Mario Escandar Dies; Miami Drug Kingpin
MIAMI — Former Miami drug kingpin Mario Escandar, whose testimony helped send four police detectives to prison, has died of an apparent heart attack in a federal prison.
Escandar, 51, became an informant while facing state theft and drug charges and a federal conspiracy count. He had been in prison under the name of Carlos Perez as part of the Federal Witness Protection Program.
Escandar had received special medical care since a 1982 diagnosis of angina pectoris, hypertension and a weak heart, said Dick Clark, U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman.
He died Tuesday after collapsing at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minn., about 100 miles north of Minneapolis.
The 1982 case against the Metro-Dade police officers stemmed from the lawmen’s ties to Escandar, who referred to them as “my young men of iron” who would snort cocaine and traffic drugs for him.
Nine officers were indicted, and eight went to trial on charges ranging from racketeering to tax evasion. Four were convicted and sent to prison.
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