On June 19, 1991, the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar surrendered to the Colombian judiciary. The most wanted criminal in Colombia, however, had one condition: He would only move into his own luxury prison, which he designed himself.
Escobar, who came from a poor background, had become rich in the production and trade of cocaine in the 1980s and rose to become the most powerful drug lord in Colombia. But the gangster made a mistake: instead of enjoying his millions in silence, he decided to run for Congress. The fact that he openly tried to exercise political influence was a thorn in the side of many politicians in the country. And the better known Escobar became, the more urgently his opponents tried to get rid of him.
However, the head of the notorious Medellín cartel knew how to defend itself and waged a bloody war against the Colombian state, which resulted in countless victims. Although Escobar was not considered squeamish, he feared one thing: his extradition to the United States. It was only after the Colombian government abolished a law allowing Escobar and other criminals of his caliber to be extradited to the United States that he finally turned himself in to the authorities.
David Neuhäuser and Felix Melching report in the podcast episode 21 how the powerful drug lord brought fear and terror over the country.
And here is the podcast: