Pablo Escobar's Death Leaves Mystery: Executed Or Suicide?

The famous photo shows Pablo Escobar's body lying on the roof of a house covered in blood, after a gun battle broke out in Medellin on December 2, 1993 with the Colombian Elite Forces. (Wikipedia)

JAKARTA – The December 3, 1993, issue of the Los Angeles Times newspaper carried the news of the death of Pablo Escobar as the main story. Colombia Drug Lord Escobar Dies in Shootout, Colombian Drug Lord Escobar Dies in Gunfight. That's the title of the LA Times, which was published the day after the death of the drug lord who was once listed as the seventh richest person in the world, on December 2, 1993.

Escobar died a day after celebrating his 44th birthday. He died in the city where he came to power and built his criminal empire, Medellin. Escobar can't escape anywhere, because all his escape routes are blocked.

Escobar on June 19, 1991, surrendered himself to the Colombian Government, as part of a bid not to have the Cocaine King extradited to the United States. He built a private prison on the outskirts of Medellin. He named the private prison La Catedral, a large building equipped with a spa, sports field, nightclub, and even a casino.

Pablo Escobar mural in a corner of Medellin City, Colombia. (Crime Investigation)

Imprisoning himself in a private prison did not reduce Escobar's drug business activities. He remains in control of his cocaine trade, which controls 80 percent of the market in the United States.

One of the most horrendous incidents was when Escobar executed two of his confidants, Fernando Galeano and Gerardo Moncada in La Catedral. Galeano and Moncada were killed, after being accused of stealing Escobar's US$30 million or around Rp430 billion at current exchange rates.

President Gaviria Asks to Move Escobar

Escobar's brutality in La Cetedral prison infuriated the President of Colombia, Cesar Gaviria. He immediately planned to transfer Escobar to a public prison. Gaviria's adviser, Eduardo Sandoval, advised his boss that the Escobar prison would not act arbitrarily.

President Gaviria ordered troops led by General Gustavo Padro Ariza to remove Escobar from La Catedral. As many as 4000 soldiers were deployed to surround Escobar's private prison on July 22, 1992. Sandoval, who functioned as a negotiator, was actually taken hostage by Escobar's fully armed private troops.

Two Colombian politicians killed by Pablo Escobar for their campaign to fight drugs, Rodrigo Lara (Minister of Justice/center) and Luis Carlos Galan (Colombian presidential candidate/left). (Wikipedia)

The hostage-taking of Sandoval, who is also Colombia's Deputy Minister of Justice, prompted General Ariza's order to storm La Catedral. A total of 250 elite troops, 4 helicopters, and 7 sniffer dogs barged in and managed to knock out Escobar's troops, but the Cocaine King managed to escape from the secret tunnel.

After Escobar escapes, President Gaviria issues orders to capture the King of Cocaine dead or alive. There were no more negotiations, although at that time there were new concerns about the terror bombing from Escobar.

During his reign as a brutal criminal figure, Escobar is said to have killed at least 4000 people. The victims come from various walks of life, from ordinary people, competitors in the cocaine business, police, judges, prosecutors, to politicians. Escobar used many ways to execute his enemies, from being tortured, shot, and bombed.

One corner of La Catedral, the prison specially built to hold Pablo Escobar. (Mark)

Surrounded and Killed

Escobar's escape lasted for 16 months until finally his hiding place was smelled by the police and elite Colombian troops assisted by the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States anti-narcotics agency. Escobar's last known hideout was in a residential area in Medellin.

“I was working when I heard screaming from the street. I saw a fat man without clothes walking on the roof of the opposite house. The man then jumped on the roof of another house, then several shots were heard," said an eyewitness who was not named, quoted by Reuters.

Several other eyewitnesses interviewed by Reuters said they saw Escobar's body lying face down on the roof of a house with bullet wounds.

Sebastian Marroquin, son of Pablo Escobar who works as an architect and lives in Argentina. Marroquin had to change his name from the original Juan Pablo Escobar, in order to protect his family. (APB Speakers/Claudio Esses)

“This is a success for the country and the government. The Medellin Cartel has been dismantled with the death of Pablo Escobar," said Major General Octavio Vargas Silva, one of the heads of the Colombian Elite Forces tasked with pursuing Escobar.

There is no definite information about the shooter who managed to kill Escobar. The Escobar family, members of the Medellin Cartel, even the intelligence documents were unable to confirm the real executioner of the Cocaine King. Escobar is known to have died from a gunshot wound to his right ear.

The gunshot wound led to speculation that Escobar had committed suicide. He shot himself for a purpose, which was to save his family.

"I firmly believe that my father committed suicide to save the family from being held hostage by a rival group," said Escobar's son, Sebastian Marroquin.

The death of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian cocaine king who was once on the list of the richest people in the world remains a mystery to this day.