74. The Hunt for Pablo Escobar: Rise of a Drug Lord (Ep 1)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Colombia in the mid-20th century was a place of beauty and bloodshed - where jungle mountains sheltered rebels, the cities were ruled by oligarchs, and outlaw legends became folk heroes. Into this world stepped Pablo Escobar. Charming, calm, and calculating, he would become one of the richest men in history - and one of the deadliest. In this first episode of our Escobar series, Gordon Corera and David McCloskey explore Escobar’s early years: petty crime in Medellín, his first forays into smuggling, and the moment cocaine transformed from a fringe luxury into a multi-billion-dollar industry. From stolen cars to international drug routes, this is how Escobar built the foundation of the Medellín Cartel - and how the war to bring him down began. ------------------- Join The Declassified Club: Start your free trial at therestisclassified.com - go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, quarterly livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. To sign up to the free newsletter, go to: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign-up⁠ ------------------- Order a signed edition of Gordon's latest book, The Spy in the Archive, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Email: [email protected] Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@triclassified⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Senior Producer: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.0	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books, join the
0:13.4	Declassified Club at the Rest is Classified.com.
0:27.5	This episode is brought to you by Disney Plus and their earth-shattering arrival, FX's Alien Earth.
0:28.9	When a mysterious space vessel crash lands on Earth, Wendy and a rag-tag group of tactical
0:34.6	soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face to face with the
0:39.1	planet's greatest threat. This is one arrival you don't want to miss. FX's Alien Earth,
0:45.4	an original series now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus, 18 plus subscription required. TNCs
0:51.4	apply.
1:02.1	This episode is brought to you by Disney Plus and their earth-shattering arrival, FX's Alien Earth.
1:03.5	When a mysterious space vessel crash lands on Earth, Wendy and a rag-tag group of tactical
1:09.2	soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face
1:13.2	with the planet's greatest threat.
1:15.8	This is one arrival you don't want to miss.
1:18.6	FX's Alien Earth, an original series now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus, 18 plus
1:24.4	subscription required.
1:25.6	TNCs apply.
1:26.6	Victory over drugs is our cause, a just cause.
1:31.6	And with your help, we are going to win.
1:35.1	Pablo Escobar, the head of the Medellian drug cartel.
1:38.8	The world's 14th, which is man.
1:41.2	He was, in many ways, a terrorist.
	...

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