Pablo Escobar’s nephew has found an $18 million (£13.3 million) stash, part of a widespread hidden fortune belonging to the late drug kingpin estimated to be worth as much as $30 million (£22.1 million).
His nephew made the discovery after discovering a horrific smell, one which he described as being ‘100 times worse than death’.
Escobar died in 1993 after founding and running the Medellin Cartel in Colombia for 17 years, during which he was known as the ‘King of Cocaine’.
The kingpin was killed after a standoff with police led to a shootout, leaving behind his massive hidden fortune.
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Just a few years ago, one Colombian farmer found $600million (£442.6 million) of Escobar’s cash after digging up the land underneath his farm.
His nephew Nicolás, meanwhile, found the hidden stash of $18m (£13.3m) in the walls of one of his uncle’s apartments.
Nicolás was quite close to uncle before his death, and has stated in interviews with local Colombian media that he decided to investigate the walls in the property after being plagued with bizarre visions.
He said: “Every time I sat in the dining room and looked towards the car park, I saw a man entering the place and disappearing.”
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He also stated that this is not the first time he had found cash of some kind in his uncle’s apartments.
As its peak, the Medellin cartel is believed to have been making an insane $420 million (£309.8 million) a week, which is just over $20 billion (£14.8 billion) a year.
As Escobar was unable to spend much of this money without it being traced back to him, most of his fortune was hidden across the country in duffle bags and containers.
Nicolás found the cash in a duffle bag in the walls of the apartment, saying of the bag: “The smell was astonishing. A smell 100 times worse than something that had died.”
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In addition to the money found in the bag, a number of other items were discovered.
This included satellite phones, a gold pen, a typewriter and a roll of film which was not developed.
Whilst it has not been revealed what the plans are for the ill-gotten gains found by Nicolás, there is history in Escobar’s family of fighting over the spoils of his drug-dealing empire.
Nicolás has previously called himself ‘Don Pablo’s favourite nephew’, and stated that his uncle’s possessions should all now belong to him.
Pablo’s nephew wants to turn these into an exhibit, something which has rubbed his own father the wrong way.
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Nicolás’ father, Roberto Escobar, was an accountant for the Cartel and has vowed to kill his son if he claims the rights to the memorabilia.
Topics: Pablo Escobar, Crime, Money, World News
Michael Slavin