''Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw'' (2001) is a book by

Mark Bowden Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book '' Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about the 1993 U.S. military r ...

that details the efforts by the governments of

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, their respective military and intelligence forces, and

Los Pepes Los Pepes, a name derived from the Spanish phrase "Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar" ("Persecuted by Pablo Escobar"), was a vigilante group composed of enemies of Pablo Escobar. They waged a small-scale war against the Medellín Cartel in 1993, whic ...

to stop illegal activities committed by

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...

and his subordinates. It relates how Escobar was killed and his cartel dismantled. Bowden originally reported this story in a 31-part series published in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' and in a companion documentary of the same title.

Documentary

''The True Story of Killing Pablo'' (2002) is a companion documentary film to Bowden's 2001 book. It was produced by Wild Eyes Productions for

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

Film

A feature film adaptation was being developed by producers

Bob Yari Bob Yari ( fa, باب یاری; born May 30, 1961) is an Iranian-born American film producer and director. Biography Yari was born to a Jewish family in Tehran, Iran. He grew up in New York City, and studied film in Santa Barbara. Yari has pr ...

and

Mark Gordon Mark Gordon (born March 14, 1957) is an American politician who has served as the 33rd governor of Wyoming since January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as state treasurer; then-governor Matt Mead appointed him ...

, to be directed and written by

Joe Carnahan Joseph Aaron Carnahan (born May 9, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor whose films include '' Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane''; '' Narc''; ''Smokin' Aces''; ''The A-Team''; '' The Grey''; and ''Boss Level''. He a ...

, but the film's producer, Yari, filed for bankruptcy in 2008. As of 2019, a film has yet to be produced.

Appearances in pop culture

The book is featured in the eighth episode of the third season of ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'', when Walt Jr. shows it to his fatherthe camera zooms in on the book's coverand describes it as an account of how Pablo Escobar was tracked down and killed by DEA agents like his Uncle Hank. It also provides the bulk of the storyline for the Netflix series ''

Narcos ''Narcos'' is an American-Colombian crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kin ...

'', without being credited. In addition to Escobar, the series features the two DEA agents, Steve Murphy and

Javier Peña Javier F. Peña (born 1958) is an American former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who investigated Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel. Peña worked as a consultant on the Netflix series ''Narcos''. Biography Peña graduated from He ...

, whom Bowden revealed to have been at the center of the hunt. It indirectly surfaces in the HBO series ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', when the actor at the center of that show, Vincent Chase, agrees to play Escobar in a film called ''Medellin'' despite being utterly unsuited to the role. The story line was something of an inside Hollywood joke, in that a real movie version of ''Killing Pablo'' was infamously lost in backwaters of Tinseltown deal-making.

References

2001 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about Colombian drug cartels Non-fiction books about Pablo Escobar 6. Breaking Bad (May 9, 2010). "I see you". {{Colombia-hist-stub