Keep It On The Down Low
The secret cooperation between Search Bloc members and vigilante paramilitaries during the Escobar manhunt is now widely known. The National Security Archive published a CIA investigation in 2008 that provided evidence linking the taskforce to Colombian terrorists and narco-traffickers every bit as dangerous as Escobar himself. U.S. intelligence was traded to them from closely monitored meetings between the Colombian president and top security officials. Javier Peña, however, was not the one directly providing the intel to Don Berna. We used his character and alliance to represent the overall corruption, but the Search Bloc members who leaked the info are largely unknown. But some ex-members of Los Pepes, a paramilitary organization that hunted Escobar, are coming forward. Former member Carlos Ramon Zapata said in an interview that former head of DAS Department of Security, Miguel Alfredo Maza Marquez, was their main guy. He would provide safe passage to Los Pepes members so they wouldn't be arrested. He also said DEA agents helped provide equipment and intel so they could operate beyond the limits of the law.
