1 00:00:04,542 --> 00:00:07,125 [tense music] 2 00:00:07,125 --> 00:00:11,083 - Tonight, one of the most notorious narcotics traffickers 3 00:00:11,083 --> 00:00:14,375 in history, Pablo Escobar. 4 00:00:14,375 --> 00:00:18,000 - By the early 1980s, Pablo Escobar is responsible 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,167 for 80% of the cocaine that is bought and sold 6 00:00:21,167 --> 00:00:23,208 in the United States of America. 7 00:00:23,208 --> 00:00:25,125 - He was 100% ruthless. 8 00:00:25,125 --> 00:00:27,625 He was capable of pulling out a gun and opening fire 9 00:00:27,625 --> 00:00:28,708 without a moment's remorse. 10 00:00:28,708 --> 00:00:32,250 - But to others, they saw him as their savior. 11 00:00:32,250 --> 00:00:34,250 - He would tell people, "You have a choice. 12 00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:38,875 You can take my silver, my money, or my lead." 13 00:00:38,875 --> 00:00:41,708 - After years trying to capture Escobar, 14 00:00:41,708 --> 00:00:43,542 he is finally taken down. 15 00:00:43,542 --> 00:00:46,083 But there are still a lot of questions 16 00:00:46,083 --> 00:00:48,417 about what actually happened. 17 00:00:48,417 --> 00:00:51,208 - Now, we'll explore the top theories 18 00:00:51,208 --> 00:00:54,792 surrounding the mysteries of Pablo Escobar's death, 19 00:00:54,792 --> 00:00:57,250 and the fortune he left behind. 20 00:00:57,250 --> 00:01:00,042 - Who was it that really killed Pablo Escobar that day? 21 00:01:00,042 --> 00:01:02,625 - Many say he was simply executed. 22 00:01:02,625 --> 00:01:05,208 - Was the Colombian government working against him 23 00:01:05,208 --> 00:01:06,708 with a rival cartel? 24 00:01:06,708 --> 00:01:08,542 - At the cartel's height, 25 00:01:08,542 --> 00:01:13,958 20% of all the US$100 bills in circulation 26 00:01:14,333 --> 00:01:16,083 were somewhere in Colombia. 27 00:01:16,083 --> 00:01:18,875 - This guy had billions of dollars in cash. 28 00:01:18,875 --> 00:01:22,208 And there is a good reason to believe that some of it, 29 00:01:22,208 --> 00:01:24,750 if not a lot of it, is still buried out there, 30 00:01:24,750 --> 00:01:26,708 ready to be found. 31 00:01:26,708 --> 00:01:28,833 - Who killed Pablo Escobar? 32 00:01:28,833 --> 00:01:30,958 And what happened to his fortune? 33 00:01:30,958 --> 00:01:33,500 [tense music] 34 00:01:45,708 --> 00:01:48,958 Medellin, Colombia, 1974. 35 00:01:48,958 --> 00:01:54,083 24-year-old Pablo Escobar is already a hardened criminal. 36 00:01:55,458 --> 00:01:58,917 - In 1974, Medellin, Colombia is known as a hub 37 00:01:58,917 --> 00:02:02,000 for smuggling contraband all over North and South America. 38 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:07,000 And Pablo Escobar is 24 years old, and he grew up very poor. 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,708 So he is always thinking about new ways 40 00:02:09,708 --> 00:02:12,417 of muscling his way into businesses and making money. 41 00:02:12,417 --> 00:02:16,708 - He has already established himself as a career criminal. 42 00:02:16,708 --> 00:02:21,750 He's engaged in auto theft and fraud and kidnapping. 43 00:02:22,917 --> 00:02:26,333 And he's coming of age at a really important time 44 00:02:26,333 --> 00:02:30,167 for Colombia because cocaine has taken off 45 00:02:30,167 --> 00:02:31,708 in the United States, 46 00:02:31,708 --> 00:02:35,583 and Colombia is a major supplier of that drug. 47 00:02:35,583 --> 00:02:38,875 - In the 1970s in the United States, 48 00:02:38,875 --> 00:02:42,458 people find cocaine to be an attractive drug, 49 00:02:42,458 --> 00:02:44,708 because attractive people are using it. 50 00:02:44,708 --> 00:02:48,417 Models, politicians, people on Wall Street. 51 00:02:48,417 --> 00:02:52,792 And suddenly it became the glamour drug of the era, 52 00:02:52,792 --> 00:02:57,708 and it was insanely addictive, and also highly profitable. 53 00:02:57,708 --> 00:03:00,458 - Escobar sees that some smuggling operators 54 00:03:00,458 --> 00:03:03,625 are getting a lot of money from cocaine. 55 00:03:03,625 --> 00:03:07,667 The problem is, Escobar does not know how to make cocaine, 56 00:03:07,667 --> 00:03:09,333 and who to sell it to. 57 00:03:09,333 --> 00:03:11,375 - [Laurence] What Escobar does know 58 00:03:11,375 --> 00:03:14,125 is how to muscle in on an operation. 59 00:03:14,125 --> 00:03:17,375 - The one thing Pablo Escobar was very good at was violence. 60 00:03:17,375 --> 00:03:19,083 And he learned at a very early age 61 00:03:19,083 --> 00:03:22,875 in his criminal activities, with violence comes control. 62 00:03:22,875 --> 00:03:25,625 He was willing to kill the individual's families, 63 00:03:25,625 --> 00:03:29,542 their friends, abducting, and murdering to prove a point, 64 00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:32,042 in that he is the one that is in control. 65 00:03:32,042 --> 00:03:34,208 - He was 100% ruthless. 66 00:03:34,208 --> 00:03:37,375 He was capable of going from jovial and friendly, 67 00:03:37,375 --> 00:03:39,292 to pulling out a gun and opening fire 68 00:03:39,292 --> 00:03:41,083 without a moment's remorse. 69 00:03:41,083 --> 00:03:42,542 - So he used extreme violence 70 00:03:42,542 --> 00:03:45,500 to take over the emerging cocaine producers' 71 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:49,167 small laboratories in the jungle, into a cartel, 72 00:03:49,167 --> 00:03:51,708 under his control, called the Medellin Cartel. 73 00:03:52,708 --> 00:03:55,417 - Now, Escobar is top dog in charge. 74 00:03:55,417 --> 00:03:59,542 He's the one who was bribing the cops, judges, 75 00:03:59,542 --> 00:04:01,417 and they're afraid of him. 76 00:04:01,417 --> 00:04:02,708 - He knows how to kill. 77 00:04:02,708 --> 00:04:05,625 His method was often referred to as 78 00:04:05,625 --> 00:04:06,708 "plato o plomo," 79 00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:08,125 silver or lead. 80 00:04:08,125 --> 00:04:10,333 If you did what he wanted you to do, 81 00:04:10,333 --> 00:04:13,250 you would be handsomely rewarded for it. 82 00:04:13,250 --> 00:04:15,542 And if you didn't do as he wanted, 83 00:04:15,542 --> 00:04:17,625 well, someone would plug you full of lead. 84 00:04:17,625 --> 00:04:18,500 [shot firing] 85 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:19,958 - The Medellin Cartel 86 00:04:19,958 --> 00:04:23,042 becomes an incredibly sophisticated organization. 87 00:04:23,042 --> 00:04:27,375 It has a network of cocaine labs strewn all over Colombia. 88 00:04:27,375 --> 00:04:29,792 They have airplanes, helicopters. 89 00:04:29,792 --> 00:04:32,875 They also have an island in the Bahamas 90 00:04:32,875 --> 00:04:36,917 that serves as a launch point for shipments of cocaine 91 00:04:36,917 --> 00:04:39,042 to the United States. 92 00:04:39,042 --> 00:04:40,750 - [Laurence] By the early 1980s, 93 00:04:40,750 --> 00:04:45,000 Pablo Escobar is smuggling 15 tons of cocaine 94 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,333 into the US every day, 95 00:04:47,333 --> 00:04:51,583 and pulling in US$400 million a week. 96 00:04:51,583 --> 00:04:54,750 - He is responsible for 80% of the cocaine 97 00:04:54,750 --> 00:04:58,250 that is bought and sold in the United States of America, 98 00:04:58,250 --> 00:05:00,708 so he is swimming in cash. 99 00:05:00,708 --> 00:05:05,750 We're talking billions of dollars in cash. Paper money. 100 00:05:06,917 --> 00:05:09,417 It's so much money they don't know what to do with it. 101 00:05:09,417 --> 00:05:11,000 - They buy property. 102 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Escobar builds this massive estate, the Hacienda Napoles. 103 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:20,042 There's an airstrip, there's a soccer field, 104 00:05:20,042 --> 00:05:23,375 multiple mansions, a zoo. 105 00:05:23,375 --> 00:05:28,417 He was spending $2,500 a month on rubber bands 106 00:05:29,375 --> 00:05:31,250 to hold the stacks of money together. 107 00:05:31,250 --> 00:05:35,042 - Escobar actually gives millions of dollars away 108 00:05:35,042 --> 00:05:40,292 to the poor to help them with healthcare, schools, housing, 109 00:05:41,042 --> 00:05:42,250 and he really becomes known 110 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:43,958 somewhat of a local 111 00:05:43,958 --> 00:05:45,875 homegrown Robin Hood. 112 00:05:45,875 --> 00:05:47,458 - At first, 113 00:05:47,458 --> 00:05:51,833 Colombian officials were not going against Pablo Escobar. 114 00:05:51,833 --> 00:05:54,208 Many of them were bought off almost immediately, 115 00:05:54,208 --> 00:05:55,875 and they liked the money. 116 00:05:55,875 --> 00:06:00,208 And Colombia is flooded with Escobar's cocaine money. 117 00:06:00,208 --> 00:06:02,042 But unfortunately, with that money, 118 00:06:02,042 --> 00:06:03,708 came more violence as well, 119 00:06:03,708 --> 00:06:06,875 because Escobar by then had his own army 120 00:06:06,875 --> 00:06:09,583 who would kill anybody who stood in his way. 121 00:06:09,583 --> 00:06:11,000 - According to official records, 122 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,500 Pablo Escobar killed over 1,000 police officers, 123 00:06:14,500 --> 00:06:18,500 more than 200 judges, politicians, journalists. 124 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:19,875 He blew up an airliner 125 00:06:19,875 --> 00:06:22,208 in an attempt to kill a presidential candidate. 126 00:06:22,208 --> 00:06:23,083 - [Reporter] Pablo Escobar 127 00:06:23,083 --> 00:06:24,208 is also accused of the 128 00:06:24,208 --> 00:06:25,417 November 27th bombing 129 00:06:25,417 --> 00:06:27,083 of a Colombian jetliner 130 00:06:27,083 --> 00:06:31,583 just outside Bogota that killed all 107 people on board. 131 00:06:31,583 --> 00:06:35,083 - And at that point, Pablo Escobar had initiated a war 132 00:06:35,083 --> 00:06:36,125 with the Colombian government. 133 00:06:36,125 --> 00:06:37,625 - In the United States, 134 00:06:37,625 --> 00:06:40,750 the American government has identified the drug trade 135 00:06:40,750 --> 00:06:44,625 as a major threat to US national security. 136 00:06:44,625 --> 00:06:47,750 And so President Ronald Reagan formally declares 137 00:06:47,750 --> 00:06:50,375 the US will engage in a war on drugs. 138 00:06:50,625 --> 00:06:53,542 - I am today proposing a massive legislative program 139 00:06:53,542 --> 00:06:57,000 aimed at stepping up the battle on these two fronts, 140 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,417 in our neighborhoods, and our schools. 141 00:06:59,417 --> 00:07:00,792 - The US government is putting in 142 00:07:00,792 --> 00:07:02,167 hundreds of millions of dollars 143 00:07:02,167 --> 00:07:03,583 to support the Colombian effort 144 00:07:03,583 --> 00:07:05,375 to break the Medellin Cartel. 145 00:07:06,250 --> 00:07:07,667 - [Laurence] Under pressure, 146 00:07:07,667 --> 00:07:10,958 the Colombian government finally turns up the heat. 147 00:07:10,958 --> 00:07:14,708 - By 1990, there is essentially a civil war going on 148 00:07:14,708 --> 00:07:17,875 in Colombia, between the cartel and the government. 149 00:07:18,583 --> 00:07:20,042 The Colombian government, 150 00:07:20,042 --> 00:07:21,875 they get some people who are close to him, 151 00:07:21,875 --> 00:07:22,875 but they can't get 152 00:07:22,875 --> 00:07:23,667 the man himself. 153 00:07:23,667 --> 00:07:25,958 He's extremely slippery. 154 00:07:25,958 --> 00:07:27,500 - So at this point, 155 00:07:27,500 --> 00:07:29,375 the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA, 156 00:07:29,375 --> 00:07:30,542 gets involved. 157 00:07:30,542 --> 00:07:33,708 They partner up with Search Bloc, 158 00:07:33,708 --> 00:07:38,667 a group of the most elite of Colombia's national police. 159 00:07:39,750 --> 00:07:42,792 And Search Bloc has received from the US, 160 00:07:42,792 --> 00:07:45,250 this high-tech surveillance that allows them 161 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:48,167 to track Pablo Escobar's phone calls. 162 00:07:48,167 --> 00:07:53,125 - On December 2nd, 1993, the Search Bloc tracks Pablo Escobar 163 00:07:54,083 --> 00:07:56,792 in a two-story house in Los Olivos, Medellin. 164 00:07:57,750 --> 00:07:59,583 - What happens next is in dispute, 165 00:07:59,583 --> 00:08:01,917 but we do know that within a very short time, 166 00:08:01,917 --> 00:08:05,667 news spreads around the world, Escobar has been killed. 167 00:08:05,667 --> 00:08:09,833 - [Laurence] Escobar is declared dead at age 44, 168 00:08:09,833 --> 00:08:12,875 but his story is far from over. 169 00:08:12,875 --> 00:08:16,542 - The official word is that the Colombian National Police 170 00:08:16,542 --> 00:08:19,208 were the ones responsible for taking down Escobar. 171 00:08:20,875 --> 00:08:24,000 [tense music] 172 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,083 - The Colombian government wants to assume responsibility 173 00:08:27,083 --> 00:08:29,250 because there's a perception 174 00:08:29,250 --> 00:08:32,375 that if the Americans have credit for killing Escobar, 175 00:08:32,375 --> 00:08:35,500 to come in and kill a Colombian folk hero, 176 00:08:35,500 --> 00:08:37,417 would be beyond the pale. 177 00:08:37,417 --> 00:08:39,292 The Colombian political elite 178 00:08:39,292 --> 00:08:44,042 want to try to use the killing of Escobar as proof 179 00:08:44,042 --> 00:08:46,750 that Colombia has reformed its ways. 180 00:08:46,750 --> 00:08:49,625 - The Colombian government wants to be able to take credit. 181 00:08:49,625 --> 00:08:52,292 The US government wants to minimize its own involvement 182 00:08:52,292 --> 00:08:55,250 and play up the idea that this was Colombia's matter. 183 00:08:55,250 --> 00:08:56,417 They take care of it. 184 00:08:56,417 --> 00:09:00,042 So the idea that Escobar is killed 185 00:09:00,042 --> 00:09:02,167 by a member of the Colombian National Police 186 00:09:02,167 --> 00:09:04,542 serves everybody's interests. 187 00:09:04,542 --> 00:09:07,750 - In 1993, there is a lot of pressure on Colombia 188 00:09:07,750 --> 00:09:10,500 to capture Pablo Escobar. 189 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:12,458 They've spent years trying to track him down. 190 00:09:12,458 --> 00:09:13,917 He's been on the run. 191 00:09:13,917 --> 00:09:16,208 There's been a lot of investment by the United States, 192 00:09:16,208 --> 00:09:19,292 it's providing funding for this high-tech equipment 193 00:09:19,292 --> 00:09:21,083 that Search Bloc has been able to use 194 00:09:21,083 --> 00:09:24,042 to track Pablo Escobar's phone calls. 195 00:09:24,042 --> 00:09:26,958 So the US government is really putting the pressure 196 00:09:26,958 --> 00:09:30,583 on Colombia to take Pablo Escobar down. 197 00:09:30,583 --> 00:09:33,583 - Pablo Escobar was endeared to his family, 198 00:09:33,583 --> 00:09:35,625 especially his son, Juan Pablo. 199 00:09:35,625 --> 00:09:37,917 He would talk to Juan Pablo almost every day, 200 00:09:37,917 --> 00:09:40,000 and he was also talking to his wife. 201 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,333 She was talking to the Colombian press, 202 00:09:42,333 --> 00:09:43,833 relaying his messages. 203 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:45,042 This was a fatal mistake, 204 00:09:45,042 --> 00:09:47,917 because his phone calls were being traced. 205 00:09:47,917 --> 00:09:52,750 - Escobar decides that he's going to talk to his son. 206 00:09:52,750 --> 00:09:56,042 And it's a much longer phone call, 207 00:09:56,042 --> 00:09:58,208 so they're on the phone long enough 208 00:09:58,208 --> 00:10:01,208 that they can really track the call to its source. 209 00:10:01,208 --> 00:10:02,708 - The Search Bloc van, 210 00:10:02,708 --> 00:10:04,958 which was the unit they were using with their equipment, 211 00:10:04,958 --> 00:10:08,042 then went by that location and did a physical ID. 212 00:10:08,042 --> 00:10:11,708 They identified Pablo Escobar standing in a window. 213 00:10:11,708 --> 00:10:14,542 To surround the area, they put troops on the roof, 214 00:10:14,542 --> 00:10:17,375 across the street, in the back of the house, 215 00:10:17,375 --> 00:10:18,917 and then they went in. 216 00:10:18,917 --> 00:10:21,833 As soon as they entered the residence, a shootout occurred. 217 00:10:21,833 --> 00:10:25,458 - And Pablo ends up going to the second story, 218 00:10:25,458 --> 00:10:26,792 hops onto a roof. 219 00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:28,875 And according to the official story, 220 00:10:28,875 --> 00:10:33,542 he's running across the roof, and he's shot three times. 221 00:10:33,542 --> 00:10:36,000 Once in the leg, once in the back, 222 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,417 and he dies from a gunshot to the head. 223 00:10:38,417 --> 00:10:41,417 - One of the senior members of the Search Bloc, 224 00:10:41,417 --> 00:10:45,292 whose name is Hugo Aguilar, makes a much-disputed claim 225 00:10:45,292 --> 00:10:49,375 that he was the one who delivered the deadly shot 226 00:10:49,375 --> 00:10:51,292 that killed Pablo Escobar. 227 00:10:51,292 --> 00:10:52,542 - In order to strike 228 00:10:52,542 --> 00:10:54,042 an individual, while running, in the head 229 00:10:54,042 --> 00:10:56,792 would require a high level of marksmanship. 230 00:10:56,792 --> 00:10:58,750 So some have questioned whether Aguilar 231 00:10:58,750 --> 00:11:00,458 was actually that skilled, 232 00:11:00,458 --> 00:11:03,750 and could have made that shot that killed Pablo Escobar. 233 00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:05,792 - In his book, "Killing Pablo," 234 00:11:05,792 --> 00:11:09,875 Mark Bowden questions whether those shots actually 235 00:11:09,875 --> 00:11:13,167 are fired by members of the Colombian National Police. 236 00:11:13,167 --> 00:11:15,583 The bullet went clear through his brain, 237 00:11:15,583 --> 00:11:18,292 from his right ear to his left. 238 00:11:18,292 --> 00:11:20,167 That's a really difficult shot. 239 00:11:21,625 --> 00:11:23,417 - There are a lot of people speculating, well, 240 00:11:23,417 --> 00:11:25,292 what actually happened? 241 00:11:25,292 --> 00:11:27,167 And who might have been there? 242 00:11:28,208 --> 00:11:30,333 And could somebody else have fired the shot? 243 00:11:35,875 --> 00:11:37,750 - [Laurence] When cocaine trafficking kingpin, 244 00:11:37,750 --> 00:11:40,917 Pablo Escobar, dies from a gunshot wound to the head, 245 00:11:40,917 --> 00:11:44,875 after a shootout with Colombian police in 1993, 246 00:11:44,875 --> 00:11:47,042 many in Colombia and the US 247 00:11:47,042 --> 00:11:49,333 see it as a cause for celebration. 248 00:11:51,208 --> 00:11:53,417 - The Colombian government has been chasing this guy 249 00:11:53,417 --> 00:11:55,042 for years. 250 00:11:55,042 --> 00:11:59,333 He's responsible for just this wave of death and destruction 251 00:11:59,333 --> 00:12:00,625 throughout the country. 252 00:12:00,625 --> 00:12:03,958 So when he dies, there are countless parties, 253 00:12:03,958 --> 00:12:05,875 including the United States, 254 00:12:05,875 --> 00:12:07,667 that are thrilled about the fact 255 00:12:07,667 --> 00:12:09,458 that Escobar's finally been taken down. 256 00:12:09,458 --> 00:12:11,042 But, the question still remains. 257 00:12:11,042 --> 00:12:15,333 Who actually shot and killed Pablo Escobar? 258 00:12:15,333 --> 00:12:17,542 - [Laurence] According to the Colombian government, 259 00:12:17,542 --> 00:12:19,375 it's the National Police Force, 260 00:12:19,375 --> 00:12:23,292 specifically an elite unit known as Search Bloc, 261 00:12:23,292 --> 00:12:27,375 that is solely responsible for killing Escobar. 262 00:12:27,375 --> 00:12:28,792 - The scene of Escobar's death 263 00:12:28,792 --> 00:12:31,042 left us with a lot of unanswered questions. 264 00:12:31,042 --> 00:12:33,208 There's a lot of chaos, a lot of anarchy, 265 00:12:33,208 --> 00:12:34,667 a lot of confusion, 266 00:12:34,667 --> 00:12:37,208 as they're trying to recover Escobar's body, 267 00:12:37,208 --> 00:12:40,042 and at the same time, collect any evidence. 268 00:12:40,042 --> 00:12:41,500 - You have all of these officers 269 00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:43,208 that are posing with the body, 270 00:12:43,208 --> 00:12:45,250 allegedly tampering with the body. 271 00:12:45,250 --> 00:12:47,708 You have all of these other people that are there, 272 00:12:47,708 --> 00:12:49,500 plain-clothes officers, members of the media, 273 00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:52,583 civilians that are just trying to walk near the body 274 00:12:52,583 --> 00:12:53,958 and pose for photos. 275 00:12:53,958 --> 00:12:55,792 So a lot of people begin to question the story, 276 00:12:55,792 --> 00:12:58,000 due to all of the rumors and all of this activity 277 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,042 that's happening near the body of Pablo Escobar. 278 00:13:01,042 --> 00:13:03,708 - Perhaps the official narrative is wrong. 279 00:13:03,708 --> 00:13:05,875 Perhaps the Colombian National Police 280 00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:09,417 are not the ones who fired the fatal shots, but rather, 281 00:13:09,417 --> 00:13:13,417 members of some other elite agency operating in Colombia. 282 00:13:13,417 --> 00:13:17,000 Some people say that it was, in fact, the DEA 283 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,417 who killed Escobar. 284 00:13:23,958 --> 00:13:26,250 - This allegation is not coming out of nowhere. 285 00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:29,375 DEA not only sent its own agents to Colombia, 286 00:13:29,375 --> 00:13:32,167 they lived in the headquarters together with the Search Bloc. 287 00:13:32,167 --> 00:13:34,750 They participated in many raids. 288 00:13:34,750 --> 00:13:36,833 They were present there at all times, 289 00:13:36,833 --> 00:13:39,792 except for that final moment, allegedly. 290 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,083 - [Laurence] When it comes to the DEA's involvement, 291 00:13:43,083 --> 00:13:46,042 there are conflicting accounts. 292 00:13:46,042 --> 00:13:49,917 - The official narrative is that the DEA agents 293 00:13:49,917 --> 00:13:51,167 were not at the scene. 294 00:13:51,167 --> 00:13:55,042 However, there are members of Search Bloc 295 00:13:55,042 --> 00:13:58,458 who say there were some Americans on the scene. 296 00:13:58,458 --> 00:14:01,000 - Javier Pena and Steve Murphy 297 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,125 are the two leading DEA agents 298 00:14:03,125 --> 00:14:05,792 actively working with the Search Bloc 299 00:14:05,792 --> 00:14:08,208 to find and apprehend Escobar. 300 00:14:08,208 --> 00:14:12,042 - There is this famous photograph taken of Steve Murphy 301 00:14:12,042 --> 00:14:15,208 right next to Escobar's body after his death, 302 00:14:15,208 --> 00:14:19,542 which makes everyone think that perhaps they were involved 303 00:14:19,542 --> 00:14:21,458 in the killing of Pablo Escobar. 304 00:14:21,458 --> 00:14:24,792 But he says he was in the headquarters of the Search Bloc, 305 00:14:24,792 --> 00:14:27,417 and he could hear everything happening 306 00:14:27,417 --> 00:14:28,833 through the unit's radios. 307 00:14:28,833 --> 00:14:30,250 - Murphy says that, 308 00:14:30,250 --> 00:14:32,875 "Yes, I did take this photo with Pablo Escobar. 309 00:14:32,875 --> 00:14:34,500 It is real. 310 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:38,250 But I only posed with the body after I got to the scene 311 00:14:38,250 --> 00:14:42,375 because Colombian officials wanted me to take a picture 312 00:14:42,375 --> 00:14:43,833 with the body, 313 00:14:43,833 --> 00:14:47,792 knowing that I had invested all of these months over a year 314 00:14:47,792 --> 00:14:50,500 in trying to capture Pablo Escobar." 315 00:14:50,500 --> 00:14:54,750 - They've been embedded for months with the Search Bloc. 316 00:14:54,750 --> 00:14:57,250 They've been telling them how to do raids. 317 00:14:57,250 --> 00:15:01,375 So after all of this association with the Search Bloc, 318 00:15:01,375 --> 00:15:04,792 why in the world wouldn't Murphy or Pena 319 00:15:04,792 --> 00:15:06,875 be there when it finally happens? 320 00:15:06,875 --> 00:15:08,375 - But there are some people that speculate 321 00:15:08,375 --> 00:15:10,708 that while maybe Murphy and Pena weren't there, 322 00:15:10,708 --> 00:15:12,250 perhaps there were 323 00:15:12,250 --> 00:15:15,125 other Americans that were on the scene. 324 00:15:15,125 --> 00:15:16,875 In Mark Bowden's book, "Killing Pablo," 325 00:15:16,875 --> 00:15:19,833 he theorizes another idea. 326 00:15:19,833 --> 00:15:22,042 These other Americans were actually 327 00:15:22,042 --> 00:15:25,750 part of American Special Forces, Army Delta Force. 328 00:15:25,750 --> 00:15:28,375 [upbeat action music] 329 00:15:31,167 --> 00:15:34,542 - Delta Force is the most elite US Army force 330 00:15:34,542 --> 00:15:36,375 in existence. 331 00:15:36,375 --> 00:15:40,208 They're quiet, scary, competent operators, 332 00:15:40,208 --> 00:15:44,833 who go down to Colombia at the request of the DEA, 333 00:15:44,833 --> 00:15:48,958 and start participating in training Colombian operatives 334 00:15:48,958 --> 00:15:50,458 to take down Escobar. 335 00:15:50,458 --> 00:15:53,000 - Delta Force goes on countless raids 336 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,708 with the Search Bloc up to this point. 337 00:15:54,708 --> 00:15:58,167 So it wouldn't be surprising to learn that Delta Force 338 00:15:58,167 --> 00:16:00,667 is present when Escobar is finally found. 339 00:16:00,667 --> 00:16:04,125 - One thing that points to Delta Force's involvement 340 00:16:04,125 --> 00:16:06,417 in the killing of Escobar is the kill shot. 341 00:16:06,417 --> 00:16:09,500 And the kill shot is a very, very precise shot. 342 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:11,833 To pull off a shot like this, you have to be somebody 343 00:16:11,833 --> 00:16:14,250 that has an extensive amount of training 344 00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:15,875 when it comes to marksmanship. 345 00:16:15,875 --> 00:16:18,542 They're also incredibly stealthy. 346 00:16:18,542 --> 00:16:22,042 So the likelihood that a Delta Force sniper 347 00:16:22,042 --> 00:16:23,792 was on the scene that day, 348 00:16:23,792 --> 00:16:28,042 and Search Bloc didn't know about it is very plausible. 349 00:16:28,042 --> 00:16:30,375 - [Laurence] Still, it's clear American officials 350 00:16:30,375 --> 00:16:34,750 want the kill attributed to the Colombians, not the US. 351 00:16:34,750 --> 00:16:36,625 - Murphy, in his book writes, 352 00:16:36,625 --> 00:16:41,500 "The photo made it seem that an American had killed Escobar 353 00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:43,875 when all the work had actually been done 354 00:16:43,875 --> 00:16:45,917 by Colombian law enforcement." 355 00:16:45,917 --> 00:16:50,333 US officials want to conceal the extent of their involvement 356 00:16:50,333 --> 00:16:52,458 because they want to promote the idea 357 00:16:52,458 --> 00:16:56,208 that Colombia takes care of Colombian problems. 358 00:16:56,208 --> 00:16:59,833 - People from the Search Bloc, particularly its veterans, 359 00:16:59,833 --> 00:17:03,250 are offended with the idea that it could have been Americans 360 00:17:03,250 --> 00:17:05,000 who killed Pablo Escobar. 361 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,917 And it was disrespectful to the Colombian police 362 00:17:07,917 --> 00:17:12,667 who were supposed to take the sole credit for his death. 363 00:17:12,667 --> 00:17:16,042 - However, there's another story 364 00:17:16,042 --> 00:17:18,750 that angers these veterans even more. 365 00:17:18,750 --> 00:17:24,000 And it's the idea of Search Bloc working alongside 366 00:17:25,042 --> 00:17:27,542 other criminals to take out Escobar. 367 00:17:27,542 --> 00:17:29,000 [tense music] 368 00:17:33,375 --> 00:17:36,208 - [Laurence] 10 months before narco kingpin, Pablo Escobar, 369 00:17:36,208 --> 00:17:37,708 is finally taken down, 370 00:17:37,708 --> 00:17:41,208 he commits one of his worst atrocities. 371 00:17:41,208 --> 00:17:44,208 - Previously, the Medellin Cartel would often be 372 00:17:44,208 --> 00:17:46,167 almost surgical in its application of violence 373 00:17:46,167 --> 00:17:47,750 against a specific target. 374 00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:49,208 By the early 1990s, 375 00:17:49,208 --> 00:17:52,083 they seemed to have abandoned a lot of that mindset. 376 00:17:52,083 --> 00:17:54,458 Specifically when they detonated a car bomb 377 00:17:54,458 --> 00:17:59,167 loaded with 100 kilograms of dynamite in downtown Bogota. 378 00:17:59,167 --> 00:18:00,917 - [Reporter] The attack is just one in a campaign 379 00:18:00,917 --> 00:18:02,583 of intimidation run by Escobar 380 00:18:02,583 --> 00:18:05,208 since his escape from jail last year. 381 00:18:05,208 --> 00:18:07,000 At least 20 people were killed. 382 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000 Many were children being kitted out for the new school year 383 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,375 in this crowded shopping area. 384 00:18:12,375 --> 00:18:16,250 - Escobar sets off this bomb as revenge. 385 00:18:16,250 --> 00:18:19,542 His family attempted to leave the country. 386 00:18:19,542 --> 00:18:21,875 They made it as far as the airport in Frankfurt, 387 00:18:21,875 --> 00:18:23,250 and then they're forced to turn around, 388 00:18:23,250 --> 00:18:25,167 and go back to Colombia, 389 00:18:25,167 --> 00:18:28,000 where they're under guard constantly. 390 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,542 So a bombing is designed to send a message to the authorities. 391 00:18:32,542 --> 00:18:35,542 Mess with my family, and I'm going to get you. 392 00:18:35,542 --> 00:18:38,250 - The day after that car bomb explodes, 393 00:18:38,250 --> 00:18:40,417 there is another retaliation, 394 00:18:40,417 --> 00:18:43,208 but this is not from the Colombian government. 395 00:18:44,167 --> 00:18:47,208 [bomb exploding] 396 00:18:47,208 --> 00:18:49,333 This is someone else. 397 00:18:49,333 --> 00:18:52,708 A car explodes outside of Pablo Escobar's house, 398 00:18:52,708 --> 00:18:55,875 and his mother's home is burned to the ground. 399 00:18:57,417 --> 00:18:59,875 - [Laurence] A group quickly takes credit for the attacks. 400 00:18:59,875 --> 00:19:02,333 They call themselves Los Pepes. 401 00:19:03,542 --> 00:19:07,875 - Los Pepes stands for People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar. 402 00:19:07,875 --> 00:19:09,583 So these are his victims, 403 00:19:09,583 --> 00:19:11,583 people who've been affected by his violence, 404 00:19:11,583 --> 00:19:14,708 who are coming to avenge all of the damage 405 00:19:14,708 --> 00:19:16,708 that's been done to victims that they know. 406 00:19:16,708 --> 00:19:19,417 - Many of the leading figures in Los Pepes 407 00:19:19,417 --> 00:19:22,375 are themselves cocaine suppliers. 408 00:19:22,375 --> 00:19:26,000 The Cali Cartel was the main rival to the Medellin Cartel. 409 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,667 They're totally involved in Los Pepes. 410 00:19:29,667 --> 00:19:32,625 - Los Pepes were matching the level of violence 411 00:19:32,625 --> 00:19:35,167 that Pablo Escobar had been known for. 412 00:19:35,167 --> 00:19:38,375 So they were abducting and murdering any individual 413 00:19:38,375 --> 00:19:41,375 that was associated with the Medellin Cartel. 414 00:19:41,375 --> 00:19:43,208 They would kill them, execute them, 415 00:19:43,208 --> 00:19:45,458 hang them from bridges with a sign, saying, 416 00:19:45,458 --> 00:19:47,417 "This is the work of Los Pepes. 417 00:19:47,417 --> 00:19:49,208 If you work for Pablo Escobar, 418 00:19:49,208 --> 00:19:51,625 you will be targeted and you will be killed." 419 00:19:51,625 --> 00:19:55,708 - This death squad places the Colombian government 420 00:19:55,708 --> 00:19:59,542 and these various US agencies in a bit of a dilemma. 421 00:19:59,542 --> 00:20:01,542 On the one hand, it's nice to see 422 00:20:01,542 --> 00:20:04,875 Escobar getting a taste of his own medicine, so to speak. 423 00:20:04,875 --> 00:20:06,417 On the other hand, 424 00:20:06,417 --> 00:20:11,083 if it seems like they are supporting Los Pepes, 425 00:20:11,083 --> 00:20:12,500 that's also going to look bad. 426 00:20:12,500 --> 00:20:14,583 Because this is a death squad 427 00:20:14,583 --> 00:20:16,875 that's really doing awful things. 428 00:20:16,875 --> 00:20:19,292 - The DEA and the Colombian national government 429 00:20:19,292 --> 00:20:21,375 have rules that they must adhere to. 430 00:20:21,375 --> 00:20:23,250 Los Pepes had no rules. 431 00:20:23,250 --> 00:20:25,708 The only rules were to use extreme violence 432 00:20:25,708 --> 00:20:29,542 in order to weed out and kill Pablo Escobar. 433 00:20:29,542 --> 00:20:32,542 - In 1993, Los Pepes continues their campaign 434 00:20:32,542 --> 00:20:35,792 of killing anyone associated with Pablo Escobar 435 00:20:35,792 --> 00:20:37,083 and their families. 436 00:20:37,083 --> 00:20:40,875 And then there are these rumors that perhaps Search Bloc 437 00:20:40,875 --> 00:20:44,375 and the Americans are sharing intel with Los Pepes, 438 00:20:44,375 --> 00:20:46,583 and that Los Pepes were on the scene 439 00:20:46,583 --> 00:20:48,958 of Pablo Escobar's killing, 440 00:20:48,958 --> 00:20:52,333 and perhaps it wasn't anyone from the Colombian government, 441 00:20:52,333 --> 00:20:55,167 and it wasn't an American who took the kill shot. 442 00:20:55,167 --> 00:20:57,625 [tense music] 443 00:21:00,625 --> 00:21:05,208 - In 2014, so more than 20 years after Escobar's death, 444 00:21:05,208 --> 00:21:09,167 a leading figure of Los Pepes, Diego Murillo, 445 00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:12,083 more commonly referred to as Don Berna, 446 00:21:12,083 --> 00:21:14,750 spoke up from his prison cell. 447 00:21:14,750 --> 00:21:17,542 - According to Don Berna, his brother Rodolfo, 448 00:21:17,542 --> 00:21:19,667 who is also a member of Los Pepes, 449 00:21:19,667 --> 00:21:21,333 is the one that delivers the fatal headshot 450 00:21:21,333 --> 00:21:22,708 to Pablo Escobar 451 00:21:22,708 --> 00:21:23,792 with an M16 rifle. 452 00:21:23,792 --> 00:21:26,375 He implies that it was a good distance, 453 00:21:26,375 --> 00:21:28,583 and it did happen while Pablo was running. 454 00:21:28,583 --> 00:21:30,083 [gunshot] 455 00:21:30,083 --> 00:21:32,542 - According to Don Berna, 456 00:21:32,542 --> 00:21:36,042 after Rodolfo fires the killing shot, 457 00:21:36,042 --> 00:21:37,750 the police say, "Get out of here," 458 00:21:37,750 --> 00:21:40,208 because the Colombian National Police 459 00:21:40,208 --> 00:21:43,583 don't want anyone to know that it's actually 460 00:21:43,583 --> 00:21:46,708 a member of Los Pepes that killed Pablo Escobar. 461 00:21:46,708 --> 00:21:48,375 - [Laurence] Could Los Pepes have been working 462 00:21:48,375 --> 00:21:52,375 alongside Search Bloc at the scene of Escobar's death? 463 00:21:52,375 --> 00:21:55,542 Several sources raised concerns that these two forces 464 00:21:55,542 --> 00:21:57,708 were directly collaborating for months, 465 00:21:57,708 --> 00:22:00,292 leading up to the Escobar raid. 466 00:22:00,292 --> 00:22:02,333 - Some of the official records indicate 467 00:22:02,333 --> 00:22:04,667 that there was some collaboration 468 00:22:04,667 --> 00:22:07,542 trying to locate Pablo Escobar. 469 00:22:07,542 --> 00:22:09,792 - There's very much a mindset in Search Bloc 470 00:22:09,792 --> 00:22:11,542 that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 471 00:22:11,542 --> 00:22:13,042 If they are collecting information 472 00:22:13,042 --> 00:22:16,708 from groups like Los Pepes, or from the Cali Cartel, 473 00:22:16,708 --> 00:22:18,542 they're willing to take information 474 00:22:18,542 --> 00:22:20,083 anywhere they can get it. 475 00:22:20,083 --> 00:22:23,625 - So this sharing of information leads people to speculate 476 00:22:23,625 --> 00:22:25,292 that maybe on the day 477 00:22:25,292 --> 00:22:27,208 that Pablo Escobar was shot and killed, 478 00:22:27,208 --> 00:22:29,292 Los Pepes was on the scene, 479 00:22:29,292 --> 00:22:32,333 and possibly could have fired the shot 480 00:22:32,333 --> 00:22:34,208 that killed Pablo Escobar. 481 00:22:34,208 --> 00:22:35,500 - The idea that the Colombian government 482 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:36,792 might have been partnered with a criminal element 483 00:22:36,792 --> 00:22:39,667 like Los Pepes to kill a different criminal, 484 00:22:39,667 --> 00:22:41,125 kind of suggests that Colombia 485 00:22:41,125 --> 00:22:44,708 hasn't really put aside its violent and corrupt ways. 486 00:22:44,708 --> 00:22:47,958 - Soon after Don Berna made his statement, 487 00:22:47,958 --> 00:22:51,333 someone even closer to Escobar comes forward 488 00:22:51,333 --> 00:22:54,917 to offer another view of how Escobar died. 489 00:22:54,917 --> 00:22:59,250 - [Laurence] In 2014, Escobar's son, Juan Pablo, 490 00:22:59,250 --> 00:23:01,375 claims that his father told him multiple times 491 00:23:01,375 --> 00:23:03,458 that he would shoot himself in the right ear 492 00:23:03,458 --> 00:23:06,375 to avoid being captured alive. 493 00:23:06,375 --> 00:23:08,958 - He's already been shot in the thigh and the back. 494 00:23:08,958 --> 00:23:10,250 He's not gonna get up. 495 00:23:10,250 --> 00:23:12,708 He's not gonna be able to escape this time. 496 00:23:12,708 --> 00:23:15,958 The best thing to do, according to Juan Pablo, 497 00:23:15,958 --> 00:23:17,833 is he finishes himself off. 498 00:23:18,250 --> 00:23:20,000 [tense music] 499 00:23:23,333 --> 00:23:27,750 - Escobar's mantra was [speaking Spanish], 500 00:23:30,833 --> 00:23:33,667 which means, "Better a grave in Colombia, 501 00:23:33,667 --> 00:23:36,042 than a jail cell in the United States." 502 00:23:36,042 --> 00:23:38,875 Given Pablo Escobar's fear of extradition, 503 00:23:38,875 --> 00:23:41,375 it's not surprising that he would've gamed out 504 00:23:41,375 --> 00:23:44,250 what he would do if he was ever caught. 505 00:23:44,250 --> 00:23:45,708 - He was a king. He was an emperor. 506 00:23:45,708 --> 00:23:48,250 And when you think about putting him in a cage 507 00:23:48,250 --> 00:23:49,625 for the rest of his life, 508 00:23:49,625 --> 00:23:52,833 for Pablo Escobar, it was inconceivable. 509 00:23:52,833 --> 00:23:57,500 - Supermax prison in the United States is no picnic. 510 00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:00,917 El Chapo, the famous Mexican drug lord, is in one now. 511 00:24:00,917 --> 00:24:04,625 He spends 23 out of 24 hours every day 512 00:24:04,625 --> 00:24:06,708 in solitary confinement. 513 00:24:06,708 --> 00:24:08,792 It's a miserable experience. 514 00:24:08,792 --> 00:24:11,042 - It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility 515 00:24:11,042 --> 00:24:13,083 that he would've chosen to take his own life, 516 00:24:13,083 --> 00:24:14,542 rather than be captured, 517 00:24:14,542 --> 00:24:16,250 especially once he knew he was cornered, 518 00:24:16,250 --> 00:24:17,917 and there was no way out. 519 00:24:17,917 --> 00:24:21,542 The photos of Escobar on the rooftop the day he died 520 00:24:21,542 --> 00:24:25,083 shows him lying next to his Sig Sauer pistol. 521 00:24:25,083 --> 00:24:27,083 And that's exactly the same gun 522 00:24:27,083 --> 00:24:30,542 that Juan Pablo said his dad would use to kill himself. 523 00:24:31,583 --> 00:24:33,208 - [Laurence] Escobar's family claims 524 00:24:33,208 --> 00:24:35,583 more evidence points to suicide. 525 00:24:35,583 --> 00:24:38,083 They say that when his body was exhumed 526 00:24:38,083 --> 00:24:40,750 for DNA analysis in 2006, 527 00:24:40,750 --> 00:24:43,250 the nature of his fatal gunshot wound 528 00:24:43,250 --> 00:24:46,667 confirmed Escobar took his own life. 529 00:24:46,667 --> 00:24:51,583 Yet, others insist his wound is inconsistent with suicide. 530 00:24:52,708 --> 00:24:54,708 - Experts say there's no way Pablo Escobar 531 00:24:54,708 --> 00:24:55,917 took his own life. 532 00:24:55,917 --> 00:24:57,667 If he did, there would be gunshot residue, 533 00:24:57,667 --> 00:24:59,375 and there wasn't any. 534 00:24:59,375 --> 00:25:00,917 But still, the family is adamant 535 00:25:00,917 --> 00:25:05,958 that Pablo Escobar went out his own way, on his own terms. 536 00:25:10,208 --> 00:25:12,792 - Who killed Pablo Escobar is still debated. 537 00:25:12,792 --> 00:25:14,958 But that's not the only mystery he'd left behind. 538 00:25:14,958 --> 00:25:18,958 In 1993, as authorities were closing in on Escobar, 539 00:25:18,958 --> 00:25:22,208 he was featured in Forbes magazine's Billionaire Issue, 540 00:25:22,208 --> 00:25:23,750 writing, 541 00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:26,250 "We suspect that Escobar will soon leave this list, 542 00:25:26,250 --> 00:25:28,583 perhaps this Earth." 543 00:25:28,583 --> 00:25:31,375 By that year's end, Escobar was dead. 544 00:25:31,375 --> 00:25:34,625 But the questions about what happened to his money live on. 545 00:25:35,708 --> 00:25:38,417 - Pablo Escobar is swimming in cash. 546 00:25:38,417 --> 00:25:42,542 We're talking billions of dollars in cash. 547 00:25:42,542 --> 00:25:45,875 Think about that for a second. Paper money. 548 00:25:45,875 --> 00:25:49,125 It's so much money, they don't know what to do with it. 549 00:25:50,417 --> 00:25:53,250 - They plow it into all kinds of businesses, 550 00:25:53,250 --> 00:25:55,917 land, buildings, into arts, 551 00:25:55,917 --> 00:25:58,708 but they barely make a dent. 552 00:26:00,042 --> 00:26:02,000 - [Laurence] It's estimated the Medellin Cartel 553 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,208 loses about 10% of revenues annually, 554 00:26:05,208 --> 00:26:08,792 amounting to $2.1 billion, 555 00:26:08,792 --> 00:26:12,375 because its cash stockpiles are destroyed by pests 556 00:26:12,375 --> 00:26:14,167 and the elements. 557 00:26:14,167 --> 00:26:18,208 - We're talking about cash literally rotting away 558 00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:20,000 in these secret stashes. 559 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,708 Rats and insects chew their way into the bundles, 560 00:26:23,708 --> 00:26:26,042 moisture ruins the bills. 561 00:26:26,042 --> 00:26:29,458 Mold gets into these bundles as well. 562 00:26:29,458 --> 00:26:32,167 And Escobar's making so much money 563 00:26:32,167 --> 00:26:33,750 that he just doesn't care! 564 00:26:33,750 --> 00:26:36,167 It just gets written off as spoilage. 565 00:26:36,167 --> 00:26:38,875 Just another line on the balance sheet. 566 00:26:38,875 --> 00:26:43,125 - When Pablo Escobar died, he was worth about $30 billion. 567 00:26:43,125 --> 00:26:48,667 But only about $112 million was actually recovered, 568 00:26:49,708 --> 00:26:53,250 which raises the question and the speculation of, 569 00:26:53,250 --> 00:26:55,083 where did all of that money go? 570 00:26:55,083 --> 00:26:56,792 - The Colombian government can seize 571 00:26:56,792 --> 00:26:59,833 all of the physical assets that are impossible to hide. 572 00:26:59,833 --> 00:27:02,500 So they grabbed the houses, and they grabbed the vehicles, 573 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:05,042 and they grabbed the boats, and they grabbed the airplanes. 574 00:27:05,042 --> 00:27:06,875 But what they couldn't account for 575 00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:09,792 was the enormous volume of cash 576 00:27:09,792 --> 00:27:12,458 that had flown into Colombia. 577 00:27:12,458 --> 00:27:16,125 - So it's to be assumed that after Escobar's death, 578 00:27:16,125 --> 00:27:19,875 members of his family, members of rival cartels, 579 00:27:19,875 --> 00:27:22,708 other members of his cartel are going to descend upon it 580 00:27:22,708 --> 00:27:24,750 and take whatever they can. 581 00:27:24,750 --> 00:27:28,500 - Escobar's operation was notoriously secretive 582 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:29,917 and compartmentalized. 583 00:27:29,917 --> 00:27:32,875 No one knew where Escobar's money was. 584 00:27:32,875 --> 00:27:35,875 And in fact, perhaps even Escobar himself didn't know, 585 00:27:35,875 --> 00:27:38,750 because there was so much money coming in for 10 years, 586 00:27:38,750 --> 00:27:41,958 and he was hiding it in so many places, that possibly, 587 00:27:41,958 --> 00:27:44,500 he forgot about some of these places. 588 00:27:44,500 --> 00:27:46,875 There are many rumors about his money 589 00:27:46,875 --> 00:27:49,083 still being up for grabs, 590 00:27:49,083 --> 00:27:53,750 so lots of treasure hunters begin to search all the places 591 00:27:53,750 --> 00:27:55,875 where he spent some time. 592 00:27:55,875 --> 00:27:58,292 - One of those places where you might look 593 00:27:58,292 --> 00:28:03,417 was the prison that Escobar had built to house himself. 594 00:28:03,417 --> 00:28:05,750 La Catedral. 595 00:28:06,208 --> 00:28:08,292 [tense music] 596 00:28:10,542 --> 00:28:15,375 - In 1991, the government is so tired of chasing Escobar, 597 00:28:16,542 --> 00:28:18,958 so they agree to a really crazy deal 598 00:28:18,958 --> 00:28:21,042 that Escobar proposes to them. 599 00:28:21,042 --> 00:28:23,542 - Escobar comes up with what he sees 600 00:28:23,542 --> 00:28:25,833 as a perfectly reasonable compromise. 601 00:28:25,833 --> 00:28:27,875 As long as he's allowed to build his own jail, 602 00:28:27,875 --> 00:28:29,833 he promises to stay there, 603 00:28:29,833 --> 00:28:32,875 and so Colombia can take credit for having imprisoned him. 604 00:28:32,875 --> 00:28:35,875 And amazingly, the Colombian government goes for it. 605 00:28:35,875 --> 00:28:38,042 - [Laurence] In June of 1991, 606 00:28:38,042 --> 00:28:40,667 Escobar surrendered to Colombian authorities, 607 00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:43,542 and is subsequently jailed in a lavish prison 608 00:28:43,542 --> 00:28:45,792 called La Catedral. 609 00:28:45,792 --> 00:28:48,042 - La Catedral is a fortress. 610 00:28:48,042 --> 00:28:50,708 This is how Escobar can protect himself, 611 00:28:50,708 --> 00:28:52,792 not only from the army, and the state, 612 00:28:52,792 --> 00:28:56,708 but also from the rival drug traffickers. 613 00:28:56,708 --> 00:28:58,333 - Escobar's prison 614 00:28:58,333 --> 00:28:59,958 has televisions, 615 00:28:59,958 --> 00:29:02,750 waterfalls, hot tubs. 616 00:29:03,083 --> 00:29:06,333 You name it, he has every luxury he wants in there. 617 00:29:06,333 --> 00:29:08,833 - From within those walls, 618 00:29:08,833 --> 00:29:12,458 he can continue to operate the cartel as normal. 619 00:29:12,458 --> 00:29:15,083 His subordinates come and go. 620 00:29:15,083 --> 00:29:17,708 - He is still getting money delivered to him 621 00:29:17,708 --> 00:29:20,042 by his associates on the outside. 622 00:29:20,042 --> 00:29:22,167 How are they able to get it past the guards? 623 00:29:22,167 --> 00:29:26,042 Well, they're doing that by stashing the money in milk cans. 624 00:29:26,042 --> 00:29:29,875 - It is rumored that as much as a million dollars in cash 625 00:29:29,875 --> 00:29:33,417 is stuffed into these milk cans, 626 00:29:33,417 --> 00:29:35,625 and using the cover of 627 00:29:35,625 --> 00:29:37,875 the mountain morning fog 628 00:29:37,875 --> 00:29:40,167 that is surrounding the cathedral, 629 00:29:40,167 --> 00:29:43,083 they use this fog as a way to sneak into the prison, 630 00:29:43,083 --> 00:29:45,750 to bury these milk cans in the ground. 631 00:29:47,208 --> 00:29:50,667 - Although being in La Catedral gives Escobar 632 00:29:50,667 --> 00:29:53,542 a sense of safety from his rival gangs, 633 00:29:53,542 --> 00:29:56,083 it also starts making him paranoid. 634 00:29:56,083 --> 00:29:59,375 He starts believing that some of his associates 635 00:29:59,375 --> 00:30:01,167 are being disloyal to him, 636 00:30:01,167 --> 00:30:05,000 and he has them killed, right there in the prison. 637 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,542 Of course, this is a bit of a problem 638 00:30:06,542 --> 00:30:08,875 because he's got guards outside. 639 00:30:08,875 --> 00:30:12,000 According to one report, he burns the bodies, 640 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,208 and holds a barbecue outside in order to mask the smell. 641 00:30:16,208 --> 00:30:20,375 - Colombian authorities could no longer ignore the fact 642 00:30:20,375 --> 00:30:23,083 that Escobar was running his business as usual 643 00:30:23,083 --> 00:30:25,208 and killing people in La Catedral. 644 00:30:25,208 --> 00:30:28,208 The Colombian government makes a decision 645 00:30:28,208 --> 00:30:30,708 to move Escobar to a different prison. 646 00:30:30,708 --> 00:30:32,625 And as the army approaches, 647 00:30:32,625 --> 00:30:34,958 Escobar of course finds out about it, 648 00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:39,208 and he escapes one night in July of 1992. 649 00:30:39,208 --> 00:30:42,167 - [Laurence] Escobar's hurried exit raises a question. 650 00:30:42,167 --> 00:30:45,458 What happened to the cash they've supposedly been burying 651 00:30:45,458 --> 00:30:47,292 for 13 months? 652 00:30:47,292 --> 00:30:49,833 - It is reported that this was not something 653 00:30:49,833 --> 00:30:52,042 that Escobar saw coming, 654 00:30:52,042 --> 00:30:54,417 so he did not have a whole lot of time 655 00:30:54,417 --> 00:30:55,875 to prepare his escape. 656 00:30:55,875 --> 00:30:58,875 He gathered up what he could and headed for the hills. 657 00:30:58,875 --> 00:31:00,875 - The moment Escobar escapes, 658 00:31:00,875 --> 00:31:03,458 it basically is left abandoned. 659 00:31:03,458 --> 00:31:04,750 And when it's abandoned, 660 00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:07,875 the treasure hunters come with pitchforks, 661 00:31:07,875 --> 00:31:10,375 with shovels, with sledge hammers, 662 00:31:10,375 --> 00:31:12,625 and they search for money everywhere, 663 00:31:12,625 --> 00:31:14,500 but they come out empty-handed. 664 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:18,875 - It seems obvious that there should be milk cans 665 00:31:18,875 --> 00:31:21,792 full of cash still on the premises. 666 00:31:21,792 --> 00:31:25,917 Why they haven't been found is a real mystery, 667 00:31:25,917 --> 00:31:28,542 which leads to the possibility 668 00:31:28,542 --> 00:31:30,875 that there's still a whole lot of money out there 669 00:31:30,875 --> 00:31:32,375 to be grabbed. 670 00:31:32,375 --> 00:31:35,667 - One person specifically says he knows where it is. 671 00:31:35,667 --> 00:31:39,208 And that person is the money man of the organization, 672 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:41,667 and also Pablo Escobar's brother. 673 00:31:41,667 --> 00:31:44,875 [tense music] 674 00:31:48,875 --> 00:31:51,042 - [Laurence] In October 1992, 675 00:31:51,042 --> 00:31:53,250 while Colombian authorities desperately searched 676 00:31:53,250 --> 00:31:55,833 for fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar, 677 00:31:55,833 --> 00:31:59,083 they get something of a consolation prize, 678 00:31:59,083 --> 00:32:01,167 his brother, Roberto. 679 00:32:01,167 --> 00:32:04,958 - For a lot of Escobar's career, 680 00:32:04,958 --> 00:32:09,250 his chief money man was his brother, Roberto. 681 00:32:09,250 --> 00:32:11,458 And in 1992, 682 00:32:11,458 --> 00:32:14,875 Roberto decided he was tired of all the violence, 683 00:32:14,875 --> 00:32:18,292 he gave himself up, and was sentenced to prison. 684 00:32:18,292 --> 00:32:21,875 - Roberto Escobar spends 14 years in jail, 685 00:32:21,875 --> 00:32:25,583 but he's not away from the violence entirely. 686 00:32:25,583 --> 00:32:28,708 There is a letter bomb that's delivered to him in prison, 687 00:32:28,708 --> 00:32:30,708 and it severely injures him. 688 00:32:30,708 --> 00:32:32,375 He is blind in one eye. 689 00:32:32,375 --> 00:32:36,083 - [Laurence] In 2009, shortly after his release from prison, 690 00:32:36,083 --> 00:32:39,042 Roberto Escobar publishes his memoir, 691 00:32:39,042 --> 00:32:41,958 "The Accountant's Story." 692 00:32:41,958 --> 00:32:44,042 - The book provides various clues 693 00:32:44,042 --> 00:32:46,958 as to where Escobar's treasure could be. 694 00:32:46,958 --> 00:32:49,042 According to Roberto Escobar, 695 00:32:49,042 --> 00:32:52,333 the Medellin Cartel wasn't laundering that much money. 696 00:32:52,333 --> 00:32:56,042 Instead, they were stuffing it in plastic bags, 697 00:32:56,042 --> 00:32:59,208 and burying it all over the countryside of Colombia. 698 00:32:59,208 --> 00:33:03,667 - We're talking about an amazing amount of cash. 699 00:33:03,667 --> 00:33:08,708 In fact, it's estimated that at the cartel's height, 700 00:33:10,167 --> 00:33:13,625 20% of all the US$100 dollars bills in circulation 701 00:33:14,708 --> 00:33:16,542 were somewhere in Colombia. 702 00:33:16,542 --> 00:33:19,750 There has to be a good chunk of it still scattered out there 703 00:33:19,750 --> 00:33:21,625 in these remote hiding places. 704 00:33:21,625 --> 00:33:24,208 [tense music] 705 00:33:26,333 --> 00:33:27,542 - Part of the reason that people don't know 706 00:33:27,542 --> 00:33:29,917 where to look for the money is that Pablo 707 00:33:29,917 --> 00:33:33,042 was so secretive about where he hid it. 708 00:33:33,042 --> 00:33:38,125 - The DEA agent Steve Murphy says that Escobar 709 00:33:39,542 --> 00:33:43,333 would have subordinates shrink wrap huge stocks of money, 710 00:33:44,667 --> 00:33:48,583 hide them somewhere, and then he would have them killed, 711 00:33:48,583 --> 00:33:51,167 so that others wouldn't find out where the money is. 712 00:33:51,167 --> 00:33:53,375 - Pablo Escobar didn't keep maps, 713 00:33:53,375 --> 00:33:55,917 because he didn't want anybody to find these locations, 714 00:33:55,917 --> 00:33:57,750 and he certainly didn't share that information 715 00:33:57,750 --> 00:33:59,083 with a lot of people. 716 00:33:59,208 --> 00:34:02,208 And his brother, the accountant, he didn't know as well. 717 00:34:02,708 --> 00:34:04,500 - [Laurence] In 2009, 718 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:07,417 around the same time Roberto publishes his memoir, 719 00:34:07,417 --> 00:34:10,458 and 16 years after Pablo's death, 720 00:34:10,458 --> 00:34:14,375 over $5 million is found in the Colombian jungle 721 00:34:14,375 --> 00:34:18,083 near one of Escobar's hidden cocaine labs. 722 00:34:18,083 --> 00:34:20,125 - A few months later, 723 00:34:20,125 --> 00:34:22,667 $10 million is located on the grounds 724 00:34:22,667 --> 00:34:24,375 of the Hacienda Napoles, 725 00:34:24,375 --> 00:34:27,458 which is about 90 miles outside of Medellin, 726 00:34:27,458 --> 00:34:31,875 and is one of Pablo Escobar's more famous country estates. 727 00:34:31,875 --> 00:34:38,333 But it isn't until 2015 that the biggest find takes place. 728 00:34:39,292 --> 00:34:44,333 - 65-year-old farmer, Jose Mariena Cartolos, 729 00:34:45,208 --> 00:34:48,667 was digging a trench in his land to irrigate it, 730 00:34:48,667 --> 00:34:52,333 and came upon something buried in the field. 731 00:34:52,333 --> 00:34:56,792 - He encounters a bunch of big blue barrels. 732 00:34:56,792 --> 00:35:01,708 He opens these up, and they're full of cash, $600 million. 733 00:35:03,208 --> 00:35:05,208 - He was shocked to find it. 734 00:35:05,208 --> 00:35:06,708 What's more shocking though, 735 00:35:06,708 --> 00:35:10,583 is the fact that he contacted the authorities 736 00:35:10,583 --> 00:35:14,208 and informed them about this money and gave it to them. 737 00:35:14,208 --> 00:35:18,083 - This farmer was just out doing his annual planting. 738 00:35:18,083 --> 00:35:20,042 He had no connection to Escobar. 739 00:35:20,042 --> 00:35:24,083 He had no idea that this stuff was planted on his property. 740 00:35:24,083 --> 00:35:25,542 But there it was. 741 00:35:25,542 --> 00:35:28,542 And that tells us a lot about Escobar's treasure. 742 00:35:28,542 --> 00:35:31,708 - This leads some people to believe that some of it, 743 00:35:31,708 --> 00:35:34,708 if not a lot of it, is still buried out there, 744 00:35:34,708 --> 00:35:36,375 ready to be found. 745 00:35:36,375 --> 00:35:38,500 - When it comes to Pablo Escobar's money, 746 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:40,958 the Colombian government has a very simple message 747 00:35:40,958 --> 00:35:42,208 for its citizens. 748 00:35:42,208 --> 00:35:43,375 Keep digging. 749 00:35:44,333 --> 00:35:46,458 - [Laurence] But farm, fields, and caves 750 00:35:46,458 --> 00:35:50,750 aren't the only potential hiding places for Escobar's cash. 751 00:35:50,750 --> 00:35:54,708 - In 2020, another discovery has people thinking 752 00:35:54,708 --> 00:35:58,458 that there's a lot out there in various safe houses 753 00:35:58,458 --> 00:36:01,125 that Escobar was known to use. 754 00:36:06,083 --> 00:36:09,208 - [Laurence] In 2020, 27 years after his death, 755 00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:11,625 Pablo Escobar is once again making headlines 756 00:36:11,625 --> 00:36:16,542 across the world, when his nephew makes a surprising claim. 757 00:36:17,458 --> 00:36:18,958 - Nicolas Escobar comes forward. 758 00:36:18,958 --> 00:36:22,250 He's been living in one of Pablo Escobar's former estates. 759 00:36:22,250 --> 00:36:24,208 He's Pablo Escobar's nephew. 760 00:36:24,208 --> 00:36:26,458 And he says that he has this vision 761 00:36:26,458 --> 00:36:30,125 that Escobar is telling him to look for 762 00:36:30,125 --> 00:36:34,542 some of the stashed riches in one of the walls. 763 00:36:34,542 --> 00:36:37,375 - One day he goes and he takes apart the walls 764 00:36:37,375 --> 00:36:38,875 in this one particular part of the mansion, 765 00:36:38,875 --> 00:36:40,250 and lo and behold, 766 00:36:40,250 --> 00:36:44,833 he claims that he unearths $18 million in cash. 767 00:36:46,458 --> 00:36:48,708 - This got treasure hunters excited all over the world, 768 00:36:48,708 --> 00:36:51,083 because they know that there are so many houses 769 00:36:51,083 --> 00:36:53,417 that used to belong to Pablo Escobar. 770 00:36:53,417 --> 00:36:55,667 - That money is found inside a structure. 771 00:36:55,667 --> 00:36:58,917 And Escobar, we knew, liked to bury money, 772 00:36:58,917 --> 00:37:00,375 and maybe hide it in caves. 773 00:37:00,375 --> 00:37:02,208 But it turns out he's also hiding it 774 00:37:02,208 --> 00:37:04,417 inside ordinary buildings. 775 00:37:04,417 --> 00:37:06,708 And this is an age old way of concealing cash 776 00:37:06,708 --> 00:37:10,042 that gangsters have been using since time immemorial. 777 00:37:10,042 --> 00:37:13,917 But that means any property that Escobar spent any time at 778 00:37:13,917 --> 00:37:18,458 at all might be the hiding place for untold riches. 779 00:37:22,333 --> 00:37:24,375 - Just within Colombia, 780 00:37:24,375 --> 00:37:27,083 Escobar owned 140 different properties. 781 00:37:27,083 --> 00:37:29,125 But he was also known to own them 782 00:37:29,125 --> 00:37:30,625 in all sorts of other places, 783 00:37:30,625 --> 00:37:32,542 including the United States, by the way. 784 00:37:32,542 --> 00:37:34,500 He hadn't been to the United States in a long time, 785 00:37:34,500 --> 00:37:36,875 for obvious reasons, but he owned them. 786 00:37:36,875 --> 00:37:40,375 And maybe those places have money stashed in them. 787 00:37:40,375 --> 00:37:42,292 - Pablo Escobar had to be hopping 788 00:37:42,292 --> 00:37:44,875 from property to property just to elude authorities, 789 00:37:44,875 --> 00:37:46,542 so chances are, 790 00:37:46,542 --> 00:37:49,542 he's probably stashing cash at each place he's going to 791 00:37:49,542 --> 00:37:51,333 because he had so much of it. 792 00:37:51,333 --> 00:37:54,292 - The theory that money could be hidden in the walls 793 00:37:54,292 --> 00:37:55,542 and floors of the places 794 00:37:55,542 --> 00:37:57,708 that Pablo Escobar stayed, 795 00:37:57,708 --> 00:38:01,708 and his houses, is confirmed by his brother, Roberto, 796 00:38:01,708 --> 00:38:03,708 who said that that was something that he did, 797 00:38:03,708 --> 00:38:05,542 especially when he was on the run. 798 00:38:05,542 --> 00:38:08,625 - Roberto says, in addition to all the properties 799 00:38:08,625 --> 00:38:10,667 that Pablo owned within Colombia, 800 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:13,125 there are safe houses in Los Angeles, 801 00:38:13,125 --> 00:38:16,458 Chicago, Miami, New York City. 802 00:38:16,458 --> 00:38:18,208 All of these could conceivably 803 00:38:18,208 --> 00:38:20,708 have large amounts of cash on the premises. 804 00:38:20,708 --> 00:38:23,000 - And Roberto Escobar is not the only one 805 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:24,333 who's confirming this. 806 00:38:24,333 --> 00:38:26,792 Juan Pablo, Pablo Escobar's son, 807 00:38:26,792 --> 00:38:30,250 says he also witnessed his father stashing money 808 00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:33,208 in some of the walls and floorboards 809 00:38:33,208 --> 00:38:35,083 of the different safe houses where he stayed. 810 00:38:35,083 --> 00:38:36,458 - After Escobar's death, 811 00:38:36,458 --> 00:38:39,125 Juan Pablo says his family went back 812 00:38:39,125 --> 00:38:40,375 and looked in some of the places 813 00:38:40,375 --> 00:38:42,417 he knew that his father had hidden money, 814 00:38:42,417 --> 00:38:43,833 and it wasn't there anymore. 815 00:38:43,833 --> 00:38:46,875 So he believes it was taken by others. 816 00:38:46,875 --> 00:38:48,875 - [Laurence] But that hasn't stopped other treasure hunters 817 00:38:48,875 --> 00:38:52,083 from buying up former Escobar properties, 818 00:38:52,083 --> 00:38:53,750 and searching for loot. 819 00:38:53,750 --> 00:38:55,542 - One of the properties that has been linked 820 00:38:55,542 --> 00:38:58,250 to Pablo Escobar's drug trafficking activities 821 00:38:58,250 --> 00:38:59,833 was a mansion in Miami. 822 00:38:59,833 --> 00:39:03,750 And the owners found hidden safes in that house. 823 00:39:03,750 --> 00:39:06,083 But when they opened them, they were empty. 824 00:39:06,083 --> 00:39:07,667 But this is an important find, 825 00:39:07,667 --> 00:39:10,167 'cause it goes to show that Pablo Escobar 826 00:39:10,167 --> 00:39:13,125 could have other properties in Miami or New York, 827 00:39:13,125 --> 00:39:16,250 California, in which safes or hidden compartments 828 00:39:16,250 --> 00:39:17,875 could have money inside them. 829 00:39:17,875 --> 00:39:21,792 - We don't know how thorough the Colombian government was 830 00:39:21,792 --> 00:39:25,375 in searching for Pablo's money, cash, 831 00:39:25,375 --> 00:39:27,458 in these various safe houses. 832 00:39:27,458 --> 00:39:30,042 But Pablo Escobar had so many properties 833 00:39:30,042 --> 00:39:32,792 that we don't even know where all of these safe houses are. 834 00:39:32,792 --> 00:39:35,917 And the people living in these homes now 835 00:39:35,917 --> 00:39:39,583 probably aren't even aware that Pablo Escobar stayed there. 836 00:39:39,583 --> 00:39:41,333 So this may be one of those 837 00:39:41,333 --> 00:39:43,500 "George Washington slept here" scenarios, 838 00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:45,542 where he stayed at hundreds of different places, 839 00:39:45,542 --> 00:39:47,417 and may have stored cash there. 840 00:39:47,417 --> 00:39:49,333 - There's probably billions of dollars 841 00:39:49,333 --> 00:39:51,833 sprinkled all across Colombia, 842 00:39:51,833 --> 00:39:55,167 and other places that were central to the drug trade 843 00:39:55,167 --> 00:39:56,500 still waiting to be found. 844 00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:02,958 - Pablo Escobar's famous mugshot can still be found 845 00:40:02,958 --> 00:40:06,250 on T-shirts and knickknacks across Colombia, 846 00:40:06,250 --> 00:40:08,125 and in fact, the world. 847 00:40:08,125 --> 00:40:12,042 And 15,000 people live in housing he built for the poor 848 00:40:12,042 --> 00:40:16,583 in a section of Medellin, still known as Barrio Escobar. 849 00:40:16,583 --> 00:40:20,625 Despite all the suffering and damage Pablo Escobar caused, 850 00:40:20,625 --> 00:40:23,500 many people remain fascinated by his life, 851 00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:26,250 and will continue to search for answers 852 00:40:26,250 --> 00:40:31,375 surrounding his death, and for the money he allegedly hid. 853 00:40:32,125 --> 00:40:33,542 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 854 00:40:33,542 --> 00:40:37,375 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries." 855 00:40:37,375 --> 00:40:40,417 [mysterious music]