Escobar’s Brother Joins Him in Prison : Colombia: A growing cadre of jailed cartel members fuels speculation that the surrenders are aimed at protecting the drug lord.

MEDELLIN, Colombia —  Friends and family of Pablo Escobar, the notorious Medellin cocaine boss, have formed a private security knot around their jailed chief by following his lead and surrendering themselves under a government leniency program.

The trickle of Medellin Cartel figures into a mountainside prison continued Friday as Escobar’s older brother, 44-year-old Roberto, and another member, Gustavo Gonzalez, arrived in a government caravan of seven four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The growing cadre of jailed cartel members, at least two of whom reportedly face no criminal charges, has fueled speculation that the suspects are less interested in answering to Colombian justice than in protecting their boss.

The cartel leader, linked to the murders of hundreds of people, was considered Public Enemy No. 1 before his surrender on Wednesday, and many Colombians, including rival cocaine traffickers, still despise him. In exchange for his surrender, Pablo Escobar will receive a reduced sentence and avoid extradition to the United States.

Authorities say Roberto Escobar became his brother’s closest confidant in recent months after police shot and killed several other cartel members in confrontations. Army handbills recently distributed in Medellin denounce the elder Escobar as a key figure in the cartel’s terrorist organization, responsible for a series of bombings and other attacks in 1989 and 1990.

Gonzalez, who has no criminal record, is a cartel bodyguard, the Caracol radio network reported. The two men are the sixth and seventh members of the organization jailed since Wednesday in a converted ranch house above the town of Envigado, where the Escobars grew up.

In a Thursday letter written from jail to a Medellin journalist, the cartel chief said he had persuaded 12 of his followers to join him and was negotiating the surrender of another group, whom he did not identify.

A judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Friday that at least 10 additional cartel members would surrender in coming days.

“The government is going to take its time in order to get all of (the cartel figures) into jail safely,” the official said in a telephone interview from his Medellin office. “We are confident that the entire Medellin Cartel will soon be behind bars.”

Roberto Escobar and Gonzalez were surrounded by government officials and armed bodyguards in bulletproof vests as the caravan wound its way up a rocky road to the jail.

The scene is now a familiar one for a group of journalists forced by authorities to cover the continuing surrenders from the roadside at a military checkpoint one mile from the ranch house. On Thursday one of the cartel’s bagmen, Valentin de Jesus Taborda, arrived at the jail.

All the surrendering cartel members have been accompanied by court officials charged with hearing their testimony under a government plan of reduced sentences for those who confess their crimes.

The government announced Friday that special security measures to protect Pablo Escobar, including the restriction of flights over Medellin, would remain in effect indefinitely.

The jail, surrounded by three rows of 5,000-volt electric fence, is designed not only to keep the cartel chief in but also his enemies out. Beyond the physical protection, Pablo Escobar obviously felt that a private security force was also needed to guarantee his security.

“I know several guys who turned themselves in with (Pablo) Escobar, and the government has nothing on them,” said Alvaro Restrepo, an Envigado mechanic. “They are Escobar’s friends more than anything else.”

Meanwhile, thousands of Colombian prisoners in 11 cities continued a hunger strike Friday to protest the government’s failure to give them lenient treatment similar to Escobar’s, according to a statement from Francisco Vargas, national director of prisons.

Several of the prisoners began the strike late Wednesday, after a national assembly currently rewriting the constitution rejected a proposal to offer all Colombian inmates reduced sentences. The proposal could still be passed in a second round of voting before the assembly ends on July 5.

“What kind of holocaust or calamity or atrocity must we commit to get the same dignified treatment given to Pablo Escobar?” one prisoner asked in a broadcast interview.

Envigado Prison Complex

The layout of the 10-acre complex that houses surrendered Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Bunks for Other Trafficking Suspects: The 4,300-square-foot room has six bathrooms.

Recreation Area: Contains Ping-Pong, billiard tables and other entertainment items. Illuminated by fluorescent lights, with four showers and six bathrooms.

Escobar’s Confinement Cell: The 380-square-foot room has a bathroom and small windows. Bars on the door.

Source: El Tiempo