we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. live from moscow this is our team good to have you with us this hour top stories now the egyptian president hosni mubarak is seemingly pal to pressure at home and abroad is he planning to resign following the brutal unrest seen over the past few. weeks founder julian assange will have to await his extradition face in front of the german to the latest hearing into whether he'll be sent to sweden where he's wanted on sex crime charges. this week may be just a short stop for sanctions leaked cables uncovered an american agenda behind a swedish what tapping will washington to press charges on the whistleblower. well i'll be back with you in less than thirty minutes from now as the news continues in

the meantime it's our special report which reveals the true story behind the colombian drug lord who is at the center of one of the world's biggest manhunts that's next on r.t. . on the tarmac of bogota airport a family looks out of place these are no ordinary people it's the family of pablo escobar the colombian cocaine godfather and the most wanted criminals on us. they had hoped to seek refuge in frankfurt but the german authorities immediately turn them back. to the escobar family comprises to some one top bloke in his arms his young system unaware law. and bringing up the rear maria of

a tourist wise. and tired and bewildered and most of all they're scared pablo escobar has been on the run for sixteen months and is no longer the old powerful drugs lord who for years had terrorized colombia. the public enemy number one lives like a hunted animal from his hiding place somewhere in colombia the drug dealer is powerless to help his family but escobar always had an achilles' heel his family his daughter his son meant everything to him. his achilles' heel is something the colombian authorities are planning to take full advantage of from the moment they check into a hotel the family is under constant surveillance they've become the bait. it's just a matter of time before the godfather makes the mistake of falling into the trap the police have set for.

its crew was just about slipped through our fingers too many times it's unbelievable it was incredible. but escobar used to bomb schools soup. markets any way what you see. will get out and you knew all about the families of the police and you with them all those c.s.i. that follow those lives and how many brothers they. are

. maybe and sixteen years later maybe in his columbia's second city one of its busiest and richest and the country's bread basket. sixteen years later in the city still has a bad reputation. the settling of scores continues but these days it's between small time drug dealers. and it's nowhere near like it was in escobar as time. well ecology at the time of the humans a mad house bullets for breakfast and lunch and bombs for dinner.

but. you know what people die every day every morning that the bodies near the mountains would call it public cemetery each day that because people would be mowed it off and just dumped on the open ground. there are few people left or maybe even but well you have to know where to look. so the toss is to find them. according to some one of best cabals form a lifetime of is still a lot of. little video from those yes' still exists. his name

is john gyre of ls quiz alias popeye. police wanted posters back then popeye was not far behind his boss escobar when it came to the pecking order he was implicated in a number of murders sources claim that he's been serving time in prison for several gives what seems certain is that he was able to survive in bogota his notorious low modelo prison on the hom. line for the old prison was a daily diet of insecurity and frequent violence where the prisoners ruled the roost as cabal's former right hand man has since been spirited away to much safer surroundings. it takes a few more days to track popeye down now want to pound he knows where he is but the system's finally pays off. there is a last some news. popeye is being held about one hundred kilometers from bogota in

this modern detention center. it's a high security prison with murderers drug traffickers and hired killers among its inmates. no t.v. crews had ever been allowed inside before it was considered too dangerous but once again persistence pays off and an exception is made. a chance to talk one on one with pablo escobar as most loyal left time knows. and he's the best person to give a first hand account of his former bosses life when the wrong. you know point one million of the time back in may there were fifteen hundred people looking for us going to be out of this bellagio is that alessio israelis british americans the colombian secret service the cia the da. everyone was off to. get

a bit busy to start though and when that other hunters had been awarded i was never refused one of his bosses or those however ruthless they may have been he claims he was responsible for two hundred fifty of the estimated ten thousand murders ordered by a. once there was a very high profile woman that we will order to kill in custody not like you know that and we shot it and the intercontinental hotel but getting out of the hotel was tricky as the police had time to helicopter they opened fire and i was hit here in the artery i managed to get home and public himself came over to see me that's when i realized it was a friend not just the boss i had a friend thought about the matter you tell was an army of lambs led by a live i was a lamb the boss was a lion. by

the mid one nine hundred seventy s. escobar was at the height of his powers. he was the leader of a group made up of his cousins and friends that ruled the drug trade along side with three hundred men an army of hired killers locally as the sea county us devoted body and soul to the corps these men created the now infamous cartel. the cartel specialized in cocaine. revolutionize the way the drug was transported any means was good by road by m. or by c. . hundreds of kilos of the drug was soon reaching the united states and europe escobar never seen children ideas to ensure deliveries to his best clients in the u.s. even have the submarine built in one nine hundred eighty escobar reached his senate becoming the undisputed godfather of the world's cocaine trade. as ruthless as he

was derek. barely ten years escobar had come a long way from a small time grave robber he had become the all powerful king of cocaine a godfather whose net worth of the time was estimated at five billion dollars. and almost as if to prove he could do what he liked he pushed the envelope to the limit by having his photo taken with his son outside the white house. he uses his profits from drugs to buy a real estate in miami florida under the noses of the american authorities. escobar becomes america's worst nightmare u.s. federal justice authorities demand his immediate extradition. he formed a group called us it started. with for them also is

a better coffin in colombia than a prison cell in the united states when he declared war on colombia because of the extradition we'd never expect that the sides of that war. escobar reveals his true personality a psychopath who orders the murders of everyone who might be involved in processing his extradition judge's journalists politicians police anyone. during this period of terror an estimated ten thousand fall victim to ask about his killing spree or sometimes we will go outside after obama. and see him body parts we're seeing small children infants that be killed simply because their parents were placed in. such incidents but the colombian authorities to act and they decide to eliminate

the godfather of. price is put on his head and he becomes public enemy number one. for the me want to get. up low escobar alias the doctor vanishes from sight. a french t.v. crew that had been working on another story comes across as in the bush. the subsequent interview was a major scoop and the first time a european media has ever filmed the drug trafficker. in front of the camera escobar goes to some lengths to justify himself and the film follows a lot of. what we have to realize that we're living through the cocaine period cocaine is inviting the world why because it's a drug that's less strong are less damaging than the all those there are drug addicts and because of a lack of education and discipline. it's the same with alcohol there's no

difference between someone sleeping on the sidewalk because of drink or because of drugs because. the godfather goes on to pick up part of the american arguments against the cocaine trade see like ok right now it's cocaine with considered dangerous evil because the americans can't control it an economy goes it's the colombians of produce that that's the real problem. in that same year the median college tell ships out three hundred kilograms a day of cocaine into the united states u.s. officials have had enough and again demand the extradition of the drug store. hunted in his own country and want to buy u.s. justice there appears no way out for ask about undeterred he tries to bargain for his freedom with the colombian government it's on likely bonsa.

in june one thousand nine hundred ninety one an assorted convoy of vehicles is heading into the mountains near to a place known as the catch a drought inside the vehicles whose gunman flank the godfather escobar has agreed to surrender and serve time but in a prison that he himself has built to his own specifications escobar is dictating the terms and his purpose built jail conspicuously has neither prison bars nor keys on the radio escobar explains that he has surrendered for the sake of the colombian people at a moment i thought of going and doing at this historic moment when our fighters are giving themselves up to bring calm to the country that i cannot ignore the polls for peace by the last majority of a colombian people. and we gotto june one thousand nine hundred one you. got the drywall is a five star luxury prison with all the comforts of home. and even better than most

homes of the time as a state of the arts kitchen music centers telephone it's. not side there's a huge telescope which allows the godfather to keep track of police as they come and go as well as keep watch over his family who have remained in the valley below . during the day pablo and his associates have no time to get bored the cocaine and continues to grow. the prison a cultural was crime central it was where they controlled the drug traffic and the government was fully aware of the fact that when what was going on leaks out it causes a huge scandal with the president of colombia himself forced to explain he was not a joke what happened he's such got boss ethiopia intimidation that we end up discovering that most of these soldiers were already. fried.

the government insists he served time in a real prison sensing a trap he refuses. one night as his friend popeye and a dozen henchmen escaped. hop on ice skating for the friends but there were no police no i want all we want we must have left at about eleven at night it was very foggy outside when their escape is discovered a state of alert is declared after a year in his private prison. has once again gone on the ground. the police realize they need to act quickly as the godfather is on familiar territory and every hour lost gives him the opportunity to disappear for good nothing is left to chunks each house and maybe now and its suburbs a search starting with those belonging to his left hand of.

the night. but by the morning of the twenty second of july nine hundred ninety two the authorities admit they've lost him as cabal has apparently vanished into thin air. here. in bogota the government as it saw spring to barely twenty four hours off to his escape it sets up the bloke ale that was an elite unit whose sole toss is to track down home and its headquarters are in the city center the one thousand strong unit is made up of highly trained and handpicked policemen and soldiers. the commandos

make sure that none of amanda from heading in. and that all of them have a squaw to settle with escobar choosing those who have lost at least one member of their families to the gangsters hitman. the head of the unit is colonel hugo martinez as methodical as he is i mean corruptible. but. his number two is major hugo i do yeah his role is to gather intelligence he's us tough as nails and farley determined. the americans send two of their best drug officers to work alongside the colombia is on the ground. who is the best of the best in going after him we had all the resources we wanted by resources i'm talking about the the money the quick money. the intelligence da at this

time i created a. t.k.o. program which says that we were we were targeting this bar all over the world. many in becomes a city under siege the special unit is everywhere with khat blash to do as it pleases sweeping everywhere and such and everyone. to begin with the dragnet turns up little more than weapons telephones explosives common enough in maybe a year and the usual suspects most of them petty criminals. what the investigators are hoping for is the one clue the one informant who might lead them to ask about. him who got published a lot of them brings up those means are busy and does mean going to their bases or

don't you read us the i'm going to get a big. yoshimi. the rewards on the televised appeals for information make little headway however as whoever might be tempted to inform on the godfather or his cronies knows fully well it would mean the death sentence and. as a result months go by and escobar remains as elusive as ever. despite the grind of the danger the such unit has to follow up every lead. off from the unit's intelligence take some to envy god the subway grew up. people were hiding you know a number published was a robin hood for the people even that doesn't help a lot of. the poor he built churches. gave a lot of money to to people people idolized you know they were guarded and they were hiding. here in this house the police

were hoping to round up a few members of the college tower. from . unfortunately for the police they arrived too late and it wouldn't be the last time. elite forces well paid informants yet there was still no breakthrough to catch escobar there's a change of tactics with priority now being given to telecommunications. the americans provide an awacs surveillance aircraft and a twin engine plane to track vocal frequencies it's the first time such methods are used to hunt down one man. it means that colonel martinez and his men can eavesdrop on hundreds of telephone radio conversations day and night twenty four seventh's.

then in march one thousand nine hundred three. we suddenly realize we have asked about talking to his son on his cell phone but the problem was that he was constantly on the move. but the twin engine plane that is constantly in the air manages to locate the frequency used in the phone call. a plane was able to identify where the call to be made from on the ground so i immediately traced the location on a map of the city to find the exact spot. but i think. the calculations show that it came from a house in one of many young smart the suburbs escobar has to be there and it's just a matter of rounding him up. to move in a dorm and the house historically searched. inside there's a volga display of wealth and a few stuff that

a half asleep. yet at the beginning because he does this house belong to. miranda as a name escobar often uses. the bed as a maid the bed clothes still warm as gabbar it seems was tipped off just in time. to. story the only people of the stuff that's like that in all of his houses. has now been on the run from his comfortable imprisonment for eight months. he's thumbing his nose at the special units. we missed him at the beginning. may i venture say when mr moore good good twenty times you know we would pick him up on the radio we'd have the search blocks around the area in we're always you know would always miss and. as time goes by pablo

escobar popularity seems to increase. evading the authorities by luck or design makes him into a hero. in the rundown neighborhoods the poor are all on his side. he thought oh yeah i got if i blow a hair he wouldn't even need to us i doubt he's welcome here any time in our home he's welcome with open arms he will always be welcome. escobar also finds easy refuge with his cronies from the cartel and other traffickers on whose loyalty he can rely now more than a decade and a half later most i'm no longer alive. all that's left are some members of the escobar family who alone know how the godfather managed to remain at liberty for so

long. maybe they might finally talk. according to some reports his son from pablo and his widow maria victoria have sold refuge in argentina. his brother roberto. and his younger sister album or. well still admitted. the escobar family had been untouchable for so long the brother and sister used to go out quite openly these days they choose to keep a much lower profile. a local journalist helps out by providing the address of ask

about system. is this where mrs escobar lives. yes she did no sorry she's just going out. ok we'll leave a message for. culture is that so much different and there's a huge music to share apparently trying to mark west transition in the middle east with the resignation of the egyptian president is there now a fantasy real democracy what does the future hold for this country. well when one deals with water it has to realize that this tremendous amounts of damage that are done not just human damage but damage to the physical environment in which the battlefield takes place tremendous amounts of damage done by aerial bombs by napalm boy chemical something whether it's a sonic boom say factoring marine mammals or it's the burning oil field syria and

iraq or it's destroyed coral reefs in the pacific for planning purposes the list just goes on and on the geneva conventions of nineteen forty nine states that they are shall be taken in the war to protect one by against widespread long term and severe damage the united states although it is accepted almost all of the provisions of protocol one has taken exception to that.

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