A former bar owner, who later joined SAS forces, has recently revealed how he joined the Task Force that aimed to assassinate Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar. Peter McAleese was tasked with leading the team to eliminate the drug baron.
In an interview featured on the James English podcast, McAleese revealed that he was part of a team that was offered $ 1 million for the “head” of the Medellin cartel boss.
“We flew to Colombia and met a guy named Jorge Salcedo and he informed us about what was happening. We then met 2 businessmen who were in fact part of the Cali cartel “, the 79-year-old begins the story.
McAleese tells how Salcedo, who was part of the rival Cali cartel gang, was coordinating the attack and he wanted to recruit a team to carry it out. Peter was the first person to ask.
With a fortune estimated at more than mil 40 billion, Escobar was considered the richest criminal in history. At his peak, he smuggled 15 tonnes of cocaine a day while rival cartels were kept away with bullets and bombs.
“There was an ongoing battle between the Cali cartel and the Medellin cartel and they just wanted Pablo to get out of the way because he wanted the show to be complete,” said the former SAS soldier.
After training on a football field, the team moved to a training camp directly in the jungle, before heading to kill the infamous criminal.
One member, who left the group, betrayed them by giving a press interview, although he promised he would not do so. He informed the media about the attack being organized, but was unaware of who the target was, only Peter and another person knew that information.
Another disaster occurred while the team was traveling towards the final mission.
Apparently, members of the army and police force were on the list of those paid by Escobar, and that meant the helicopter had to fly low to avoid radars. Unfortunately, this resulted in the helicopter crash, killing the pilot. McAleese survived the plane crash but broke several ribs. “The pain was excruciating. “I started thinking about what I’m doing here, how did I get into this mess?” Peter says.
The next day, the Scotsman heard voices approaching him and was not sure if they were good or bad as all he heard was a group of Spanish-speaking men. Luckily it turned out that they were his friends, who after a trip managed to take him to a safe place.
Pablo Escobar was eventually killed in an operation by the Colombian National Police in 1993, just a day after his 44th birthday.