NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was a neat freak who loved sex toys and fancy bathrooms, say DEA agents

NZ Herald
9 Nov, 2019 08:59 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Kiwi actor Matt Whelan will face off against the Cali Cartel in the third season of Narcos.

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was a neat freak who loved sex toys, fancy bathrooms and cartoons mocking America, according to agents who tracked him.

In a new book, two agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) also allegedly found letters "from mothers offering up their daughters for sex with the drug lord", according to the New York Post.

Agents Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña sorted through many of Escobar's personal items that he left behind when he escaped from a luxury jail.

In their new book Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, the agents have described the country club prison at Medellin that Escobar built for himself in the early 1990s after agreeing to a five-year jail term.

They said the prison was filled with luxury items, such as "state-of-the-art televisions, refrigerators and stereo equipment".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Photo / News Corp Australia
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Photo / News Corp Australia

"Escobar never slept in the same place for more than two consecutive nights. That included his own prison 'cell'," retired Agent Pena wrote in the book.

"He used the nearby cottages for parties and alternated sleeping in each of them. They were all beautifully appointed, with planters, hanging baskets and luxurious upholstery and drapes. "One of them had a bathroom built like a bunker, with reinforced cement walls that must have been more than 3 feet thick.

"Escobar had a thing about clean and well-proportioned bathrooms, and each time we raided a safe house that Escobar used, we always found a curiously sparkling bathroom with brand-new fixtures."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Pablo Escobar contributed to the building of more than 800 soccer fields. Photo / Supplied
Pablo Escobar contributed to the building of more than 800 soccer fields. Photo / Supplied

More personal items were discovered in the kingpin's office at the prison known as La Catedral (The Cathedral).

There, the agents and police came across "lace negligees and sex toys, including vibrators, all neatly arranged in a closet. In Escobar's correspondence files, which were surprisingly neat and methodically organised, he kept all the threatening notes from his enemies," says Peña in the book.

"We also found letters from mothers offering up their daughters for sex with the drug lord."

Pablo Escobar in his mug shot. Photo / Supplied
Pablo Escobar in his mug shot. Photo / Supplied

Pablo Escobar slaughtered an estimated 15,000 people and was once worth $64.8 billion.

Discover more

World

At least 13 dead after Mexican drug cartel ambushes state police

15 Oct 06:11 AM
World

Mexico govt ceding battle to cartels

20 Oct 04:00 PM
World

The stunning escape of El Chapo's son: It's like 'a bad Netflix show'

20 Oct 08:35 PM
World

9 Mormons killed in ambush: 'They knew it was women and children'

05 Nov 12:50 AM

Escobar also had small figurines of Colombian National Police officers "as a joke to show that he owned the police as well as the entire Colombian government," Agent Murphy told The Post.

Five months after escaping, Colombian authorities tracked down the drug lord and killed him in a shootout.

Steve Murphy (left) and Javier Pena were instrumental in taking down Escobar. Photo / News Corp Australia
Steve Murphy (left) and Javier Pena were instrumental in taking down Escobar. Photo / News Corp Australia

Despite each agent having a $475,000 bounty on their heads, they both survived their time in Colombia and their work formed the basis of the hit Netflix show Narcos.

Writing from the safety of retirement, Agent Murphy, now 62, remains dazed by his past.

"Did we really do this? Was it really over?" he writes. "It felt like a dream."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Premium
Business|companies

Tech Insider: Australia's U16 social media ban passes key test – but NZ watchdog remains sceptical

23 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
World

AI is transforming Indian call centres. What does it mean for workers?

23 Jun 05:00 PM
World

Blasts heard in Jerusalem after Israel warns of multiple missile barrages from Iran

23 Jun 08:49 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Premium
Tech Insider: Australia's U16 social media ban passes key test – but NZ watchdog remains sceptical

Tech Insider: Australia's U16 social media ban passes key test – but NZ watchdog remains sceptical

23 Jun 05:00 PM

Netsafe's CEO has criticised the under-16 ban as a 'bureaucratic fever dream'.

Premium
AI is transforming Indian call centres. What does it mean for workers?

AI is transforming Indian call centres. What does it mean for workers?

23 Jun 05:00 PM
Blasts heard in Jerusalem after Israel warns of multiple missile barrages from Iran

Blasts heard in Jerusalem after Israel warns of multiple missile barrages from Iran

23 Jun 08:49 AM
'Coalition of murderers': Zelensky condemns latest Russian attacks

'Coalition of murderers': Zelensky condemns latest Russian attacks

23 Jun 08:43 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP