On May 2, 1989, Escobar whimsically took Ryder and two bodyguards, disguised as an officer of the Colombian Defense Forces, and drove an American-made military Cherokee jeep towards Catan Air Base in Bogotá.
They were going to hijack a military plane and use it to air transport drugs.
Prior to this, the intelligence officers of the Medellín drug cartel had received accurate information: Colonel Green Barcelona, deputy chief of staff of the Air Force of the Colombian Ministry of Defense, had secretly taken a five-member technical team to a West German aircraft manufacturing company to conduct an inspection to prepare for the import of a batch of fighter jets from West Germany. Escobar took advantage of this rare opportunity to disguise himself as Colonel Green to carry out his hijacking plan.
Because he looked very similar to the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, he hardly needed any makeup, as long as he put an Air Force officer outfit on his body, I am afraid that even Green's wife would not be recognized.
At around 10 a.m., a Cherokee military jeep sped up to Catan Air Force Base. In front of the gate of the base, the jeep braked urgently. The screeching of brakes cheered up the sentry in the sentry box.
The door opened, and a guard stepped down first, hurriedly opening the back door of the car. As the door opened, the guards performed the standard military salute, and a large Air Force officer stepped down. I saw that the officer had a fat head and big ears, eagle-nosed harrier eyes, and a thick curly hair combed very decently. His cheeks and chin were clean-shaven, and only the invisible stubble glowed blue in the sun. But the officer's upper lip had a short "Stalinist-esque" mustache, which was groomed neatly and majesticly.
When the sentry in the sentry box saw it, he couldn't help but hurriedly walked out of the sentry box and stood there straight to salute the officer. The sentry recognized at a glance that it was none other than Colonel Green, the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force. How did this soldier know that this "Deputy Chief of Staff Green" was Escobar, the leader of the largest drug trafficking group wanted by the government.
At the same time as Escobar got out of the car, the door on the other side also opened, and Rydell, disguised as an Air Force major, also got out of the car. Surrounded by the two bodyguards who were pretending to be security personnel, the four of them walked towards the gate of the air base with great vigour.
The sentry on the left side of the gate had already stood there respectfully, waiting for the arrival of "Colonel Green", but the sentry on the right did not know what was wrong, and when he saw the four of Escobar coming, he walked out of the sentry box, stepped forward with a military salute, and then said solemnly:
"Please show your ID!"
Escobar thought to himself: this guy is responsible. I wanted to slap him in the face with the posture of a chief, but thinking that this might lead to some trouble, I stood there and looked at the sentry majestically, and then threw my head back. Rydell, who was standing in the back, understood, and immediately opened the briefcase he was holding, and took out a military ID and gave it to the sentry.
The sentry took a closer look, then looked at Escobar's face. Escobar stood there arrogantly, but still a little weak. However, he had already discussed with Ryder beforehand that if he saw a flaw, he would have to kill both sentries with a dagger before he fired a warning shot, and then drive away.
Not knowing if the sentry really didn't see it, or if he didn't want to get into trouble, he handed Escobar his military ID card, gave a very standard military salute, and said, "Please come in!" And waved his hand into the gate in a very dear manner, and a railing across the gate slowly slid to the side, making way for it.
One of the bodyguards immediately walked over and drove the car over, and Escobar and the others got into the car again, and then slowly drove the car into the base at a speed of 30 yards.
Catan Air Base is the main air base in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. There are no less than 50 military aircraft of all kinds on standby here, and the main task is to protect the security of the capital. Although Bogotá has not been hit by air strikes or air battles over it over the years, the planes are routinely renewed every five years, and hundreds of ground crews are busy carrying out maintenance, overhaul and refueling. After 10 o'clock in the morning, it is a busy time for all kinds of work, and on the spacious apron, all kinds of vehicles keep coming and going, most of which are fire trucks, fuel tankers, tool trucks, military bomb carriers, etc.
So, when Escobar himself drove into the gate in the military jeep, he headed straight for the tarmac. It weaved its way through the multitude of vehicles without attracting the attention of the sentries on the conning tower. It's normal for a base commander or mechanic to come to the tarmac to inspect or deal with some problems.
After driving into the tarmac, Ryder sat in the driver's deputy's seat in front. He and Escobar's eyes were busy scouring the fleet.
At this time, Escobar drove slowly and asked Ryder beside him: "Quick, which one do you like?" ”
Rydell owns four planes, including a helicopter, and he has been smuggling drugs on his own private jet since 1971, and with several years of flying experience, he has no problem flying ordinary planes. However, the planes on this tarmac are all the most advanced fighters in the world, such as F-16, MiG II, and A-10, none of which he has flown before, and only F-16 fighters have flown a few times.
Ryder saw Escobar asking himself, knowing that he was already in a hurry. At this time, this outlaw pointed to an F-16 fighter in front of him and said:
"Let's get that F-16!"
When Escobar heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. Although he has never flown the F-16, he is very familiar with this aircraft, and he knows that this is by far one of the best aircraft in the world, with fast speed, great agility, especially its range of 5,000 kilometers. If such a plane can be taken away, it will undoubtedly be a tiger with wings for him to smuggle drugs. Even if it is intercepted by the government air force, it can be done against it. But what worries him is Ryder's ability to drive.
"Can it work? Buddy! ”
"No problem." Ryder didn't hesitate to add a sentence.
"Okay, it's up to you."
Escobar said as he slid the jeep over and parked next to the F-16 fighter jet.
Under the F-16 fighter jet, several mechanics and ground crews are busy overhauling and maintaining. As soon as they saw the jeep parked here, they stopped what they were doing. Escobar, Ryder and the others got out of the car and walked towards them in a majestic manner. As soon as these people saw that they were two air force officers of the rank of colonel, and one of them seemed to be very promising, they couldn't help but stand still, salute and say, "Hello sir! ”
Escobar waved his hand angrily and said, "You've worked hard, keep busy, we're going to check your plane!" ”
As he spoke, he beckoned to a mechanic, ordered him to lower the gangway, and opened the hatch. He said, "Let's go up and have a look." ”
The mechanic complied, and the four of them got into the cabin and called the mechanic to the room. Rydell expertly inspected the oil pressure valve, galvanometer, barometer, altimeter, and other instruments, and said to the mechanic:
"This is Colonel Green, the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, and he has some questions for you."
"Yes, sir." The mechanic replied mechanically.
"Do you maintain it like this every day?"
"Yes, sir. However, the daily insistence is on the third level of maintenance, and the second level of maintenance like today's is usually once a week. ”
"Do you know what the standard for secondary maintenance is?"
"Report to the chief, the criteria for the second level are: 1. According to the requirements of actual combat, the ...... of various kinds "
"Bastard!"
Ryder suddenly gave the mechanic a slap in the face, then pointed to the row of gauges in front and said:
"Don't think Colonel Green doesn't know Air Force tactical practices, he's an expert on it. Look at this hydraulic valve, can it meet the requirements of actual combat? Uh-"
The mechanic was confused by this inexplicable slap, and hurriedly said, "Yes, sir, this does not meet the requirements of actual combat." But ......"
"What, but, call your chief!"
Escobar understood what Ryder meant, and he pretended to be an attitude that the adults didn't see the villains, and gave orders to the mechanic.
After a while, the head of the mechanic really climbed up. Ryder sternly said to the tall Air Force mechanic:
"Our Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, Colonel Green, is going to test fly this plane and check how well you are maintained!"
When the leader heard this, he hurriedly smiled and said:
"Yes, Colonel! But this has to be reported to the conning tower. ”
"I understand that."
Escobar said coldly.
The leader immediately turned on the radio and called the tower:
"Report to the commander of the No. 5 command tower that the F-16 has completed the second level maintenance and request a test flight."
The command from the control tower immediately came:
"F-16 attention, commander No. 5 agreed to test flight. Please prepare quickly. ”
As soon as the mechanic heard this, he immediately sat down in the driver's seat, and another mechanic pressed the button, and the cabin canopy quickly closed automatically. The mechanic in the driver's seat adjusted the instruments and then quickly started the engine, and the F-16 slowly slid down the runway. He jerked up the throttle, and the plane sprinted toward the middle of the runway, quickly taking off into the air, and heading for the sky.
Ledder watched very carefully, and knowing that he could fly such a plane, he said to Escobar:
"Report to Colonel Green, I want to test the performance of this aircraft with my own hands."
"Okay? You! ”
When Escobar saw Ryder say this, he knew that he had understood how to fly the F-16, so he couldn't help but forget to say something to him.
Worse was Ryder, who got carried away and said:
"No problem, man!"
As soon as the two mechanics heard this, they immediately understood who these two air force officers were. However, it was too late, and Escobar shouted to the two bodyguards behind him:
"Do it!"
Before he could finish speaking, the two bodyguards had already drawn their daggers. One of the bodyguards stabbed the mechanic next to him, and the other had reached out and grabbed the mechanic who was flying the plane by the collar and pulled him back hard, pulling him over. Ryder took advantage of the situation and quickly grabbed the joystick, and his feet immediately cooperated. Although the F-16 shook a few times at high altitude, it immediately returned to its composure. Escobar and his two bodyguards had killed the two mechanics.
The F-16 had flown out of the test area, and the radio phone was heard with the command from the airfield control tower to return home. However, Ryder ignored this at all, and while piloting the plane, he said into the microphone:
"Goodbye, dear Commander No. 5, I thank you on behalf of Uncle Pablo, hahaha......"
When the commander No. 5 on the ground control tower heard this, he was startled and immediately reported to the command of Katan Air Base. Three minutes later, three F-16 fighters took off from the airfield and caught up to intercept them. The entire Catan base was in shambles.
Three F-16 fighters lined up in a "pin" shape and rushed like arrows towards the plane piloted by Ryder, and the order to make a forced landing came from the microphone. At this time, Ryder was a little panicked, he knew that in less than five minutes, they would find out. He had intended to fly the plane to the secret airfield of the Medellín drug cartel in the Cordillera as originally planned, but now it seems difficult to do so. Even if they fly over the airfield in the jungle, they will expose their own airfield to their firepower. He immediately said to Escobar:
"Pablo, we can't go back to our airport. They will find our airport. ”
"Yes, go around them in the air, can you? Ryder? ”
Escobar also regretted it in his heart at this time, this is really stealing chickens and rice, and if he doesn't do it well, he will beat the chickens and eggs.
Ryder didn't answer, just sweated on his head. Because he knew that the three F-16s behind him had caught up. The long plane flying in front was about to shoot, and the alarm was already signaling danger. Ryder was frightened and said incoherently:
"Pablo, I'm no match for those pilots, what do you say?"
Escobar knew that he couldn't fly the plane back today, and the key now was to escape. He had no choice but to say to Ryder:
"We can't go back to Medellín, fly southeast, stick to the Brazilian border, and then we will run for our lives."
At the same time, he immediately ordered the two bodyguards behind him to quickly prepare for parachuting.
Ryder managed to adjust his course, drew an arc high in the sky, and then flew straight southeast. A few minutes later, they had flown to the Leticia region on the border with Brazil. This is one of the largest drug bases of the Medellín cartel and the home of Escobar, which is known as the "Escobar Region".
Escobar decided to skydive here. Because here, as in Enviga, even if it falls to the ground, it does not fall into the hands of the anti-narcotics police. Once again, he ordered Ryder and his two bodyguards to get ready for the jump.
The three F-16s behind caught up again and immediately opened fire on them. Almost at the same time, Escobar and Ryder and others had jumped out of the cabin. At the moment of the plane's explosion, except for one bodyguard who was a step late in parachuting to protect Ryder and was hit by shrapnel from the plane's explosion, the remaining three people landed safely in the Cochlam in the Leticia area.
This thrilling and speedy escape process made the paratroopers of the Colombian Air Force have to admire it. I didn't expect this "Colonel Green" and his subordinates to have such a trick.
The real Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the Colombian Ministry of Defense, Colonel Green, who returned from West Germany a week later, could not help but be taken aback when he heard this legendary "story". It is said that for a long time he did not dare to go to the Catan airbase again. He feared that the soldiers there would mistake him for Escobar.
The hijacking of the Catan Air Force Base has caused the Colombian government to lose face. Most hijackings occur on board civil aircraft or at airports abroad and in flight. Snatching a fighter plane in broad daylight at a heavily guarded air base in the world probably has no precedent in the world's "hijacking history."
After the hijacking, President Balko again convened an emergency cabinet meeting to promptly inform the nation of the incident in order to prevent a similar incident from happening again. At the same time, all anti-narcotics units, uniforms and staff throughout the country were ordered to further closely monitor the movements of drug cartels in Medellín. If you find a suspicious situation, you do not need to consult the higher authorities, and you can decide to act on your own.
President Balco also issued a nationwide order offering a $400,000 reward for the capture of Escobar, the No. 1 leader of the Medellín drug cartel. If you find him, you will shoot him to death, even if you can't catch him alive.
Under this series of strong measures by the government, the Medellín drug cartels have suffered a great loss. Many peripheral organizations and drug bases have been destroyed, and many drug trafficking leaders, large and small, have been arrested. Drugs at ports, airports and road transport stations have also been seized by anti-narcotics agencies. What is even more important is that many people who advocate anti-narcotics have stood up again to fight against drug trafficking groups, and several members of Congress who have been involved with drug cartels have also been pulled down from the seats of parliamentarians, and some have even been sent to court.
However, in the face of the government's new anti-drug measures, the Medellín drug cartel did not "wash its hands of gold", but carried out counterattacks again and again. The whole of Colombia is once again immersed in terror and assassination. With this frenzied act of revenge, they will proclaim to the government the eternity of the "cause" of the Medellín Cartel.
On 18 August, shortly after the hijacking, another horrific assassination took place in the capital, Bogotá.
On the night of August 18, 1989, Bogotá was immersed in a beautiful night.
The quadrennial presidential election has kicked off again, and many powerful politicians have come to the fore to appeal for the presidency.
At around 8 p.m. that night, nearly 10,000 citizens gathered in Plaza Socha on the western outskirts of Bogotá to listen to Senator Garland's campaign speech.
Senator Luis Carlos Galán, 43 years old at the time, was the presidential candidate of the ruling Colombian Liberal Party. Although he is also a native of Medellín, he has always been a strong opponent of drug smuggling, and has always followed the current president, Balco, in his fight for Colombia's anti-drug cause. He used his status as a senator to give speeches to Congress many times to create public opinion for the government's anti-drug efforts. Many of the Government's anti-drug measures and policy decisions to crack down on drug cartels were made at the call of Garland and his group of like-minded friends.
Now, after being elected by the Liberal Party as the presidential candidate, he is even more ambitious to fight drug traffickers. His campaign platform for the presidency is to resolutely eliminate the "drug scourge" in Colombia, remove the label of Colombia's "drug kingdom" that has been the place for many years, and restore the innocence of his country. If he comes to power, he will never use the criminal "cocaine dollar" to prop up his government, but will vigorously develop Colombia's national industry, agriculture and tourism, and build Colombia into a new country that is self-reliant and self-reliant.
This political vision of Galán is undoubtedly in the interests of the Colombian people. However, this conception of his is also quite risky. In the ruling Liberal Party, his vision has won understanding and support. Last month, three Liberal presidential candidates competed in the final race, and Garland emerged as the Liberal Party's final presidential candidate with an overwhelming majority of 83 percent of the vote. This evening, he will deliver his first campaign speech in front of an audience of 10,000 people in Plaza de Socha to win the support of voters in Bogotá and all of Colombia.
When Galan won the Liberal Party, both Colombian politics and public opinion unanimously exclaimed: a star of hope against drugs is rising!
However, the Medellín cartel, and all the drug traffickers in Colombia, gritted their teeth at Garán's victory. They called Garland a "madman without addiction"! Thus, while Garland became the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, he also became the number one assassination target of the Medellín drug cartel.
The day after Garland was elected as the Liberal Party's presidential nominee, Escobar sent Garland a warning letter the old way. Inside the special envelope was a shiny pistol bullet wrapped in two white bones and a skull on the letterhead — the emblem of the Medellín drug cartel. Escobar's autograph is also on the letterhead.
The obvious purpose of this is that Garland will change his political stance and not go against the drug cartels. They wanted to use it to intimidate the anti-drug fighter. After nearly a month of activities and planning, he and his campaign think tank resolutely decided to hold their first campaign speech in Socha Square on the evening of August 18, sprinting to the presidency and kicking off a decisive battle against all the drug cartels in Colombia, in order to win more support and achieve his final political goal.
At 7:55 p.m. that night, when Garán, escorted by four bodyguards, rode to Plaza Socha, the commander-in-chief of the "death squad" of the Medellín drug cartel, Gacha, also led a ten-person assassination team with a miniature submachine gun on the orders of Escobar, the leader of the No. 1 group, and entered Plaza Socha with the citizens of Bogotá. Once inside the square, Gacha ordered them to disperse and blend in with the citizens, each looking for an opportunity to shoot Garland. Gacha told them that Pablo's order was not to allow Garland to speak, let alone get him out of Socha Square alive, and that Gacha told the killers of the "death squad" that whoever fired the first shot would be rewarded with $10,000.
For all this, Garland and his campaign team, although they had expected it, did not think that seriously about it. As Garland stepped onto the podium and waved to the nearly 10,000 supporters in the audience with his hands raised in the air, suddenly gunfire erupted, bullets flew from the crowd like locusts, and Garland and his bodyguards collapsed in a pool of blood almost simultaneously.
Afterwards, images recorded by television reporters interviewed at the scene indicated that at least eight assassins shot Garland and his bodyguards at the same time. The first to shoot at Garland were the two assassins in front of the podium. The two Assassins, armed with two large placards with slogans in support of Garland, crowded to the front of the bustling crowd. They used the placard to block the view of Garland's bodyguards, and as soon as Garland stepped onto the podium and appeared within their range, they did not hesitate to draw their submachine guns and fire on the stage. Their gunfire was like a flare gun in the commander's hand, and as his gunfire rang out, the other killers scattered in the crowd fired at Garland.
When Garland and his bodyguards fell on the stage, it was the two killers who took advantage of their position to get close to the podium and shoot at Garland, turning the presidential candidate into a hornet's nest. However, these two killers did not escape the punishment of Garland's supporters in the end. Although there was chaos and many people fled desperately into the street amid screams, the gunfire immediately stopped as Garland and his bodyguards were shot and fell. Many quickly came to their senses and knew that the target of these gunshots was not them but Garland and his bodyguards on the podium. Many of the audience members who had not yet had time to squeeze out of the room, especially Garland's supporters, spotted the two daring killers and immediately grabbed them and knocked them to the ground. At this time, the guns of the two killers had been snatched, and they could not be used in the midst of the angry crowd. Many punched and kicked them, and some smashed them on the head with placards in their hands......
As a result, after a while, the two killers not only lost their voices, but they were almost smashed into meatloaf. Because this is, after all, Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, not Medellín, the nest of drug cartels. The back-to-back of people's hearts is very distinct.
The death of presidential candidate Garland has once again sent Colombia into a frenzy. From the tragic death of Attorney General Oyos to the hijacking of the plane to the murder of Garland, a series of public challenges have left the Colombian president unable to bear it any longer. Although his presidency is coming to an end, he also wants to seize this last opportunity to deal the final blow to the Medellín drug cartel. Otherwise, he will not be able to account to the people of the country and to the international community.
So, on the night of August 18, when presidential candidate Garland was killed, Colombian President Bilchillo Barco Vargas convened a meeting of all cabinet members overnight and decided to start an unprecedented anti-drug war in Colombia against drug trafficking gangs led by the Medellín drug cartel.
After the cabinet meeting, President Balco personally went to Bogotá National Television to make a televised address to the nation. Standing in the television studio, President Balco shouted to the people of the country:
“…… The criminal activities of the drug cartels were an attack on the entire country, and the Government and the army had decided to fight back resolutely. I solemnly declare with the power conferred by the Constitution: from 12 o'clock tonight, martial law will be imposed throughout the country, and all airports and ports will be closed; The army and police immediately moved to arrest drug traffickers; seizure of the properties of drug cartels; Resumption of the implementation of the 1979 Treaty on the Extradition of Drug Traffickers between Colombia and the United States......"
Under the orders of President Balco, an anti-drug war that lasted for more than two years to encircle and annihilate drug traffickers began throughout Colombia.
The first major operation in the anti-drug war was Operation Gold.
On 17 October 1989, at 3 p.m., the head of the Colombian National Security Agency, Miguel Massa, reported to the President that, according to credible information from within the drug cartels, on 12 November, in the tropical jungle of the Cordillera Mountains, 200 kilometres north-east of Bogotá, the three leaders of the Medellín cartels, Escobar, Ryder and Gacha, were preparing to hold a so-called "final high-level meeting" in the "golden estate" in the jungle to prepare for the next phase of new drug trafficking activities. It plans to join forces with the current president of Panama, Manuel Noriega, to "open" the Colombian-Brazilian border and dump Colombian drugs overland through the Panama Canal to Mexico and the United States.
This is a major drug trafficking measure taken by the Medellín drug cartel in recent years. Because the sea route from the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico has been blocked, Cuba's drug transit points have been monitored, and the coastline of the United States state of Florida is unsafe, and the coast guard has taken control of thousands of kilometers of coastline. Therefore, the Medellín drug cartel will have to join forces with the Panamanian authorities to reopen the "white lane" from Colombia through Panama, Mexico and then to the western United States.
The "Golden Estate" is another villa in Escobar, located on a cliff in the middle of nowhere. The exact location could not be found on any map, nor was it witnessed by any "outsider". It was only after information from within the drug cartels and through the interrogation of some of the arrested drug dealers that a general understanding of the estate was obtained.
The estate is called the "Golden Manor" because of its high cost. According to insiders, this estate is the most luxurious and private of all the estates and villas in Escobar. The entire cost is around $20 million. The architecture of this manor house is completely in the style of a medieval castle. The steep wall on which it sits is completely hollowed out, and the entire estate is essentially embedded in this rock cliff, with only one passage connecting to the creek below. On both sides of this small river, there are more than 40 large and small bunkers, which are tightly sealed by armed drug traffickers, and at the same time, all the passages leading to this small river are full of all kinds of traps and murderous mechanisms, which are directly monitored and controlled by the command center of the manor. All light and heavy machine guns and quadruple anti-aircraft guns, as well as anti-personnel weapons such as mines and stealth bombs, are in the hands of drug traffickers. As long as the command center gives an order, a dense crossfire network of the main body can be formed immediately, so that no attacking force can escape the fate of annihilation.
Like the rest of Escobar's estate, the estate has a cleverly camouflaged secret passage that leads directly to the creek or deep into the dense forests of the Cordillera Hills. The entrances and exits of these passages are also controlled by Escobar and several of the main bosses, so that they can escape in case of emergency. As soon as they enter the secret passages, they can seal off these entrances and exits at any time, and the search force will not be able to enter even if they find it. The construction of this defense made Escobar see this place as a paradise for his life.
Inside the "Golden Estate", Escobar has a sense of security that cannot be matched anywhere else. He spends all his time drinking here, enjoying the kind of life of poverty and luxury with his big and small bosses. The estate has a wine cellar stocked with all the world's best wines, and five bartenders specialize in making a variety of cocktails for them. Here, Escobar alone had twenty mistresses for his own pleasure. In addition to these mistresses, there were also prostitutes who had been brought from the mountain temporarily. At this time, Escobar was in the prime of his life, full of energy and lust, and he played with almost all kinds of women of all colors in the world.
Escobar and his leaders traveled in and out of the estate, mostly by helicopter. There was a vacant lot in front of the manor, which he had built into a heliport. It is surrounded by barbed wire, scrap iron and tall wooden piles, as well as two anti-aircraft gun positions in case government helicopters land here.
After receiving the news that the three leaders of the Medellín drug cartel were going to hold a secret high-level meeting here, President Balco saw this as a perfect opportunity to use the gathering to wipe out the domestic leaders of the Medellín drug cartel. If it really happens, it will be a decisive victory in the anti-drug war.
As a result, President Balco immediately summoned the commanders, deputy commanders, and operational commanders of the Colombian National Army, police forces, and special forces to study plans for attacking the "Golden Estate."
President Balko said: "Since all the drug lords are gathering at the 'Golden Estate', we are going to call this operation 'Operation Gold', what do you think? ”
The commanders of the three services unanimously agreed.
After more than two hours of careful discussion, President Balco finally decided: "Operation Gold" simulated many successful examples of the US military, and 200 carefully selected soldiers led by General Vargas, commander of special forces, were transported to the sky over the "Golden Manor" by C-130 transport planes, and directly penetrated into the heart of the Medellín drug cartel. Then, helicopter gunships and more than 1,000 soldiers of the elite 14th Brigade of the Wehrmacht formed an encirclement of the drug traffickers from the vicinity of Bellao Harbor to cut off the passage for the drug traffickers to flee by land and sea.
This operational plan is a three-dimensional offensive plan in which ground and air are coordinated. After more than a dozen military experts conducted arguments, they all unanimously agreed that this plan was completely correct. The implementation of this plan will finally destroy this secret lair of drug lords.
However, there is another important and crucial issue that has not been finally resolved, and that is the precise and specific location of the "golden estate". In the Cordillera Mountains, which stretch for hundreds of miles, if the exact location of the "golden estate" cannot be found, then not only will the airborne troops not be able to do so in one step, but they will not be able to directly hit the real targets, that is, several thousand ground troops and dozens of bombers carrying out the encirclement, and they will not be able to achieve the predetermined results. On the contrary, it will startle the snake and make these drug lords flee when they hear the news.
Solving such a difficult problem may be more difficult for Colombia itself. However, it is not a difficult task for the United States, which has always supported Colombia's anti-drug efforts. The developed space technology of the United States will help them find the exact location of this nest.
On 18 November, President Balko ordered the head of the National Security Agency, Miguel Massa, to seek assistance from the United States. Because the date of his dispatch of troops was very close, the air force reconnaissance and careful analysis of all sides in the past few days could not accurately find the "golden estate".
On the morning of the next day (19 November), the US space agency immediately sent a telegram to a batch of photographs, which were a set of topographic maps taken by the "Dapeng" reconnaissance satellite. This set of topographic maps covers an area of 500 kilometers around Bogotá and captures all the features and moving objects on the ground. Under the analysis of a high-powered microscope, the hair and beard of the person on the ground can be seen in clarity. This kind of reconnaissance satellite can also use the principle of infrared thermal imaging to penetrate more than 10 meters deep in the surface layer and take images of thermal radiation from underground buildings. For physical phenomena in the surface layer, mobile tracking is also possible. If a plane has just taken off from the airport, the thermal imaging camera can analyze the model of the aircraft based on the shadow of the aircraft left at the airport.
When the Colombian National Security Agency obtained the photos, they immediately analyzed and processed them. Finally, these experts finally discovered a suspicious structure in the jungle, 230 kilometers northeast of Bogotá. Most of the buildings are deep underground, and according to their infrared thermal image analysis, it was found that the gold radiation content of this building is very large.
Based on this characteristic, experts immediately determined that this was the location of Escobar's "Golden Estate". First, there is no indication in any geological data and reports that this is a gold mine; Second, according to people who know the "Golden Manor", there are many things made of gold in this luxurious manor, such as gold-inlaid tables, chairs, basins, coat racks, doorknobs, faucets and light switches, and even the toilets in Escobar's bedroom are made of gold.
Based on a comprehensive analysis of these two situations, the experts immediately concluded that this is the "Golden Manor", which is located at 72.5 degrees west longitude and 6.9 degrees north latitude.
Having reached this conclusion, the experts went on to analyse other satellite images and discovered the defensive layout and firepower positions around the "Golden Estate", as well as the obvious ethnic and behavioral characteristics of the armed personnel of these drug cartels. The photographs show the armed men coming from all over the world, including Israelis, Thais, South Africans and Cubans. In addition to the new guns and submachine guns, they also have shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, single-person rocket launchers, jet single-man aircraft, and small gun grenade launchers.
On one photo, experts found a projection of a man coming and going among these armed men with a large cigar in his mouth. This man has a big beard and a burly build. It was identified that this person was Escobar, the No. 1 leader of the Medellín drug cartel and the owner of the "Golden Estate", who could clearly see the scar on his face under a high-powered electron microscope.
Immediately after discovering these circumstances, the head of the National Security Agency, Miguel Massa, gave a detailed report to President Barko.
President Balko was overjoyed when he heard this, and he did not expect that these photos of the Americans would not only accurately find the basic location of the "Golden Manor" and accurately show its defense facilities and firepower, but even its owner would be "verified."
"Okay, now it's time to act. This time I'll see where Pablo, the old fox, is running! ”
President Balco immediately gave the order to fight:
"Now I order, at midnight on November 21, 'Operation Gold' will begin!"