Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped “La Catedral,” a prison, on this day in 1992, after the government decided to move him to a more secure facility run by the military. It would have been a significant downgrade for the kingpin, who, during his imprisonment, lived a luxurious life with access to a sauna, soccer field, and a nightclub. So why was Escobar living such a lavish life in what was supposed to be a prison, and why had the government decided to crack down on him?
On the first point, it’s because he got to build the entire facility himself. His Medellín cartel was the preeminent mover of cocaine in the world, especially to the United States, where there was voracious demand for the drug. The government wouldn’t have been able to take him into custody without his cooperation, but Escobar was eager to avoid extradition to the U.S.
So he agreed to serve his sentence under one condition: that he be allowed to build the prison brick by brick, pick his own guards, and live much as he had before. He had waiters and bartenders, hosted frequent parties during his incarceration, and continued running the cartel from inside the prison thanks to unrestricted access to phones, fax machines, and computers.
In 1992, a dispute broke out among cartel members, and Escobar killed two men. The government then moved to transfer him to a conventional prison, leading to a standoff. Government negotiators were kidnapped, and the military ultimately stormed the facility that, on paper, it controlled. Shots were fired, and Escobar escaped. More than a year later, he was located in Medellín and killed in a shootout.
