Just like after Lara's assassination, Cano's death provoked demands for retribution and public opinion began to swing against the cartel. People from Cano's profession marched in silence. Speeches were given, praising almost two-dozen journalists killed in recent years. Thousands attended the funeral, including the president, whose car led a convoy past mourners waving Colombian flags.
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On top of Cano's death, the president was dealing with the murder of Ramirez and the return of Jorge Ochoa from Spanish jail. To earn his freedom, Ochoa claimed to have paid $6 million to the Spanish judges.
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Lara's successor, who'd signed Pablo's arrest warrant and the extradition order for Lehder, ran into trouble in Hungary. Hoping he'd be safe overseas, he'd gone to work in the Colombian Embassy. Death threats started coming in: "You can run, but you can't hide." Pablo's men trailed him for weeks. They knew his routine, including when he drove to the embassy or took the bus.
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January 13, 1987 in Budapest commenced with a blizzard. The ambassador left his house in the hills above the capital and examined his car. As the roads were iced over, he decided to walk to the bus stop. Going down a hill, he spotted a man.
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"You, Enrique Parejo?" the stranger yelled.
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"Yes."
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Instantly, a gun was drawn. The first shot entered his neck. With a bullet lodged in his spine, he collapsed. Unable to move, he watched the man stand over him, take aim at his head and shoot him in the mouth, cheek and arms. Miraculously, he survived thanks to doctors who removed the bullets in two operations.
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The authorities clamped down with the usual arrests, destruction of labs and seizures of property, cash, weapons and drugs that hardly disrupted the flow of cocaine. Some. thing more needed to be done.
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The government made a secret list of the 128 most wanted traffickers, including 56 on the extradition list, and managed to arrest eight of them. If only they could arrest one of the big four.
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Thanks partially to Colonel Ramirez, Lehder's organisation had disintegrated. Stories of Norman's Cay had leaked out and it was no longer being used. The government liquidated his assets. He was almost bankrupt, after once being worth $2 billion. While on the run, he caught a severe jungle fever. Pablo sent a helicopter for him and had him treated in Medellin, where he recovered. They spent time together, travelling across the country, staying at ranches. Rather than keep working as a bodyguard for Pablo, Lehder wanted to remake his fortune.
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George Jung - Lehder's old cellmate, who he'd squeezed out of the business - was in federal prison, with revenge festering in his mind. For importing 300 kilos of cocaine, he was serving fifteen years. When the FBI offered to transport Jung to Colombia to entice Lehder into a trap, Jung said yes, not to help the FBI, but to murder Lehder. At night on his bunk, Jung fantasised about the different ways of killing Lehder.
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In December 1986, Lemus, the police chief of Rionegro, started to receive information that Lehder was in a safe house in the area, soliciting Pablo to invest in a joint cocaine venture. In the wake of Cano's death, Lemus had been granted special powers to search anywhere, but he'd turned up nothing. His gut told him that Pablo had put Lehder in a mountainside chalet, but he didn't know which area of the vast forest to search.
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On February 3, 1987, Lemus was introduced to an informant who had noticed some noisy men at a chalet in the woods. Upset with the mess they were making, the caretaker of the chalet had complained to the informant.
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Around 4 pm, Lemus, accompanied by two policemen - who were under the impression that they were searching for guerrillas, not cartel leaders who could have their entire families slaughtered - located a two-storey chalet disguised by vegetation. It had a lawn upfront, an outbuilding at the side and behind it was a canyon with a stream. Three armed bodyguards protected the front and each side. For two hours, the police hid among the trees, observing sixteen occupants go in and out of the yard.
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At 6 pm, Lehder emerged with a canvas chair.
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Taken aback, Lemus whispered to a colleague, "Do you know that guy?"
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"No."
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Realising he was about to reveal the nature of the operation, which would have spooked his colleagues, Lemus kept quiet. He sent one of his men for reinforcements.
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Thirty-six police arrived, including a special weapons team. They surrounded the chalet. Lemus stationed a dozen men at the back. Others blocked the escape routes.
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Even with his special powers, Lemus couldn't raid the house before 6 am without a warrant. He sent a constable for one, who returned at 4 am by which time cold fog had descended. Unable to find anyone to sign the warrant, the constable had signed it himself.
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At 6:30 am, a bodyguard fired at a police sniper. The bodyguard was shot. A gun battle erupted between bodyguards on the second floor and the police behind the chalet in the woods.
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Fearful of Lehder escaping, Lemus charged for the front door, clutching his gun with both hands, ready to blast someone in the face. On the other side of the door, Lehder was racing towards it as the assault from the police at the rear had convinced him that the front was the best escape route.
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When the door opened, Lehder almost ran into the gun of Lemus. "Little chief, don't shoot me."
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"We aren't killers," Lemus said. "Put your hands on your head and get down on the floor."
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Lehder complied. As he dropped, he fished a wad out of a pocket and threw it on the floor. "That's a million pesos."
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"Pick it up, señor," Lemus said. "You're going to need it for soft drinks."
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"Do you want green instead? How much?"
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"No, I'm just doing my duty."
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"Oh, little chief, what a hot number you are. You're the most famous man in the world.
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You know those gringo sons of bitches want to hang me by the balls, and now you've got me. Too bad we didn't meet earlier."
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In the front room, the captives were searched and lined up. "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Carlos Lehder." The remark from Lemus was met with silence. Out in the yard, captives were photographed by Lemus.
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"Where's the soccer ball? We're taking the team picture." Everybody laughed.
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At 10 am, vans collected the captives. Taking no chances, Lemus transported Lehder in his car. A dishevelled Lehder chatted with Lemus and women along the road.
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At a telephone booth, Lemus called his boss.
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"We got him!"
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"Yes, calm down. You got who?"
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"The Virgin has smiled on us. We have captured Carlos Lehder."
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While the reporters mobbed the police vans containing the captives, Lemus sneaked Lehder into the police station, where he gave him lunch. The telephone rang continuously and death threats were issued. Lemus was ordered to immediately gather his family and belongings, so that the US embassy could relocate them out of the country.
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At 2 pm, an army helicopter landed to take Lehder to the Rionegro airport, where he boarded a military plane to Bogotá. Having been told that they could have Lehder right away if they had a plane available, the US embassy advised the Colombian government that a DEA plane was being rerouted to Bogotá. Lehder was rushed aboard a DEA Aero Commander. On the runway, a camera was filming. Fearing reprisals from the cartel, every soldier had his face covered with a black shroud. On February 4, 1987, 5:15 pm, the Aero Commander took off. The DEA issued a worldwide alert for cartel retaliation.
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