The former wife of a Cali Cartel kingpin is claiming her former husband contributed $625 thousand to finance a governmental / paramilitary search bloc that ultimately killed Pablo Escobar, Colombia’s most infamous drug lord in history.
PROFILE: Pablo Escobar
Former beauty queen Aura Rocio Restrepo was married to Gilberto Rodriguez for eight years, one of the founders of the Cali Cartel. In her book “I don’t Want to Keep Silent Any Longer” she adds more mystery to the death of notorious cocaine king.
Through the years different people have given their accounts of the drug lord’s death. Among others, convicted Colombian narco trafficker “Don Berna” claimed his brother killed Escobar.
Another version is that paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño shot and killed Escobar, who is considered the most powerful and infamous drug lord.
Both Berna and Castaño were founding members of “Los Pepes,” a paramilitary group founded in the early 1990s that sought to take down Escobar’s Medellin Cartel. The men later became founding members of the AUC that effectively took over Escobar’s drug routes.
PROFILE: AUC
One thing all accounts share is what forensic experts stated after the autopsy, how many shots killed the head of the Medellin Cartel and where they hit. The common factor is he was shot three times, one in the leg, another in the chest from a handgun, and the fatal shot in his ear.
But who delivered the killing shot and who helped locate Escobar in that house is still wrapped in a mist of mystery.
MORE: 20 years after his death, Pablo Escobar’s myth more alive than ever
According to the official version, the fatal shot was dealt by Major Hugo Aguilar after the Search Bloc was able to intercept one of Escobar’s calls and determine his location.
Minutes after Escobar’s death on December 2, 1993, Aguilar posed besides the dead body of Escobar in front of paparazzi’s flashing cameras. The photography went around the world. In this version they found Escobar thanks to the Search Bloc who intercepted calls made by Pablo.
“The shot of my gun was the one that pierced the heart of Pablo. And the shot of a R-15 rifle was the one that pierced his ear. When the fire stopped and I saw him lying dead on the roof I grabbed the radio and said “Long live Colombia, Pablo Escobar is dead!,” Aguilar told world press.
The policemen went on to become a governor, but is currently in prison for his ties to the AUC.
Sources
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