In 1993, 16 months after escaping from prison, Pablo Escobar, one of history’s richest and most powerful drug lords, was fatally shot while fleeing police. Authorities say a cop shot him, while Escobar’s family claims he committed suicide to avoid arrest — either way, Escobar’s death lead to the crumbling of the Medellín Cartel, the organization once believed to have supplied about 80 percent of the cocaine in the U.S. The two DEA officers who led the manhunt for Escobar, Javier Peña and Steve Murphy, are portrayed in the first two seasons of the Netflix original series Narcos, a riveting, violent show that glorifies neither side of the the drug war. Here the real-life Pena and Murphy will share their stories from the Escobar days, discuss their involvement with Narcos and host a Q&A session with the audience Thursday night at Marathon Music Works. Here’s a question, for starters: Who went on to help take down the Cali Cartel? And please, God, somebody ask them about that scene in the recently released third season, wherein DEA agents are drilling through the bathroom wall in hopes of finding a hiding Miguel Rodríguez but suddenly the drill starts to … wait, wait, OK, no spoilers. But I’m dying to know if that moment really was based on a true story. It was so gnarly. MEGAN SELING
Capturing Pablo: An Evening with Javier Peña and Steve Murphy
