Colombian prosecutors announced Friday the seizure of a property belonging to Pablo Escobar. A secret museum was discovered there filled with items belonging to or paying homage to the famous late drug lord, who was killed by police in 1993.
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The house in question, seized in Medellin (North West), “would have been acquired by Pablo Escobar with the money he obtained thanks to his activities as a drug trafficker and leader of the Medellín cartel between the 1980s and 1990s,” the indictment stated a press release published on Friday.
Photo AFP / PRESS OFFICE OF THE COLOMBIAN PROSECUTOR
The property was “put in the name of the straw men” and, in addition to its secret museum, served as the residence of Roberto de Jesús Escobar, brother of Pablo Escobar.
“He lived in it continuously, made several improvements and adjustments, and managed to have it listed in the public records in the name of a woman who is now the on-paper owner,” said the press release.
Photo AFP / PRESS OFFICE OF THE COLOMBIAN PROSECUTOR
In the photos of the museum published by the prosecutor, we see in particular a car and a motorcycle displayed behind a window, paintings, photographs and even human-scale reproductions of Escobar or plastic figures depicting him.
Photo AFP / PRESS OFFICE OF THE COLOMBIAN PROSECUTOR
The investigation was led by the criminal division of the prosecutor’s office, which estimated the value of the property at about 12 billion pesos, or nearly $3 million.
Photo AFP / PRESS OFFICE OF THE COLOMBIAN PROSECUTOR
Pablo Escobar, the cocaine baron who waged a war of terror against the Colombian state to avoid extradition to the United States, was killed in a police operation in his stronghold of Medellín in 1993.
He is credited with murdering at least 5,000 people, including civilians, judges, journalists, politicians and election candidates. He is also believed to be responsible for hundreds of bombings in Medellín, Bogotá, Cali and Pereira.