Escobar's hippos and more eccentricities of Colombian drug traffickers

If there is something that identifies drug traffickers in their private lives, it is the curious things they buy and the eccentricities they do with their illicit money . In Colombia, several capos were related to Santeria, they collected dolls and even met members of the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Get to know some of the biggest eccentricities of Colombian drug traffickers .

Pablo Escobar - Hacienda Napoles Considered by many to be the most famous drug trafficker in the world, Escobar also drew attention for his eccentricities . An example of this was the almost 2,000 hectares of the Napoles farm, located in the Antioquia municipality of Puerto Triunfo, where there were rhinoceroses, elephants, zebras, giraffes and even hippos native to Africa that Escobar illegally introduced into the country more than three years ago. decades . Now, hippos pose a danger to local wildlife and the debate has centered on whether or not they should be euthanized.

Pablo Escobar - Harley Davidson from 1990 In the Police Museum, in Bogotá, there are some important pieces of the history of the institution, such as emblematic uniforms of the Armed Forces. However, you can also find objects that the authorities have seized throughout its history. For example, there is the 1990 Harley Davidson that Pablo Escobar illegally brought into the country and that was a gift to his cousin Juan Enrique Urquijo Gaviria , alias 'Earring'. This vehicle was seized by the Police years later in a Medellin nightclub.

Pablo Escobar - Letters from Manuelita Sáenz Juan Pablo Escobar, son of Escobar, pointed out that he received a particularly valuable gift from his father: “On my ninth birthday, 1996, I received a unique gift that, due to my immaturity, did not have a great meaning : a chest with the original love letters that Manuelita Sáenz had written to the liberator Simón Bolívar ”, he recounted in an autobiographical book: 'Pablo Escobar, my father'.

Martín Farfán Díaz - Sex and witchcraft Alias ​​'Pijarbey' was one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the eastern plains. He was killed by Colombian authorities in September 2015 . General Jorge Nieto, director of Citizen Security of the National Police, at the time of Farfán's death, revealed to 'Colprensa' that the narco was addicted to pornography and believed in Santeria . He went to two fortune-tellers and obediently followed their recommendations to get lucky in their illicit business. He wore gold jewelry at all times in order to repel threats and attacks. All these elements he carried in a kangaroo. In addition, he forced his guards to wear this type of amulets. 'Pijarbey' had a talisman known as the prayer of the black cat tattooed on his left shoulder , on the advice of a santera identified by the authorities as 'Luli'.

Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía - Cirugías Alias ​​'Chupeta' is a former drug trafficker from the Cali cartel who is now in prison in the United States. He was one of the witnesses during the trial against Joaquín el 'Chapo' Guzmán. His case shocked the Police because he underwent drastic physical changes to hide from the authorities: he lost weight, his cheekbones faded, his chin was divided, his jawline, nose outlined, forehead lifted . Furthermore, he changed his identity on the documents he was carrying.

Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía - Hello Kitty collection Alias ​​'Chupeta' also kept in his luxurious mansion in Sao Paulo, Brazil, an important collection of articles and clothing from the well-known Hello Kitty cat . After his capture, his collection was part of an auction at the El Jockey Club auction house in Sao Paulo, containing more than 3,000 personal items from the drug trafficker, including his underwear.

Juan Barrera Fonseca - Santeria and cycling On September 18, 2012, alias 'El loco Barrera', one of the most wanted Colombian drug traffickers of the 21st century, was captured in Venezuela . In the operation, according to information from various media, 20 bicycles were found that had a GPS system, valued at more than 20 million pesos each. There were also about 50 uniforms from different cycling teams in the world. What most surprised the authorities was that he had burned his fingerprints so as not to be identified and had more than 60 religious figures , among which there were some allusive to Santeria. .

Carlos Lehder - Own Island Carlos 'El loco' Lehder became one of the most powerful drug traffickers and millionaires of the Medellín Cartel . His infamous fortune was so great that he bought half of Norman's Cay, an islet located in the Bahama Islands, near the southern coast of Florida. This was told by Eduardo Sáenz Rovner in an article published in 2011 in the magazine 'Cuadernos de Economía', of the National University. The island became the cradle of drug trafficking and Medellin Cartel flights in small Lehder planes , who devised the routes.

Carlos Lehder - Posada Alemana One of the most popular assets of the former drug kingpin, which was handed over to the department of Quindío after 19 years of a domain forfeiture process, was this curious hotel. He had a statue of John Lennon with the shot that killed him. It also had lions and a condor cage.

Carlos Lehder - Party with great rock figures Ron Wood, guitarist of the Rolling Stones, recounted in his autobiography that he was invited, along with Ringo Starr (of The Beatles), to Lehder's house in Norman's Cay. The fact would have been in 1979, after they met at a party in Paris (France). In 1987, Lehder became one of the first drug traffickers extradited to the United States, a country where he served his sentence. 'El loco' was released from prison in June 2020 and immediately went to Germany (he has the nationality).