“The Cali Cartel had no influence whatsoever. “When I got to Miami, Pablo and the Medellín Cartel controlled South Florida,” Murphy says. So, it was always in the back of my mind.” To pull it off, and I liked the way the investigation went. It shocked all these other cops that these two rookies were able “In southern West Virginia, a pound of weed back then was a lot of dope. “It was 1976, and another young policeman and I, we were rookies, arrested a guy for a pound of weed,” he says. He worked another six years with the Norfolk Southern Railroad, but he was always interested in narcotics investigations. “I never wanted to do anything else in my life.” Murphy started his career as a uniform police officer in southern West Virginia in 1975, and after six years he moved on “You know, since I was a little kid, I just wanted to be a cop,” Murphy says. Investigational tenacity that captivates, even through a computer screen. Regardless of the setting, though, their telling of the investigation, capture and killing of Escobar - one of the world’s most-notorious narcoterrorists - and their time in Colombia leading up to Escobar’s demise, is one of murder, mayhem and downright Sound working and for Peña’s video feed to load. Instead of sharing coffee in person, Murphy briefly paused at the start of the interview as he struggled to get his

Murphy and Peña later spoke to Fraud Magazine via Zoom from the Washington, D.C., area and San Antonio, Texas, respectively.

Their backdrop included large “Narcos” posters - the hit Netflix show based on their time as DEA agents - on the wall behind them and their book, “Manhunters,” just over Murphy’s shoulder on a shelf. Murphy and Peña would have to regale attendees with stories of drug smuggling, money laundering, and the capture and killing of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar from the comfort of their homes, not a conference The backdropįor their presentation and subsequent Fraud Magazine interview would be impressive - more than 3,000 attendees gathered in one spot to hear them speak in a city rich with history, culture and cuisine.Īlas, a global pandemic changes everything. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents - were announced as keynote speakers at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference to be held in Boston in June 2020. In late autumn 2019, Steve Murphy and Javier Peña - retired U.S.

Pablo escobar the drug lord vs narcos