Los Pepes: The Real-Life Vigilante Group Who Hunted Down Pablo Escobar
JESUS ABAD-EL COLOMBIANO/AFP/Getty ImagesColombian police and military forces storm the rooftops of Pablo Escobar’s hiding place in Colombia.
Pablo Escobar needs little if any introduction. One of the most infamous drug lords in modern history, the Colombian kingpin ran a colossal cocaine empire that saw thousands of people killed. With corrupt authority figures in his pocket, Escobar’s reign appeared resolute — until it wasn’t.
In the early 1990s, Escobar had two members of a rival cartel murdered when they visited him in an opulent prison (which he had built for himself). Fidel Castano, the other cartel’s boss, was none too pleased. And so he helped form Los Pepes. Short for “Perseguidos por Pablos Escobar,” the paramilitary group welcomed “People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar.”
Escobar was a marked man after he walked out of his own prison in July 1992. At this point, even the U.S. government and CIA were aiding Los Pepes in their quest to find the kingpin. Unfortunately, Los Pepes also engaged in bloody bombings against Escobar that killed and injured civilians.
Wikimedia CommonsPablo Escobar was gunned down on December 2, 1993.
Some of these nearly killed their target, including a car bomb that injured Escobar’s daughter. For more than a year, Los Pepes ruthlessly attacked anyone in Escobar’s circle — from friends and relatives to public supporters and officials. It was in 1993 when they closed in on the man himself.
After Los Pepes forced Escobar into hiding, Colombian intelligence intercepted a phone call from Escobar to his son. Now certain of his whereabouts, Colombian police and military forces headed for Escobar’s newfound hiding place in the neighborhood of Los Olivos — ready for retribution after years of brutal violence in the country.
Whether Los Pepes members played an active role in actually killing him remains hotly contested, but one thing is certain: Without their vigilant quest to find Escobar, it’s likely he would’ve led many more to their deaths. In the end, he was chased across rooftops and gunned down while on the run.
