The leaders of the powerful Medellin cocaine cartel have become folk heroes for their ability to escape the relentless pursuit of government security forces. Last week Pablo Escobar Gaviria, 39, a leader of the drug ring that controls 80% of the cocaine entering the U.S., pulled off one of the most impressive getaways. In an operation code named Against the Fortress, some 600 police and army troops raided a ranch 70 miles outside Medellin, but Escobar managed to elude them.
When the police fleet of ten helicopters suddenly appeared overhead at 6:30 a.m., one sentry ran to alert Escobar and others,...