So Much Pain Still Exists: Why Medellín Blew Up Pablo Escobars House

Table Of Content

• I stayed at a 5-star Tulum resort that once belonged to Pablo Escobar, and the luxury amenities blew me away
• Futaba Cake Building
• Learn how Hacienda Nápoles went from Pablo Escobar's house to a family-friendly theme park in Colombia.
• Look inside Pablo Escobar’s Former Tulum Mansion That Is Now A Stunning Five-Star Resort
• Inside Pablo Escobar's mansion where drug lord hid from police - now a HOTEL with grotto
• Our night at Casa Malca had been a memorable one. And the morning was off to a gorgeous start.

And with good reason; simply stepping foot anywhere near this place in the late 80s or 90s, would have had you killed on sight. Escobar maintained an army of ruthless bodyguards, led by ‘Popeye’ John Jairo Velasquez, who alone boasted that he’d murdered 300 people, and planned the deaths of over 3,000 hits, including his own wife. Their presence — along with the plane replica that stands proud at the entrance — is just another reminder that despite the family-friendly theme park, Hacienda Nápoles only exists because of Pablo Escobar.

I stayed at a 5-star Tulum resort that once belonged to Pablo Escobar, and the luxury amenities blew me away

Every day on my trip was full of surprises, just like every corner of Casa Malca. The mansion was abandoned following Escobar's death in 1993 and wasn't discovered until 2003. It later caught the attention of renowned Colombian contemporary art collector Lio Malca, who bought the estate in 2012.

Futaba Cake Building

La Isla Grande is home to about 800 islanders who sustain themselves mostly by fishing and farming, cut off from the modern world, with no running water and electrical power lines. But this idyll did the get attention of one vacationer, who built a palace, now abandoned. That would be infamous King of Cocaine, the original El Patron, Pablo Escobar. As we walked towards the machete wielding Cartagneros, Jesús began to explain what I was doing. They agreed to let me take photographs and wander around, but just not of themselves.

Learn how Hacienda Nápoles went from Pablo Escobar's house to a family-friendly theme park in Colombia.

The Hacienda also offers visitors a detailed history of Escobar's life and death, all documented through photos, newspaper records, and interviews with people who were close to him. Perhaps most striking is the famous 1993 photo of Escobar's lifeless body after the shootout with the Colombian government that ended his life now prominently displayed on a wall in his former home. At the far side of the island, hidden and secluded between the tropical forest and the Caribbean Sea, lies a grandiose complex of luxury buildings. At the height of his powers, Pablo Escobar was responsible for around 80 percent of the world’s cocaine. He headed the Medellín drug cartel, smuggling over fifteen tons of cocaine into the United States every day.

Look inside Pablo Escobar’s Former Tulum Mansion That Is Now A Stunning Five-Star Resort

With their bleached white beaches, clear blue crystal waters and abundant wildlife, they are a true tropical paradise. Hundreds of daytrippers from Cartagena descend on La Playa Blanca year round, tourists and locals alike. Today, Hacienda Nápoles is a family-friendly theme park with water attractions, a wildlife sanctuary, and museums. The Medellín cartel managed operations via air, land, and sea through sophisticated operational processes. At its height, the cartel earned over $420 million while distributing over 20 tons of cocaine per week.

Inside Pablo Escobar's mansion where drug lord hid from police - now a HOTEL with grotto

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His name appears on the title of the house and in the paperwork transferring the property to the current owners. It is well known that the former boss of the Medellin Cartel had accumulated such an immense fortune that he hid part of his profits in secret compartments, in the walls of his house, and even buried them in the floor. When Miguel Mato, who was operating an excavator, knocked down the last walls on the 7,336-square-foot home, which sits on a 33,000-square-foot lot overlooking Biscayne Bay. Malca regularly rotates many of his pieces to keep things interesting for his returning guests.

He soon graduated to setting up a distribution channel for cocaine himself while establishing smuggling routes to the United States. Mr. Escobar lived for years in the Monaco Building, a white, six-story edifice with a penthouse apartment on top and his family name still inscribed in fading letters on the exterior. Last Tuesday, a white or cream-colored package, about one foot long and wrapped in plastic with metal seals on the ends, was also found. Forensic tests by Miami Beach police determined it did not contain drugs. The safe was hidden beneath the entrance of what had been a large pink mansion consisting of four bedrooms, a pool, six bathrooms and a garage.

How Pablo Escobar’s House Became A Family-Friendly Attraction

But he also carefully cultivated a Robin Hood image with the working classes of Colombia. He built deluxe soccer fields in the barrios, and organized teams and leagues for the children. The street vendors of Cartagena, las Palenqueras sell t-shirts bearing the face of El Patron alongside replica jerseys of the Colombian hero and Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez.

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Any pedestrian could walk along the street and pose for a similar photograph – and in fact, you can still do so today, though the fence has gotten higher. The hotel is also complete with a spa, two pools, three restaurants, a private beach that handmade tiki huts dotted around, as well as an underground adult-only grotto. Now - nearly a decade later - the estate was discovered and purchased by art collector, Lio Malca.

At the height of his power, Escobar brought in an estimated $420 million a week in revenue, supplied 80% of the world’s cocaine, and smuggled 15 tons of cocaine into the US per day. Casa Museo Pablo Escobar details the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, as told by his brother, Roberto Escobar. The museum exhibits include Escobar’s motorcycles (a pink Harley Davidson that he brought illegally from the United States), classic cars, even a gun allegedly used by Al Capone as well as other artifacts he used for establishing the drug transport routes. One car, in particular, was used by Escobar (with his cousin, Gustavo) to transport cocaine from Bolivia and Peru (as cocaine paste) into Colombia, a trip that took almost 125 hours one-way. Mr. Escobar lived in the Monaco building for years until 1988, when rivals bombed it. The Escobar family abandoned the structure, and it has remained vacant ever since.

To what extent Escobar was a genuine benefactor for the working classes of Colombia, versus the hagiographical image he created around himself, is hard to judge. Certainly his public funeral resembled the passing of a popular king, and not a mass murderer. But his popularity in the working classes also benefitted him when he came to run for public office. Asking Jesús and other islanders on Isla Grande whether El Patron did anything for them, the answer was no. I was struck by the overt friendliness of the people of Orika and by the paradox of their island home. They’ve never had a police force  according to Jesús, yet through the forest was the fortress of the world’s most lethal drug baron.

It was staged under the auspices of Medellín, Abraza Su Historia (Medellín, Embrace Your History), a branding campaign launched by Gutiérrez. The Monaco also served as the starting or ending point for many of the city’s popular narco tours—including one led by Escobar’s brother. The mansion in La Isla Grande, now government owned, has steadily fallen into ruin. Like some kind of coke-fueled Xanadu, the sprawling complex is already being reclaimed by nature. Stepping into the main mansion—it had been decorated with white tile and marble—the cracked walls still show the 1980s color schemes of pastel blue and coral pinks. The lobby leads to an immense courtyard, shaded with palm trees overlooking the Caribbean sea.

By the 2010s, a private company had taken control of the land and began operating the Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles, a tourist destination for all ages that includes a water park, a butterfly farm, and museums. However, officials soon realized that they wouldn’t be able to manage all the animals, so most of them were relocated to other zoos. Resting atop the blue and white arch that welcomed guests to the estate, the plane served as a reminder — to all who passed under it — that Colombia was under the control of the cocaine king.

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But more than 25 years after Mr. Escobar’s death, the six-story building with a penthouse had still caused heated debate, as city officials weighed the potential tourist draw of the site against the urge to move on from a painful past. I was a 21-year-old Peace Corps volunteer when I fell in love with Medellín and the lush countryside that surrounds it. While there, I helped build a school near what would become one of Escobar’s hideouts, and in 2005 I founded the Marina Orth Foundation, an educational foundation for underserved kids. Today, we teach STEM, robotics, English, and leadership in 21 schools. I was just as thrilled (and surprised) when, during the ceremony, I was awarded a medal of courage from Gutiérrez as part of a group of Valientes who stood up for the city during its long ordeal.

With more than 300 rooms for guests and party-goers, no expense was spared, even down to the gold shower heads in the bathrooms. Escobar’s playground resembled a strip from Miami’s South Beach in its 1980s heyday. For his party home on La Isla Grande, Escobar’s plans were no less ostentatious. He commissioned a giant complex featuring a mansion, waterfront apartments, a palm court centered around an enormous swimming pool and helicopter landing pad. With over 300 rooms for guests and party goers, no expense was spared, even down to the gold shower heads in the bathrooms.