Documentaries
There can’t be that many actual treasure hunts left in the world, but two former
CIA agents are on the trail of a real buried fortune in Finding Escobar’s Millions (Discovery, Sky 070, Thursday, 8.30pm).
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was making so much money during the 1980s, he couldn’t spend it fast enough. At one point, he was making an estimated $83 million per day and despite the houses, cars, planes and three private zoos, he resorted to burying cash, gold and weapons.
Some of it has been recovered by the Colombian Government, but former agents Doug Laux and Ben Smith (not his real name) believe there may be up to $1.3bn still hidden.
However, just because Escobar is gone – he died in a shoot-out in 1993 – doesn’t mean it isn’t still dangerous. Drug-running continues in Colombia, and a quarter-century on, Escobar is considered
something of a folk hero.
In the first episode of the six-part series, Laux and Smith set up a base of operations in Medellín and start their research. Their first big break is a guy who used to work for Escobar, one of the few still left alive.
Although anything they find must be turned over to the Government, the search is not entirely altruistic – the finder’s fee is 5%.