The murder of two of Escobar's associates inside La Catedral prison forced the government of President César Gaviria to act. But an attempt to transfer the Medellín capo to a traditional prison resulted in the kidnapping of multiple high-level government officials. When the Colombian army managed to penetrate the prison to rescue them, they were surprised to find out that Escobar was gone. The government and U.S. intelligence agencies begin an intense operation to capture him in which the telephone lines became a battlefield.

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