Drug lord’s ranch now a tourist attraction
, South America’s most notorious drug lord was killed 16 years ago in a hail of bullets. But tourists now flock to his luxurious and violent history-drenched ranch.
“The unexpected success of Hacienda Napoles as an attraction has disturbed the government of Colombia, where Escobar’s foot soldiers were paid $1,000 for every official and policeman they shot,” says timesonline.co.uk.
The ranch is presented as an ‘anti-crime museum’ but many visitors maintain that Escobar, once named by Forbes magazine as the world’s seventh richest man, was a Robin Hood figure who shared his US$25 billion fortune with the Colombian poor.
So popular has the hacienda become that lawyers for some of the victims of his reign of terror in the 1980s are seeking a share of the profits it generates from souvenirs — including replica guns, fake Escobar moustaches and 12-inch plaster statues that croak his final words: “They kill me.”
Visitors enter the 5,000-acre estate near Medellin under an arch topped with a replica of the light aircraft in which Escobar’s gang flew its first 5,000 pound consignment of cocaine to the United States.
Inside his mansion are fading Gianni Versace fittings and furniture that Escobar’s family picked up on trips to Miami before the clan became too infamous to travel.
Associates said he adapted his ‘narco-deco’ style from the 1983 gangster movie “Scarface.”
The drug baron was especially proud of his Jurasico Park, a group of life-sized dinosaur statues and a golden pterodactyl made from authentic bones. Guests can also race go-karts around his track. The ranch has retained his collection of classic cars, a bull ring where he staged executions and a landing strip.
By David Wilkening
David
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