A showy life even in “prison” showed Pablo Escobar, who even went so far as to build a “private prison” that they continue to call “The Cathedral”.

Behind the ecclesiastical name, Envigado concealed a large operations center for Escobar’s drug trafficking, known as “El Patron”, who ran the Medellín Cartel.

On June 19, 1991, Clarín explains, the drug trafficker entered that luxury prison, located in the village of La Miel in the municipality of Envigado, bordering Medellín.

“It was delivered as part of an agreement with then-President César Gaviria. In exchange for not being extradited to the United States, he agreed to surrender himself to the Colombian justice system, or at least pretended to do so,” he added.

To prevent them from taking him along with several members of his organization to American soil, the capo unleashed a series of crimes to intimidate the authorities, Meganoticias reports on video.

One of these criminal acts is the kidnapping of a group of journalists, including the then editor-in-chief of El Tiempo, Francisco Santos Calderón.

Unfortunately, the director of the Cripton news program, Diana Turbay, has been murdered.

Turbay, along with some of his colleagues, She was kidnapped by the group “Los Extraditables” on August 30, 1990, when they led her to believe she was going to interview priest Pérez, as the ELN chief was called, Caracol reports.

In January 1991, the tragic outcome became known. Escobar turned himself in to the police on June 19, 1991, blocking his departure from the country through extradition.

The then president, César Gaviria, offered the policy of submission to justice, offering reduced sentences and preferential treatment to those who left behind their drug-trafficking past. This allowed “Los Extraditables” to remain on Colombian soil, reports Meganoticias.

The story of the day Pablo Escobar turned himself in and his imprisonment in the luxurious cathedral

The luxury of ‘The Cathedral’

What should have been a prison for the head of the Medellín cartel “became a gigantic complex for bandits, with a privileged view of the city and all kinds of luxuries,” reports Clarín.

The head of the Medellín Cartel arrived at “La Catedral” by helicopter. Meganoticias adds that he did not arrive alone. He was accompanied by assassins and bodyguards.

Several testimonies show that the land where that controversial prison stood was purchased by Escobar himself.

Infobae quotes Semana about the prison: “The prison construction contract contained a peculiar clause that assured the drug trafficker that he was behind the construction, thus putting the alleged prison in his luxury home, in addition to the possibility of escape after a while , as he did a year and a month later.”No police or military authority shall have access to the internal part of the prison…” the construction contract read.

In turn, Clarín describes that instead of cells and bars, the compound had spacious rooms, games rooms and a gym, as well as a natural waterfall and a football field, which at one point acted as a helipad.

It is widely known that it was Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria himself who built “The Cathedral” to his liking.

Clarín expands on the controversial site: “Although (the cathedral) was protected by an electric fence and rocky walls, which still stand on the renovated site, the doors were open to relatives, friends and associates of the capo, with whom he celebrated festivities and bacchanals with alcohol, drugs and women”.

Among the luxuries were jacuzzis, natural waterfalls, large windows with dream views, paintings adorning the walls, among many other luxuries enjoyed by the kingpin and his guests,” explains Infobae.

Escobar’s cell was decorated and his wife Victoria Henao worked on it. He later learned through letters that various women, including beauty queens, often visited him for intimate encounters.

The Escape from ‘The Cathedral’

“Months later, the truth would be discovered behind the bars of La Catedral, a lavish place where Pablo Escobar dressed, ate and enjoyed the luxuries he wanted, and to the point where he murdered some of his associates in cold blood and without that someone found him. out,” says Infobae.

As a corollary to this prison episode, Pablo Escobar eventually fled from his own prison.

He learned that President Gaviria had ordered the military to go to the farm where the controversial prison was located and take the prisoners to a military prison.

Escobar escaped from La Catedral facilities in the early morning of July 22, 1992 with nine of his men.

After this escape, the figure of Escobar became more famous because the United States was interested in his capture and offered 10 million dollars to achieve this.

Escobar, in the middle of an operation with the security forces, dropped dead on December 2, 1993.

Over time, the spaces of “La Catedral” also became another attraction for drug tourism in Colombia.

A kind of plaque about the permanence of “El Patron” in “La Catedral” reads: “I’d rather have a grave in Colombia than a prison in the United States.”

And they add two dates: Entrance to the cathedral, June 1991 / Exit the cathedral, July 1992. It was not an exit, it was an escape and it is certain that he “flew” from the place dressed as a woman.