Colombian drug Lord Pablo Escobar’s Miami Beach mansion demolition is now complete. The pink waterfront property located on 5860 North Bay Road was demolished Tuesday and did not end without more drama and mystery to add to its already intense legacy.
Escobar purchased the Miami Beach mansion in March 1980 for $760,500 though the deed show’s the cost at $10 according to public records. Though it is unclear whether Escobar ever used the mansion, it is likely that the property was used by his men as a hideout or a landing point for cocaine shipments. In 1987, the U.S. government seized the four bedrooms, six bathroom cartel mansion.
At the Medellin Cartel height, Escobar and his men were responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the U.S. Most of it coming into Miami, making it a hub for drug violence and smuggling. Though indicted numerous times, Escobar was never extradited back to the U.S from Columbia. In 1993, the head of the Medellin Cartel was killed in a shootout by the Colombian army in a jungle.
In 1990, the property was acquired by a private owner. The property was then purchased in 2014 for $9.65 million by Christian de Bedouare, the founder of Chicken Kitchen, and his wife, journalist Jennifer Valoppi.
In the last week leading to the Miami mansion’s demolition, De Berdouare hired professional treasure hunters to find the last of the drug lord’s spoils. The treasure hunters punched holes in the walls and found “something” the homeowner told local news, saying, “It’s either money, or it’s gold, or it’s jewels, or it’s arms, or it’s drugs, or it’s a dead body.” However, De Berdouare refused to elaborate further, stating that finding will be revealed in a documentary about the wealthy kingpin that is projected to air on Netflix.
In addition, a handyman discovered that aside from a missing grill and generator from a burglary that took place in October 2015, thieves had also stolen a 10-inch round metal safe that had been hidden and encased in marble under the staircase in the home. According to a police report filed by the owners, the handyman first noticed the safe in 2014 when the couple first purchased the home.
De Berdouare plans to build a bigger more modern home with the mansion gone.
