Netflix Series "Narcos", Uniquely Pablo Escobar

by Lucio R. Borderland Beat

This shirt is a best seller in Mexico

Netflix hit series “Narcos”, centering on the rise and fall of Cocaine King Pablo Escobar has sparked interest in all things Escobar. drug ,war history enthusiasts have overwhelmingly given the series kudos for  good accuracy, (many names have been changed but easily identifiable) entertainment and content.

In the series which takes viewers from the pivotal point in cocaine history, to Colombia from Chile, once the motherland of cocaine.  When dictator Pinochet began implementing his method of drug control, by conducting mass executions to kill drug capos and traffickers, Colombia was a pragmatic, logistical choice to move the cocaine operation.

Although “Narcos” does not venture back to the genesis of his “career”, Escobar began his criminality by stealing tombstone from cemeteries, sanding the stone to remove personal data, and then reselling them to Panamanian smugglers.  From tombstones he switched to trafficking electronics, liquor, and other contraband, developing a successful operation of secure routes, including transborder crossings.  Using Plata o Plomo (silver or lead) offering to gain participation of authorities allowing him to cross goods unchallenged. 

Escobar eventually controlled over 80% of the cocaine shipped to the U.S. He was named one of the ten richest people on earth by Fortune and Forbes magazines. By the early 90s Escobar amassed a 30 billion dollar fortune, so much money, and no place to keep it.  He resorted to burying a fortune, 1 million plus in barrels.

He was known and  loved by the poor in Colombia, as a modern day Robin Hood.  His interest in helping people was sincere in a way that said he sincerely cared about marginalized people.  His gifts were legendary, building 100’s of home at a time for the poor, paying for food, medical, but it was that same concern that was his downfall.

Most capos want nothing to do with running a government, if they have good control to conduct business that is optimal.  Escobar was unique; he wanted to control the government.   His  claim; he needed to be directly involved with government operations, to better his position in helping the poor. in Colombia.  

Incredibly he made it to congress, not without using a duplicitous scheming and threats, and had his eye on the presidency.

At the end of his narco reign he had; murdered half of the sitting supreme court, three Colombian presidential candidates, an attorney general, a justice minister, 214 judges, dozens of journalists, more than 1,000 police officers, and an Escobar bomb was detonated on a commercial aircraft, killing 111 people.

In a negotiated deal with the President, he also had the American-Colombian extradition treaty of 1979 nullified, in exchange for giving himself up.  

The new president was pushed into a corner by Escobar.  The country was inundated with violence that sequenced one new terror after another.  These acts of terror included the usual narco criminality, but at a level never witnessed prior.  

Murder often included innocents, and not in the sense of collateral damage, it was planned executions, there was no exemption for children.

When Escobar escalated the violence, there were bombings, kidnapping of children, the detonation of an Avianca Aircraft killing 111 passengers and crew.  The president made a deal with the devil to stop the violence.

Included in the pact, was his demand that he serve time in a prison,  one he would design, build and hire all personnel. 

“The Castle” as the prison was known, was an operational base for Escobar, with ongoing parties, prostitutes and life as usual.  His downfall came, when he began murdering people at the prison.

After one year in prison, Escobar “escaped” during a shootout, followed by several more months on the run, he was shot to death by members of a special police unit in 1993.

Escobar was a unique drug lord, unrivaled by any capo before or since. By the way Escobar was also a “chapo”, his short stature measured 5’5”.

The post that follows is an Escobar family update from Xpat . 

Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo

Maria met Pablo Escobar when she was only 13 years old. Back then, Escobar was 24 years old. They started dating immediately, even though her family did not approve of their relationship.

They were married two years later in 1976. Though Escobar is known for his extravagant affairs and countless mistresses, Maria never abandoned him.

Nobody truly knew of their relationship, but it was speculated that Maria was infatuated with luxury. A $25 billion (US) net worth doesn’t seem so bad then, hmm?

Exiled in Argentina, Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo changed her name to Maria Isabel Santos Caballero.

She and her two children lived a quiet middle-class life in a Buenos Aires apartment, equipped with multiple housekeepers. In 1999, five years into their new life, word got out in Argentina of who they really were.

The mug that came back to haunt him

In 2000, Maria Victoria and her son were arrested on money laundering charges. Escobar’s widow was allegedly receiving illegally earned money from Colombian drug lords in Uruguay.

Henao Vellejo was held in Argentine jail for 15 months along with her son, (interestingly, longer than Pablo had ever spent incarcerated), until authorities released them based on insufficient evidence.

A team of lawyers tried charging the two on anything, including drug trafficking, but eventually came up with nothing.

Escobar’s widow commented: “I am a prisoner in Argentina for being Colombian. They want to try the ghost of Pablo Escobar because they want to prove that Argentina is combating drug trafficking”.

Juan Pablo Escobar Henao, Son

Pablo Escobar’s son not only inherited his last name, but also his first name and his facial features. Such a dangerous combination, when trying to start over with a new identity. In exile, he became known as Juan Sebastian Marroquín Santos. Even since his true identity was released, Juan has held on to his feaux name.

Juan Sebastian has always been a pacifist. He loved his father, but he never agreed with the violence he stirred up in Colombia.

Born in 1977, Juan understood what his father was doing in the cocaine trade of the 1980s and early 1990s. Although the two were very close, Escobar’s son disapproved of his father’s actions while the drug lord was alive. In fact, U.S. and Colombian agents located Escobar, on that fateful December night, from tracking a phone call between father and son.

Valeria Vélez', character is in reality Pablo's mistress, journalist  Virginia Vallejo.

Vallejo turned informant and given asylum in the United States

Escobar relayed in that conversation that he was surrendering to the police in dedication to his son.

Relocating to Argentina in his late teens, Juan Sebastian entered school to become an architect. He enjoyed his new quiet life free of surrounding gunfire and fear. But he never quite felt comfortable living a lie. None of his friends or colleagues knew who he was. While that was a relief to some extent, he also felt guilty

In 2009, Escobar’s son released a documentary called Sins of my father (Pecados de mi padre), along with the help of his mother and two victims of his father’s terror. In this work, Juan finally revealed all his secrets. He reached out to his father’s victims, the Colombian people, and to the whole world to apologize for his father’s actions.

Instead of fueling the cycle of revenge and murder, Pablo Escobar’s pacifist son is seeking dialogue, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

Manuela Escobar Henao, Daughter

Manuela, Pablo Escobar’s daughter, has remained a more mysterious figure than her brother and mother. While the other two have conceded interviews and produced a documentary, Manuela has shied from the public eye. More was known about her as a little girl before her father’s death than is known today.

Born in 1984, Manuela’s life with her father was cut short. Escobar’s acquaintances—the survivors, anyway—recall Manuela as her father’s spoiled little princess.

When Escobar’s daughter wanted a unicorn, he bought her a horse and stapled (yes, stapled) a cone to its head and wings to its back (the horse died from an infection).

When Manuela asked her father how much a billion dollars was, he responded “the value of your eyes, my princess.” Escobar even forced one of his mistresses to get an abortion when she became pregnant. Why? Because the drug lord had promised his daughter that she would be the last of his line. Whatever Manuela wanted, Manuela got…except for a life of peace and safety.

Always on the run, Manuela was accustomed to a life of instability and danger. In Argentina, she changed her name to Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos.

At just ten years old, she had to uproot her entire life and pretend to be someone else. She went to school—on public transportation nonetheless—and started anew in Buenos Aires. Everything came crashing down a mere five years later, just like it had in December 1993. Now everyone knew who she was, and she was stripped yet again of the existence she had known.

Not much information about Manuela has been recorded since. Now as a 31-year-old, she lives away from the spotlight and it seems she will keep it that way.

Below is the 2nd trailer.  YT has the series but in Spanish, if you don't have access to Netflix, just check with YT for the next few weeks, someone may post the series.