News (Media Awareness Project) - Colombia: Killing Pablo - Trackers Get A Line On Elusive Escobar |
| Title: | Colombia: Killing Pablo - Trackers Get A Line On Elusive Escobar |
| Published On: | 2000-12-08 |
| Source: | Inquirer (PA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-02 23:52:30 |
MAP's index for the series: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n000/a251.html
Bookmark: Reports about Colombia: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Colombia
TRACKERS GET A LINE ON ELUSIVE ESCOBAR
The Unit Had A Lot Of Faith In Its Electronic Gear And Hoped To Quiet
Critics.
Chapter 27 of a continuing serial
The special Colombian police squad sent to Medellin with its curious
little portable direction-finding kits was having no luck finding
Pablo Escobar. The Search Bloc was continuing to provide security for
the men, but the unit itself was considered a joke. Things got so bad
that Col. Hugo Martinez, the Search Bloc commander, finally sent the
unit's leaders back to Bogota.
The new commander, a lieutenant put in charge by Col. Martinez
himself, was the colonel's son, also named Hugo. Because of the unit's
failures, and young Hugo's role in them, he was regarded with amused
contempt by the men who worked for his father.
Determined to redeem themselves, Hugo and the other men began working
round-the-clock shifts with the CIA's electronic-surveillance experts,
monitoring the known frequencies on the radio used by Juan Pablo, the
son of Pablo Escobar. Juan Pablo, holed up in an apartment building in
Medellin with his mother and sister, used code words to communicate by
radio with his fugitive father.
Hugo's unit had been presented with an opportunity in August 1993,
when Centra Spike was ordered out of Colombia temporarily to assist
with the U.S. military operation in Somalia. With Centra Spike gone,
the Colombians placed an antenna on a hilltop just outside the city
that helped the mobile units fix on the signal from Juan Pablo's radio.
This round-the-clock surveillance quickly showed that Escobar
restricted his radio communications to one hour each evening, roughly
between 7:15 and 8:15. So each day at that time, Hugo's unit began
trying to zero in on the signal the minute Escobar started talking.
Hugo assigned one scanner to monitor the frequencies most often used,
and another to scan the entire 120-140 MHz range that could be used by
Juan Pablo's radio.
Eventually, through patient trial and error, they were able to break
the code employed by father and son. If Pablo said, "Let's go up to
the next floor," or "the evening has ended," it was a signal to shift
to a specific frequency. Once the police units knew the code, they
were able to follow the signal as it shifted. It was clear to Hugo
that the Escobars believed their precautions made it impossible for
their conversations to be tracked for more than a few moments at a
time.
Still, in early October 1993, the Colombians experienced more
setbacks.
Working with the CIA officials, Hugo's team tracked Escobar's location
to San Jose Seminary in Medellin. The drug boss had a long-standing
relationship with the Catholic Church in Medellin, and Juan Pablo had
attended San Jose's elementary school. It was considered a promising
target, and so Col. Martinez began planning a major raid.
The next day, Pablo Escobar's voice came up on the radio at the
appointed time. The signal on the screen and in his headphones told
Hugo that Escobar was speaking on the radio inside the main building
in the seminary complex.
The raid was launched as Hugo listened to Escobar talking. Doors were
blown off, flash-bang grenades exploded, police assault forces loudly
descended . . . and the fugitive kept talking, as though nothing were
happening. When the leaders of the assault teams told Hugo they hadn't
found anything at the seminary, Escobar was still talking calmly on
the radio.
"He's in there!" Hugo insisted, trusting his equipment and his ability
to read the signals.
"He's not in there," the major in charge of the raid said. "We're in
there. We've done our search."
Escobar was still talking. There was no background noise, and he still
seemed unperturbed. Hugo had to conclude that the raid had not even
come close.
The assault teams were more convinced than ever that they were wasting
their time. With deepening scorn for the colonel's son, the CIA and
their worthless gizmos, the teams continued searching on the chance
that Escobar had a secure hiding place somewhere on the grounds. Five
hundred men proceeded over the next three days to take apart the
seminary and an attached school. They poked holes in walls and
ceilings, probed the buildings, looked for secret rooms and tunnels.
They found nothing, and left behind furious officials from the
archdiocese.
It was not possible to fail more spectacularly. Hugo was a
laughingstock at the Search Bloc base. He was demoralized. He gave up
his command over the surveillance teams, turning the main effort back
over to the CIA officials.
Hugo did, however, prevail on his father to let him keep his small
Mercedes van and two men to work on the equipment alone. Working with
the little direction-finding kits had always been his favorite part of
the job anyway.
Now there were competing groups trying to track Escobar: Hugo's vehicle and
the ones coordinated by the CIA. Over the next few weeks they picked up
Escobar's signal several times, and even though the force had no faith in
the equipment, it was ordered to conduct raids.
Col. Martinez protested that they needed to marshal their intelligence
and men, wait until the fix was certain and the opportunity was right.
But his superiors in Bogota had grown suspicious and impatient. Even
the U.S. Embassy wanted more raids.
The most spectacular of these came Oct. 11, after radio telemetry
placed Escobar in a finca, or estate, on a high hill near the village
of Aguas Frias. Located in a well-to-do suburban area just outside
Medellin, the finca had a clear line of sight to the high-rise
apartment building where Escobar's family was staying.
After the raid on the seminary, Escobar's voice had disappeared from
the radio waves. The Search Bloc feared the raid might have frightened
him. But after days of silence he finally made a call, coming on at
one of the regular times with his son.
It was this call that the Search Bloc picked up and placed at the
hilltop finca in Aguas Frias. In the tone of his voice and the thrust
of his conversation, Escobar gave no indication that anything untoward
had happened.
Chapters in this series with links:
Chapter 1: Escobar's Rise To Power
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1692/a04.html
Chapter 1 (continued): A Deadly Manhunt Guided By The US
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1690/a07.html
Chapter 2: A Top-Secret Electronic Tracking Unit Rejoins The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1696/a07.html
Chapter 3: With Escobar Eluding Capture, Americans Summon Delta Force
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1702/a01.html
Chapter 4: Delta Force, In Bogota, Gets The Lay Of A Confusing Land
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1704/a08.html
Chapter 5: Raring To Get Started, Delta Learns Its Limits
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1712/a10.html
Chapter 6: Delta, Colombians Get Off To Bad Start
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1715/a05.html
Chapter 7: Incorruptible Colonel Rejoins Escobar Pursuit
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1729/a05.html
Chapter 8: Escobar's Nemesis Hones His Troops For The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1727/a04.html
Chapter 9: Luxury 'Prison' Affords A Rare Look At Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1741.a07.html
Chapter 10: A Conditional Offer To Surrender
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1733/a06.html
Chapter 11: Frustrating Hunt Gives Rise To Vigilantism
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1741.a08.html
Chapter 12: Homegrown Escobar Enemy Joins Fight
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1743.a06.html
Chapter 13: Escobar's Powerful Foes Ally Against Him
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1746.a08.html
Chapter 14: Angry Widow Aids Pursuit Of Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1752/a09.html
Chapter 15: A Former Ally Offers A Profile Of Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1757/a04.html
Chapter 16: A Rivalry Grows Between Spy Units
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1779/a06.html
Chapter 17: A Traitor Within The Search Bloc
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1776/a01.html
Chapter 18: Los Pepes' Killings Put Heat On Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1781/a01.html
Chapter 19: Escobar Complains Of Unfair Treatment
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1788/a03.html
Chapter 20: U.S. Spy Data, Vigilante Killings Start To Coincide
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1818.a09.html
Chapter 21: 'Tacit Support' For Tough Tactics
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1816.a07.html
Chapter 22: Martinez Pushes Ahead With The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1819/a02.html
Chapter 23: Search Bloc Leader Tries To Keep His Son From Joining The
Manhunt http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1816.a07.html
Chapter 24: Pressure Mounts On Escobar Family
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1821/a01.html
Chapter 25: A Father And Son's High-Tech Connection
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1826/a01.html
Chapter 26: Mission Stirs Concern Back Home
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1836/a07.html
Bookmark: Reports about Colombia: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Colombia
TRACKERS GET A LINE ON ELUSIVE ESCOBAR
The Unit Had A Lot Of Faith In Its Electronic Gear And Hoped To Quiet
Critics.
Chapter 27 of a continuing serial
The special Colombian police squad sent to Medellin with its curious
little portable direction-finding kits was having no luck finding
Pablo Escobar. The Search Bloc was continuing to provide security for
the men, but the unit itself was considered a joke. Things got so bad
that Col. Hugo Martinez, the Search Bloc commander, finally sent the
unit's leaders back to Bogota.
The new commander, a lieutenant put in charge by Col. Martinez
himself, was the colonel's son, also named Hugo. Because of the unit's
failures, and young Hugo's role in them, he was regarded with amused
contempt by the men who worked for his father.
Determined to redeem themselves, Hugo and the other men began working
round-the-clock shifts with the CIA's electronic-surveillance experts,
monitoring the known frequencies on the radio used by Juan Pablo, the
son of Pablo Escobar. Juan Pablo, holed up in an apartment building in
Medellin with his mother and sister, used code words to communicate by
radio with his fugitive father.
Hugo's unit had been presented with an opportunity in August 1993,
when Centra Spike was ordered out of Colombia temporarily to assist
with the U.S. military operation in Somalia. With Centra Spike gone,
the Colombians placed an antenna on a hilltop just outside the city
that helped the mobile units fix on the signal from Juan Pablo's radio.
This round-the-clock surveillance quickly showed that Escobar
restricted his radio communications to one hour each evening, roughly
between 7:15 and 8:15. So each day at that time, Hugo's unit began
trying to zero in on the signal the minute Escobar started talking.
Hugo assigned one scanner to monitor the frequencies most often used,
and another to scan the entire 120-140 MHz range that could be used by
Juan Pablo's radio.
Eventually, through patient trial and error, they were able to break
the code employed by father and son. If Pablo said, "Let's go up to
the next floor," or "the evening has ended," it was a signal to shift
to a specific frequency. Once the police units knew the code, they
were able to follow the signal as it shifted. It was clear to Hugo
that the Escobars believed their precautions made it impossible for
their conversations to be tracked for more than a few moments at a
time.
Still, in early October 1993, the Colombians experienced more
setbacks.
Working with the CIA officials, Hugo's team tracked Escobar's location
to San Jose Seminary in Medellin. The drug boss had a long-standing
relationship with the Catholic Church in Medellin, and Juan Pablo had
attended San Jose's elementary school. It was considered a promising
target, and so Col. Martinez began planning a major raid.
The next day, Pablo Escobar's voice came up on the radio at the
appointed time. The signal on the screen and in his headphones told
Hugo that Escobar was speaking on the radio inside the main building
in the seminary complex.
The raid was launched as Hugo listened to Escobar talking. Doors were
blown off, flash-bang grenades exploded, police assault forces loudly
descended . . . and the fugitive kept talking, as though nothing were
happening. When the leaders of the assault teams told Hugo they hadn't
found anything at the seminary, Escobar was still talking calmly on
the radio.
"He's in there!" Hugo insisted, trusting his equipment and his ability
to read the signals.
"He's not in there," the major in charge of the raid said. "We're in
there. We've done our search."
Escobar was still talking. There was no background noise, and he still
seemed unperturbed. Hugo had to conclude that the raid had not even
come close.
The assault teams were more convinced than ever that they were wasting
their time. With deepening scorn for the colonel's son, the CIA and
their worthless gizmos, the teams continued searching on the chance
that Escobar had a secure hiding place somewhere on the grounds. Five
hundred men proceeded over the next three days to take apart the
seminary and an attached school. They poked holes in walls and
ceilings, probed the buildings, looked for secret rooms and tunnels.
They found nothing, and left behind furious officials from the
archdiocese.
It was not possible to fail more spectacularly. Hugo was a
laughingstock at the Search Bloc base. He was demoralized. He gave up
his command over the surveillance teams, turning the main effort back
over to the CIA officials.
Hugo did, however, prevail on his father to let him keep his small
Mercedes van and two men to work on the equipment alone. Working with
the little direction-finding kits had always been his favorite part of
the job anyway.
Now there were competing groups trying to track Escobar: Hugo's vehicle and
the ones coordinated by the CIA. Over the next few weeks they picked up
Escobar's signal several times, and even though the force had no faith in
the equipment, it was ordered to conduct raids.
Col. Martinez protested that they needed to marshal their intelligence
and men, wait until the fix was certain and the opportunity was right.
But his superiors in Bogota had grown suspicious and impatient. Even
the U.S. Embassy wanted more raids.
The most spectacular of these came Oct. 11, after radio telemetry
placed Escobar in a finca, or estate, on a high hill near the village
of Aguas Frias. Located in a well-to-do suburban area just outside
Medellin, the finca had a clear line of sight to the high-rise
apartment building where Escobar's family was staying.
After the raid on the seminary, Escobar's voice had disappeared from
the radio waves. The Search Bloc feared the raid might have frightened
him. But after days of silence he finally made a call, coming on at
one of the regular times with his son.
It was this call that the Search Bloc picked up and placed at the
hilltop finca in Aguas Frias. In the tone of his voice and the thrust
of his conversation, Escobar gave no indication that anything untoward
had happened.
Chapters in this series with links:
Chapter 1: Escobar's Rise To Power
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1692/a04.html
Chapter 1 (continued): A Deadly Manhunt Guided By The US
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1690/a07.html
Chapter 2: A Top-Secret Electronic Tracking Unit Rejoins The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1696/a07.html
Chapter 3: With Escobar Eluding Capture, Americans Summon Delta Force
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1702/a01.html
Chapter 4: Delta Force, In Bogota, Gets The Lay Of A Confusing Land
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1704/a08.html
Chapter 5: Raring To Get Started, Delta Learns Its Limits
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1712/a10.html
Chapter 6: Delta, Colombians Get Off To Bad Start
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1715/a05.html
Chapter 7: Incorruptible Colonel Rejoins Escobar Pursuit
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1729/a05.html
Chapter 8: Escobar's Nemesis Hones His Troops For The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1727/a04.html
Chapter 9: Luxury 'Prison' Affords A Rare Look At Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1741.a07.html
Chapter 10: A Conditional Offer To Surrender
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1733/a06.html
Chapter 11: Frustrating Hunt Gives Rise To Vigilantism
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1741.a08.html
Chapter 12: Homegrown Escobar Enemy Joins Fight
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1743.a06.html
Chapter 13: Escobar's Powerful Foes Ally Against Him
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1746.a08.html
Chapter 14: Angry Widow Aids Pursuit Of Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1752/a09.html
Chapter 15: A Former Ally Offers A Profile Of Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1757/a04.html
Chapter 16: A Rivalry Grows Between Spy Units
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1779/a06.html
Chapter 17: A Traitor Within The Search Bloc
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1776/a01.html
Chapter 18: Los Pepes' Killings Put Heat On Escobar
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1781/a01.html
Chapter 19: Escobar Complains Of Unfair Treatment
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1788/a03.html
Chapter 20: U.S. Spy Data, Vigilante Killings Start To Coincide
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1818.a09.html
Chapter 21: 'Tacit Support' For Tough Tactics
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1816.a07.html
Chapter 22: Martinez Pushes Ahead With The Hunt
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1819/a02.html
Chapter 23: Search Bloc Leader Tries To Keep His Son From Joining The
Manhunt http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1816.a07.html
Chapter 24: Pressure Mounts On Escobar Family
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1821/a01.html
Chapter 25: A Father And Son's High-Tech Connection
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1826/a01.html
Chapter 26: Mission Stirs Concern Back Home
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1836/a07.html
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