Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar, the fugitive leader of the Medellin drug cartel, said in a letter that he would surrender to authorities if the government guaranteed his security. The letter was slipped under the door of RCN radio network offices in Medellin. It was 2 1/2 pages, handwritten, signed by Escobar and stamped with his fingerprint. "I'm willing to present myself if I'm given certain written and public guarantees," said the letter to Atty. Gen. Gustavo de Greiff.

A vigilante group out to punish fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar killed an Escobar lawyer and his 16-year-old son in Medellin on Friday, the radio network Caracol said. The killings were in apparent revenge for a car bomb explosion Thursday that killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 200 in a shopping center in Bogota. Fifteen gunmen dragged Guido Parro, 51, and his son from their apartment, Caracol said.

Six U.S. military planes joined the hunt for escaped drug lord Pablo Escobar in the biggest American anti-drug military operation mounted in Colombia, Colombian military sources said. The U.S. aircraft, with sophisticated surveillance equipment, began flying low over the northwestern city of Medellin. Escobar, feared boss of the Medellin cocaine cartel, escaped from a prison near Medellin with nine of his lieutenants last week.

Pablo Escobar, head of the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel and one of the world's most wanted fugitives, was killed Thursday in a shootout with Colombian security forces. Hundreds of soldiers and police surrounded Escobar's Medellin hide-out, which they had identified through a traced phone call, and killed the drug lord and a bodyguard in a 20-minute shootout when the two tried to escape via the roof.

The government relented Monday and promised to renew protection for the family of fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar, a day after the relatives tried and failed to find asylum abroad. The family fears a clandestine paramilitary group that has been killing Escobar's associates. They left after the government canceled their guards.

President Cesar Gaviria promised to tighten procedures on visits to drug lord Pablo Escobar and other jailed traffickers after reports that people wanted by the police had entered his prison. A television station reported earlier that 308 people, including more than 20 fugitives, had visited the prison near Medellin where Escobar and 14 other drug-traffickers are held.

I read that Milken is being let out of jail early. Isn't this the guy who "junked" Wall Street, raped companies, destroyed jobs, depleted pension funds, conspired with swell guys like Boesky, only made $500 million one year and is now doing "easy time" in a country club facility? Kinda like having our own Pablo Escobar. Everything OK, Mike? Or for the short jail time you have left, can we build you your own leisure place like Pablo had in Colombia? RAY CONSIDINE Altadena

The family of fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar was stopped at the Medellin airport Friday while trying to catch a flight to Miami in an apparent effort to flee his enemies. Police said Escobar's wife, 17-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter were prevented from leaving. Colombian law requires both parents sign permission papers for minors to leave the country. Escobar, who escaped prison last July, had not signed such papers.

A priest who has been negotiating the surrender of top Colombian cocaine trafficker Pablo Escobar said he is seeking another meeting with the fugitive at which he hopes the drug kingpin turns himself in. Father Rafael Garcia Herreros, a white-haired 84-year-old priest, announced after a secret meeting with Escobar a week ago that the Medellin cartel boss would surrender in 15 days, accompanied by other members of the cartel.

Fugitive cocaine king Pablo Escobar will surrender to Colombian authorities in the next few days, the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo said Sunday. Escobar has been on the run since he and several aides escaped from a mountain prison near Medellin on July 22. They are wanted on charges of drug trafficking, extortion and terrorism.