Colombia: Attempt to kidnap Escobar brother foiled

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombian police foiled an attempt to abduct the brother of slain narco kingpin Pablo Escobar, authorities said Friday.

Roberto Escobar was traveling with family and bodyguards near his home in Medellin Thursday night when they were intercepted by would-be kidnappers, Police Gen. Jesus Guatibonza said.

Around the same time, police received anonymous phone tips about a possible kidnapping attempt, according to Guatibonza. Officers were dispatched to the route Escobar habitually uses to get home and arrived while the kidnapping attempt was in progress.

Police killed one suspect and wounded another, who was taken into custody. Two officers were also wounded.

Guatibonza said the kidnappers were believed to be from a band of common criminals.

Pablo Escobar led one of the world's leading cocaine cartels from Colombia in the 1980s. He and his allies ordered the killings of politicians, judges, journalists and hundreds of others who opposed them, before he was gunned down by police in 1993.

Roberto Escobar helped manage logistics for his brother's cartel and spent time in jail. A letter bomb he received while behind bars exploded in his face and left him partially blind.

In 2008 he published "My Brother Pablo," in which he used family stories and anecdotes to tell of the kingpin's love life and how he got into drug trafficking.