Real life ‘Narcos’ recount capture and killing of Pablo Escobar

Americas Now

Narcos then and now
Steve Murphy and Javier Peña after the capture and killing of Pablo Escobar and again in 2017.

The two DEA agents who hunted down drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and are featured on the Netflix hit series ‘Narcos’, sit down with CGTN to share their story.

Javier Peña and Steve Murphy tell CGTN Americas Now how they traced Escobar for months until they tapped his phone and located him in a neighborhood in his home town of Medellín. On December 2, 1993, Escobar died during a shooting with Colombian forces.

In the late 80´s, Peña and Murphy volunteered to work on a secret operation that ended up taking down the “Medellin Cartel,” the world’s wealthiest criminal empire of the time.

The story of Peña and Murphy inspired the Netflix successful series ‘Narcos’. FB @NarcosNetflix

Peña grew up in Hebbronville, Texas and is of Mexican descent. He worked in the fields picking watermelons to help pay for his college tuition.

After joining the DEA he applied to work in Mexico, but he was deployed in Colombia.

Murphy was raised in West Virginia and as a young man he helped his father run a carpet store. He started his career as a local police officer before joining the DEA.

During the 80’s he worked in Miami, a cocaine hotspot, and after many successful undercover missions, he ended up in Escobar’s playground, his nest, Colombia.

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