However, this transformation came at a significant cost.
Their collective efforts were gradually dismantling Escobar’s life and empire.
His rivalry with the Cali Cartel cost the lives of more than 300 of his associates and family.
The final straw broke when his daughter Manuela was injured in a bombing at his residence.
Better a grave in Colombia than a cell in the U.S., he used to say.
Another demand was that the Colombian National Police would be prohibited from entering a 12-mile radius around the prison.
In return for these arrangements, the government pledged not to extradite Escobar to the United States.
Before Escobar formally surrendered, he began construction of his prison on the hills overlooking the city of Medellin.
Escobar surrendered to authorities on June 19, 1991.
The same day, he was transferred by helicopter to his newly built prison.
The compound was called La Catedral, or The Cathedral because of its magnificence and the amenities it contained.
Some called it Club Medellin or Hotel Escobar.
The guards joked that it was not maximum security, but maximum comfort.
Satellite image of La Catedral.
The entire compound was surrounded by a ten-feet high fence and electrified barbed wire.
This included friends, business partners, politicians, beauty queens and prostitutes.
He even hosted a wedding at his prison.
Escobar would routinely invite soccer players up to the prison for a game.
The prison guards served drinks from the sidelines and later, acted as waiters in the bar.
Interior of Escobars mansion at La Catedral.
Escobar was furious and threatened to kill Mendoza.
Below: Video recorded by a journalist shows the compound immediately after his escape.
The Columbian government launched a massive manhunt.
The drug lord was shot dead while trying to escape.
La Catedral remained abandoned for many years.
Scrap hunters stripped the place clean of anything valuable including bathtubs, pipes, tiles and roof materials.
During his stay in La Catedral, Escobar had smuggled cash into his prison in milk cans.
Nothing was reportedly found.
The campus also includes a refugee for senior citizens who can’t afford long-term care facilities in the city.
Below his face is written, Those who don’t know their history are condemned to repeat it.
