Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 4844 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2016 as the wealthiest criminal in history. At the time, he was rated by Forbes magazine as the 7th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of as much as $30 billion. By the mid-1980s, it was estimated that Es- cobar and the Me- dellin Drug Cartel was moving 70 to 80 tons of cocaine from Colombia into the U.S. every month. Both Steve and Javier, who did not know each other at the time, had volunteered to take an assignment in Colombia. Javier, who was working in San Antonio, went to Colombia in 1988. Steve, who was working in Miami, was transferred to Bogota in 1991. The drug war was raging and the assignment came with obvious risks. But Steve and Javier were ready. Even Steve’s wife, Connie, a reg- istered nurse, was up for it. “Let’s do it,” she told Steve, “while we are still young.” JavierPenaworked the case for six years; Steve Murphy did it for three. In 1991, Escobar was arrested and allowed to plead guilty to a single crime – unknow- ingly being present during the transport of a load of cocaine. In exchange, he was absolved of all other crimes, includ- ing murders, and was sentenced to five years in a joke of a prison that Escobar had built himself. In “jail,” Escobar rebuilt his cocaine empire. When he killed two of his associates the Colombian Government attempted to relocate him to a real prison. Escobar got a tip and “es- caped.” Javier and Steve, along with other U.S. law enforce- ment officials and the Colombian Na- tional Police, were ecstatic about Es- cobar’s escape be- cause it gave them another crack at taking down the world’s most want- ed criminal. The two men would get dropped off on mountain tops where they spent their days searching for cocaine labs, hideouts, and weapon caches. Steve said wherever the investigation took them, the Colombian cops would always be watching with their guns drawn in order to protect the agents. “Wewereneverleftalone,” he said. “We estimate that over the years, Escobar killed more than 500 Colombian police officers and wounded another 800,” Javier pointed out. “Along with the cops, judges and other people in the criminal justice system were favorite targets for Escobar. “We think by the time we took him out, he had killed over 15,000 people.” Javier Pena has nothing but high praise for the Co- lombian police. “We trusted them and we worked with them,” he said. “We were always together, and we mourned when we lost several good friends Escobar had targeted.” Every DEA agent in Co- lombia had a $300,000 bounty on his head. But despite the years of risks, violence, and the bounty on their heads, nei- ther Steve or Javier consid- ers himself a hero. “The real heroes were the Colombian National Police,” Steve says. “Javier and I were just lucky to be there.” Steve added that over the years since Escobar was killed, he and Javier have done hundreds of inter- views. There’s one question that came up a lot. People wanted to know if the in- vestigation had a positive effect. The two men would get dropped off on mountain tops where they spent their days searching for cocaine labs, hideouts, and weapon caches. Continued from page one They took down El Patron Javier Pena, left, and Steve Murphy, right, are the real life DEA agents that the Netflix hit series “Narcos,” is based on. Continued on next page LearntheSkills YouNeedfor Advancement Earn your Master’s in Law Enforcement & Public Safety Leadership 100% Online 20 month program Top 100 university All coursework completed online Discounts for law enforcement association/union members Come visit us at IACP San Diego October 15-18 booth #4322 Speak to an AdvisorToday » (877) 946-4731 | CriminalJustice.SanDiego.edu