Farmer discovered $600 million of Pablo Escobar’s money on his land

Money might not grow on trees, but one Colombian farmer managed to reap a rather sizeable sum from the ground, though he wanted nothing to do with it.

Josè Mariena Cartolos was in the middle of making a trench for irrigation purposes on his family ranch when he discovered several containers filled to the brim with cash, which might not have been the cleanest in the most literal or figurative sense.

However, it wasn't the stroke of luck you might imagine, as the money once belonged to the world's most infamous drug lord, Pablo Escobar.

Having built the Medellín Cartel in his pomp, Escobar became remarkably rich, so much so that he was able to bury $600 million for safe keeping.

But he isn't a man whose money you mess with, even if he died 22 years earlier.

Despite making the discovery in 2015, Cartolos clearly didn't want to be in debt to anyone still close to the legendary criminal, as he alerted the authorities almost immediately despite discovering over half a billion dollars.

He found containers filled to the brim (Reddit)

Unfortunately for him, and for Escobar's associates, the authorities decided to seize every penny, without leaving him anything, so he's probably kicking himself for being so honest when he could have at least got himself a new tractor.

Instead, it was spent on social and economic programs by the Colombian government, MTV Lebanon previously reported, which I suppose is a nice way to spend it too, even if Escobar might have been rolling in his grave.

How would you react if you found Escobar's millions?

Reacting on Reddit, plenty of people admitted that they might not have been so honest if they found themselves in a similar situation.

Escobar was worth billions (Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

One person on Reddit wrote: "Never would’ve said a word. Would’ve loaded that up and been gone."

Another added: "Why would he report it? I’d be living the high life right now."

A third joked: "I'd invoke the law of finders keepers."

And a fourth laughed: "Dude won the lottery and and said 'no thank you.'"

Others reckoned that Cartolos definitely did the right thing, especially as the Pablo Escobar is supposedly the rightful owner of the cash.

"Finding a stash that belongs to a cartel is a 'I'm f***ed' situation," one person commented. "The first question is: how do I get out of that alive?"

Another chimed in saying: "Any Colombian farmer would know better than to advertise this lol."

And a third pointed out: "I promise you that you would have no idea what to do with $600m in illegal cash."