain, up to $400,000. Between 95 and 99, in just five years, it has been proven that he did enter $2 million, but we estimate that it could go up to ten. But Maria Victoria’s love is soon betrayed,

Because it’s money which interests the accountant. He is more and more greedy and blackmails Mrs. Escobar for five years. In 1999, there was a twist. The whole gang is arrested. Maria Victoria, her son, Juan Pablo and the blackmailer. Very quickly, they were released. The magistrates have never been able to prove,

That their heritage came from d*** traffic. Since then, the accountant mysteriously disappeared. Maria Victoria, she, was never seen in public again. Our hideout continues in front of the Escobars’ office. The days go by and look the same. On the fourth day, finally, something new in our car.

Juan Pablo has just alerted us. He is back in Buenos Aires. He offers us a meeting. No doubt possible. In profile, it is the portrait of his father. The godfather’s son is now 32 years old. He made a clean sweep of the past. He is now a designer recognized in Argentina,

Married and soon to be a father. For this meeting with the son of the Colombian godfather, we decide to equip ourselves with a discreet camera. The man who tries to remake his life escapes the media. The meeting with him is therefore exceptional. – What should I call you? Juan Pablo or Sebastian? -Sebastian.

Juan Pablo, for me, it’s ancient history. That was my life before. – Where did the immense fortune go? of your father? What happened to his money? – The answer is very simple. Yes, my father was immensely rich. But I have to say something. At one point, he left the traffic

And he invested all his fortune in the war against the state. And you know, it all costs a lot of money, in arms and men. And apart from arms spending and explosives, a considerable mass money was squandered, to corrupt people. – He bought the whole country? – Yes, the whole country.

In his office, I saw parade all day, all kinds of important people. For example, he was in a meeting with an official and outside, the police officers of the escort stood guard. After the meeting, they passed in the office to get paid. One day, they were policemen, one day politicians.

I even saw an ex-president of the Republic. He watered everyone, daddy, and he said to them: “Here, here’s your check. Thank you so much.” In the Escobar file, Argentinian justice has finished by dismissing the case. But when you’re clean son of the king of ***,

Impossible to escape suspicion on the origin of his fortune. – We were accused to have whitened, let’s say, $1 million in five years. I answered them: “If what you say is true, so we are the worst money launderers of history. Because when you wash ***’s money, $1 million is nothing.

Just pocket money to buy you a coffee. What happened to the billions of Escobar? Do they sleep in numbered accounts or somewhere underground? Or are they just a fantasy? Nobody knows, except maybe this woman, Maria Victoria, the widow of Medellin’s godfather. She refused to meet us.

We only have these images of her stolen from a street in Buenos Aires. She has part of the truth. Dying on a roof from Medellin in 1993, Pablo Escobar, the greatest drug trafficker of all time, has not revealed all its secrets.