The arrest and subsequent deportation of the wife and family of the Ecuadorian drug trafficker “Fito” Macías, a fugitive and considered one of those responsible for the
wave of violence in Ecuador
, recalled another emblematic case of the family of a drug trafficker settled in Argentina :
Pablo Escobar's widow
, who even obtained nationality.
On the Argentine Air Force plane that has already landed in Guayaquil, eight detainees were expelled from the country, among whom was "Fito's" wife, Inda Mariela Peñarrieta Tuarez, and their children: Michelle, 21 years old, Ilse María, 12, and Lian Sejam, 4.
The arrest had occurred on Thursday night in the private neighborhood Country del Golf, on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba, which involved the deployment of a large operation, with a helicopter and a large number of uniformed officers.
The media coverage of the topic brings reminiscences of the "Patrón" and magnifies the shadow left by the presence of his family here.
Although Pablo Escobar Gaviria,
the most famous caponarco in history, has been dead for 30 years
.
Under
other names
, Argentina became a refuge for the widow, Victoria Eugenia Henao, and her children, Juan Pablo and Manuela Escobar, after facing
rejection from 17 nations
.
When the Patron died (the widow always maintained that he committed suicide, not that the police killed him) the already disturbed existence of his family shook again: they fled their lives in Antioquia, at the risk of the weight of revenge that could fall on them. by Escobar's enemies.
In that search for asylum,
the final destination was Buenos Aires
.
How the arrival of Escobar's family to Argentina was agreed
It is necessary to return to a death that even had a famous scene in the Netflix series Narcos.
On December 2, 1993, at the age of 44, the head of the fearsome Medellín Cartel, responsible for 80% of the cocaine that moved in Colombia, died.
Three bullets felled Pablo Escobar Gaviria when he tried to escape through the roofs of the house where he was hiding.
He had been
on the run for almost 500 days
, after he escaped from La Catedral prison (built by him in exchange for surrendering), kicking a false plaster wall and walking along the bottom.
In his last hours, only his bodyguard, Limón (Álvaro de Jesús Agudelo, 37), accompanied him, and the now legendary phrase (immortalized here by a song by Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota) with which the Patron anticipated that faithful hitman who was about to die:
"They kill me, Limón!"
.
María Isabel Santos Caballero and Sebastián Marroquín (Victoria Henao Vallejos and Juan Pablo Escobar Henao), the widow and son of Pablo Escobar Gaviria enter Court No. 3 of Morón.Photos Alfredo Martinez moron Maria Isabel Santos Caballero statement before the court of wife and son of Colombian drug trafficker accused of money laundering
Why did your family come to Buenos Aires?
In the investigation that journalist Virgina Messi published in Clarín in 2018, Pablo Escobar's own widow was always very discreet regarding
an alleged “agreement”
to be admitted to Argentina.
Except when, in the context of a civil case, she appeared before Judge Noemí Binda's office with her lawyer to request that
a royal bond be withdrawn
in a case in which she was demanding the return of property to her former partners.
Pablo Escobar, with his wife and son.
Photo Archive
According to Messi, official documents prove that Carlos Menem, during his presidency, had been informed by Colombia of the trip that the widow and her two children made to Buenos Aires in 1995.
According to Binda, the widow's lawyer "argued that
she was a kind of asylum from our country
, in which
she felt very comfortable and wanted to continue living with her minor children
, constantly mentioning a very young girl."
“He declared that he had entered the country completely legally, within the framework of international agreements on drug trafficking, speaking of an agreement between Colombia and Argentina and referring to an intervention by the DEA,” Binda recalled, regarding the lawyer's statements.
In November 1999, Victoria Henao and her son Juan Pablo were arrested for the crime of
money laundering and illicit association
.
Local Justice sought to clarify the family's connection to Escobar's criminal activities.
"By the time they were imprisoned, with great scandal at the end of 1999, María Isabel Santos Caballero had already made several real estate investments and set up a business making towels and sheets in her home. In addition, she took coaching courses and periodically analyzed herself 'for Don't trust people so much.' Sebastián Marroquín had already graduated as an industrial designer and his younger sister had forgotten the family past and was attending high school at a renowned Buenos Aires school
," continues the article in this newspaper.
Both were accused of having collected a commission of nearly $100,000 for acting as a link between the lawyer and businessman Mateo Corvo Dolcet and the Colombian drug trafficker José Piedrahita Ceballos, who later became repentant.
Former Boca footballer
Mauricio “Chicho” Serna
is also in this file .
The prosecution maintained that they knew that it was drug money and that the objective was to launder it through the real estate megaproject that Corvo Dolcet was setting up in Pilar.
For all this, after being
dismissed in 2005
, they decided to stay in our country and even Escobar's widow
managed to become an Argentine citizen with a new identity
.
For years, she and her children lived by cultivating a low profile and proclaiming themselves "pacifists."
María Victoria Henao, when she was arrested in 1999. Photo DyN / Archive
The latest news about this money laundering case is that it was once again closer to the oral trial, and the defendants are waiting for a debate date.
Another point of interest about El Patron and his Argentine connection is that Juan Sebastián Marroquín, Escobar's son, found his way here to, as he calls it, his "redemption."
At 46 years old, he is an architect, industrial designer, writer and lecturer.
With multiple interests but a specific goal, which is to "spread a message of peace" and "demystify" the figure of his father,
he forged a life in Argentina
.
He gave talks around the world, where he told first-hand the consequences of drug trafficking and
advocated for an end to violence
.
Marroquín established two businesses here: Box Arquitectura Latinoamericana, his studio, and Escobar Henao, his clothing brand.
He is married and has a son named Juan Emilio.
How could I demystify the most feared drug trafficker in history?
He tries it through "audits", in which he pointed out "errors and falsehoods" in series, films and books about Pablo Escobar.
In a talk in Mexico, for example, he said that despite the ostentation of a drug vine (like his own zoo on the farm, also famous), he saw his father "as a poor man."
"They have built series with 80 episodes of Pablo Escobar having a good time, at the same time as Forbes magazine, at that time, saying that my father was one of the 10 richest men in the world, I went and visited my father, and they didn't I saw the richest man in the world, the truth is,
I saw the poorest man in the world
”, as transcribed from that conference.
Marroquín claimed to have had talks with at least 150 families who were victims of his father's violence, and that this led him to want to spread all the truths about this scourge.
ACE