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Farmer shocked to find $600 million of Pablo Escobar’s money on his land

Home> News> World News

Updated 19:36 14 Aug 2025 GMT+1Published 14:19 14 Aug 2025 GMT+1

Farmer shocked to find $600 million of Pablo Escobar’s money on his land

Josè Mariena Cartolos got way more than he bargained for while digging up a trench on his farm

Olivia Burke

Olivia Burke

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Pablo Escobar reportedly buried quite the treat for this farmer below the surface of his land.

The drug kingpin allegedly left a few trinkets from his life of crime littered around his home country of Colombia, such as an abandoned plane, which supposedly crashed while carrying a s**tload of drugs.

Apparently, he also stashed a load of cash in various locations - including Josè Mariena Cartolos' family ranch.

Although they say 'crime doesn't pay', Escobar's highly illegal exploits made him a ridiculously rich man... and for a fleeting moment, so was the farmer when he stumbled across several containers brimming with money.

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A few years back, reports emerged in Colombia claiming that Cartolos had found a whopping $600million in cash after a day of digging up his land.

He is said to have received a $3,000 grant from the country's government to create a palm oil plantation on his family's property and he was in the middle of making a trench for irrigation purposes when he made the discovery.

The story goes that, at some point, his shovel hit a large, blue container - and when he took a closer look, he found a few more.

Cartolos reportedly found several containers brimming with cash beneath the surface at his farm (Reddit)
Cartolos reportedly found several containers brimming with cash beneath the surface at his farm (Reddit)

Inside, there were endless stacks of $100 bills which allegedly totalled up to more than half a billion dollars.

And although that's a staggering amount, it's only a small slice of the $30 billion that Escobar is rumoured to have buried beneath the surface in numerous spots around Colombia for his rainy day fund.

Cartolos ended up alerting authorities to his unbelievable discovery, who then came and seized the lot of it, reports claim.

I'll bet he's kicking himself now, eh?

Escobar's alleged endowment which was buried under the farmer's land then ended up being spent on social and economic programs by the Colombian government, MTV Lebanon previously reported.

The extraordinary story has recently reared its head on social media again, and although a lot of people remain unconvinced about Cartolos' alleged find, others reckon it's more than plausible.

The main sticking point between people online has been how the farmer dealt with his unbelievable windfall - as some people didn't think honesty was the best policy in this situation.

Escobar allegedly buried billions in various spots around Colombia (FILES/AFP via Getty Images)
Escobar allegedly buried billions in various spots around Colombia (FILES/AFP 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."

Featured Image Credit: Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Topics: Crime, Money, Pablo Escobar, World News, Drugs

Olivia Burke
Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

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@livburke_

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