Medellin's most (in)famous son is of course the deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar and not the artist Fernando Botero. Today I met Pablo's brother Roberto, who as well as being Pablo's accountant during the height of his wealth (Pablo was listed as the 7th wealthiest man in the 1987 Fortune 500 rich list), also spent 13 years in prison for his involvement in the Medellin cartel, then lost most of his sight and hearing in a letter bomb attack from another cartel, and then only a month ago, was nearly the victim of a kidnap attempt by two disgruntled former employees of his hermanito Pablo.
The Pablo Escobar Tour took us to Pablo's main former house in Medellin (a six floor block he called 'Monaco' that housed him and his family), then to Pablo's grave, then to the place where he was killed (or killed himself if you believe that version of events), and finally to the house where Roberto lives.
We saw the bullet holes left by the recent kidnap attempt. We saw Pablo's first motorbike and other vehicles that were used to smuggle drugs. We got to try on his furry hat. We saw one of the many wooden desk with hidden compartments where money and drugs were concealed (apparently, the carpenters were always killed immediately after making the desks so that they could not betray the secret stashing places) during the height of the Medellin cartels reign. Finally, we got the chance to get a photograph of Pablo Escobar, signed and fingerprinted by Pablo's brother.
During the tour, I noticed that Roberto never looked any of us in the eye or talked to us directly. I suspect this was less to do with him being ashamed of his criminal past, and more his embarrassment at charging people 20,000 pesos (8 quid) to sign a photograph of his brother.
Monaco, Pablo's austere and compact former family home in Medellìn
Philospohy of Pablo Escobar: "Better a grave in Colombia than a jail cell in the United States."
Pablo Escobar woz (killed) here
