Using SIGINT equipment provided by the United States, Colombia’s Search Bloc police unit got a positive hit on Escobar coming from his mother’s house. The hunt for Pablo continued with numerous false starts and frustrations until December of 1993. 16 operators from Delta put 100 Colombians through a three-week assault course at an army base named Tola Maida. The man in the red shirt is DEA agent Steve MurphyĬolombian Special Operations units had been established decades ago by American SOF, but now Delta operators were brought in to hone their proficiency for upcoming raids. Using their observation equipment, they could get visual confirmation of reports received by SIGINT platforms flying overhead. Meanwhile, Mafnas and Vega set up a sniper observation post overlooking the Medellin valley where Escobar was suspected to be located. From the beginning, Delta was supposed to be invisible and the operation would have to have a Colombian face to it. Harrell also selected Sergeant Major Jack Alvarez to additionally be on the team.Īrriving in Colombia, Harrell and Alvarez went to conduct liaisons with the police, specifically “Search Bloc” which led the hunt for Escobar. Boykin chose Squadron Leader LTC Gary Harrell and operators SFC Joe Vega, and SFC Tony Mafnas.
“I want you to go down there,” Garrison said. The White House approved the mission and General Bill Garrison called down to Boykin at Delta. Crowds gather after they learn of his death.ĭelta Force commander Jerry Boykin describes the hunt for Pablo Escobar in his memoir, a mission called Operation Heavy Shadow. On several occasions JSOC launched personnel, logistics, and assets into Colombia only to result in mission failure. Special Operations Command-South was involved in planning a number of capture/kill missions that targeted Escobar after the raid in Bolivia forced him back into Colombia. Pablo used this vehicle at the time of his deathįrom a foreign policy standpoint, pressure was building within the United States government to capture Escobar, a man who has since been glorified and entered into mythology with the help of folks song, movies, and even a Netflix series. The counter-narcotics team had just missed the notorious Colombian drug lord named Pablo Escobar. After making entry, they found cups of coffee on the table that were still warm.
A team of Bolivian Leopardos with American advisors from the DEA and Navy SEALs raided the ranch house at the CIA’s request. Pablo Escobar, who even today is often referred to simply as “the boss,” had an unmailed letter addressed to his mother in his pocket on the day he died.Įscobar Urquijo said she visited Pablo’s tomb daily.In 1991, one of the world’s most prolific drug traffickers fled Colombia to Bolivia where he went into hiding.
I will never be ashamed of being Pablo’s mother,” she said defiantly in the documentary The Private Archives of Pablo Escobar. “I didn’t believe he was a criminal and I’ve never thought so. One of seven children, Pablo Escobar grew up to become a notorious drug kingpin and was at one time believed to be among the world’s richest men.īut the bond between mother and son never diminished, even as the number of those killed by Pablo rose and he went on the run from the authorities.
She died in Medellin, the same city where Pablo Escobar was gunned down in a rooftop shootout with police 13 years earlier, said Nicolas Escobar Urquijo, a grandson.įriends said she was a devoted mother to the man who ran one of the world’s most ruthless underworld organizations and never considered her son a criminal. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)– Hermilda Gaviria de Escobar, the mother of slain cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, died Thursday.
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