Pabón quickly answered, “I only have serious problems with Piña.”
“Who is Piña?”
“He is a friend I met in prison in the United States. He was released a year before me and when he was leaving the penitentiary, he put himself at my service for whatever I needed. Since he offered, I requested that he go see the ‘Flaca,’ my woman, and see how she was. If she was in need of anything, I asked him to help her out. When I got out of jail, I went looking for her and I found them living together. Because of my untimely arrival, Piña fled to the United States.”
The story finished, Escobar questioned, “If Piña escaped to the United States, what makes you think he is responsible for the attack?”
“In New York I looked for some friends that know him and I offered them some money to kill him. They didn’t—they betrayed me.”
“There is no doubt. The man is after you,” Pablo told him.
“He knows that I will not rest until I kill him.”
Pablo asked, “Where is Piña from?”
“He is from Antioquia,” replied Pabón. He added, “He is earning handfuls of money. He moves three thousand kilos monthly for Pacho Herrera in New York.”
“And who is Pacho Herrera?” Escobar interrupted him, intrigued.
“He is José Santacruz Londoño’s partner. He handles the drugs in New York. He is a very rich man from Cali,”37 answered the Negro. “I was friends with Pacho Herrera. All three of us were in prison together. Pacho left first.” Pabón thought for a bit and then said, “Pacho must have something to do with my attack. Piña doesn’t do anything without consulting him.”
“You know, if they knock you, they knock me and I am not going to allow it,” Pablo said with rage.
“Thanks, Pablo,” Pabón said with a smile.
“If you remember, we did a favor for Santacruz a while back and killed Hugo for him. I’m going to call him and I am going to ask him to give me Pacho,” Escobar assured Pabón. “You find both men on the motorcycles. Begin by combing Antioquia.”
“Finding the two men on motorcycles will be easy—bringing in Pacho Herrera will be difficult,” Pabón answered pensively.
“We have to get rid of Piña first and then going after him will be much easier,” Pablo said, looking Pabón straight in the eyes.
At that moment, a bloody battle between the drug barons of Cali and Medellín was born. Both cartels would be destroyed.
Chapter XIII
Candy for the DEA
It was 5:00 in the morning, February 4, 1987. In Guarne, Antioquia, a specialized team of fifty policemen, accompanied by agents of the DEA, stealthily moved in and surrounded the farm where Lehder was hiding. A rooster crowed in the distance. The ten boys from San Pío in the Pitufos’ band snoozed, completely unaware. The director of the operation shouted through a megaphone, “Turn yourselves in! You’re surrounded!”
Several minutes passed. Lehder woke up, half naked with his eyes now wide open. He screamed, “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! I’m Carlos Lehder, a German citizen!” He held his passport in his hand. He only used his gun or his rifle when absolutely necessary, so without putting up a fight, he turned himself in. The colonel in charge said with a smile on his face, “How nice that you brought us your passport; now we can let you board the plane.”
In record time, he was put on a DEA plane headed for the United States. His extradition was completed in a quick administrative process. Twenty-four hours hadn’t even passed since his capture and he was already in a U.S. jail cell.
It was the end for a romantic and crazy drug-trafficking adventurer. This sad ending began when Lehder decided to stay close to Pablo, feeling safe under his protection. Pablo, along with his impressive security force, kept visiting the Nápoles Hacienda. During the day, he remained at the main house and at night, he retired to the depths of the semi-jungle extension of his estate. He kept a permanent surveillance crew half an hour away on a paved road. Numerous watchmen all over the hacienda monitored even the smallest suspicious movement. All of them communicated through their radios with the watchman at Pablo’s side.
Helicopters represented a unique danger, but their sound could alert us when they were still kilometers away and give us enough time to escape into the safety of the trees. Pablo moved in Medellín with caution and went to public places without much difficulty. For several nights, Lehder had accompanied him to Kevin’s Disco, the latest trendy nightclub. Lehder never took his eyes off Pablo, and he never took his hand off his gun. Escobar’s security crew always secured the place, and ensured that the discotheque had a secret exit for quick escapes.
They enjoyed themselves in the company of beautiful models until about 4:30 in the morning. The friends of El Rojo, a former National Police official under Escobar’s orders, always made sure to show Pablo a good time in Medellín and keep the police far away. From Kevin’s, Lehder and El Patrón went to El Paraíso, a hideout in the city. Wherever he moved, Pablo took Lehder with him; and so it was for five months. Lehder eventually got over his malaria.
During this period, Escobar revealed a different side of his personality. He insisted that Lehder see his daughter, who lived in Medellín. Lehder accepted and Pablo sent his men to go look for her. The precious twelve-year-old girl was taken to the hiding place by Pinina. Lehder greeted her coldly; they were practically complete strangers, and Lehder was no family man. They passed their time quietly for two hours. Lehder then introduced his daughter to Pablo before she was taken back to the car by Pinina. Lehder followed her out to say goodbye with a kiss on her cheek.
Lehder, an admirer of John Lennon (he actually commissioned a statue of Lennon on one of his properties, the German Inn in Armenia), was saying goodbye to the free world. Everything in his mafia environment seemed to upset him, even his gold Rolex watch; it felt uncomfortable on his wrist, so he asked me to take him some place where he could get the band changed for a leather one. Lehder said it didn’t go with his rifle or the gun at his waist.
He also sold his Mercedes Benz limousine to Pablo. With the persecution of the authorities, such a vehicle could be a problem. This limousine was Carlos Lehder’s symbol in Quindio38 during the golden age, when the mafia was accepted and well looked upon. Back then, Lehder also owned his own plane which he personally flew to and from Armenia.
The gold Rolex with a simple leather strap further emphasized Lehder’s fall from mafia grace (and somehow accentuated his funny figure). The limousine brought from Armenia stood in Pablo Escobar’s antique car showroom. This symbol of the great gangster of Armenia was now archived, and it was only a matter of time until Lehder would be handled likewise.
Even in the middle of war, Escobar took time to have fun with his friends. He organized a party at the hacienda. Lehder couldn’t miss this. Chopo, Oto, Mugre, Carlos, Rollo, Icopor, Palomo, Pinina, Titi, Julio Lagarto, Monito Jorgito, Merengue, and I accompanied Escobar. At 10:00 p.m., Paskin showed up with fifteen prostitutes and the party was underway.
Not every one of us got drunk. Pablo liked his marijuana and always smoked with a beer. Lehder got chummy with one of the prostitutes and she stuck with him for the rest of the night. At the height of the party, Lehder pulled out some cocaine and got high; the prostitute followed suit.
Rollo, accompanied by another prostitute, saw that Lehder had drugs and asked him for some. Lehder pointed to his girl, who had the cocaine packet in her hand, and with a nod of his head authorized her to give Rollo a line. As she opened the packet, she checked Rollo out and began to shamelessly flirt with him. Lehder looked out of the corner of his eye and took note of the situation. Rollo smiled back at the prostitute and Lehder noticed. The young woman, with her beautiful physical attributes—golden hair, perfect legs, and hips that could drive a man wild—sealed the destiny of these two men: Lehder, a gangster fully out of his prime, and Rollo, an up and coming hitman.