My training as an agent and then as a certified explosives specialist had exposed me to a variety of grenades and other ordnance commonly encountered on the U.S streets. I had seen my share of grenades, mortar rounds, and mining explosives working on the border out of El Paso, Texas. I had dealt with the legendary pineapple…..
II. Assignment: Bogotá
My arrival at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá had, for the most part, a positive reception by the other ‘action’ agencies involved in supporting the Colombian war against the drug traffickers. I did get some push-back here and there that eventually went away once I demonstrated that my agency could do more than just collect…..
Sometime around the spring of 1989, the ATF assistant director for law enforcement met informally with the assistant director for the DEA overseeing their Colombia operation. (I like to think it…..
Those that know of my assignment by ATF to Colombia (1989 – 1995) have asked why my participation in the search for Pablo Escobar has not been mentioned in any of the documentaries, television shows, nor the books that have been written about it. The answer is very simple: I haven’t told my story.
Before I continue, I’d like it understood that I am not disputing any of the facts as depicted on the documentaries I’ve seen relating to the…..
During my assignment to Colombia (1989 – 1995), I also worked with the Colombian military identifying guerrilla supply sources and supply lines. The picture above is of me conducting impromptu weapons identification training to a Colombian…..
The U.S. government also sent a highly-skilled communications team to support the search bloc to the Carlos Holguin base in Medellin. Pena and I were the only Americans allowed to leave the base to develop informants and gather intelligence in support of the search for Pablo Escobar. I’m pictured at the far left with a Galil automatic rifle strapped…..
After Pablo Escobar escaped from his self-made prison at Envigado, the Colombian National Police (CNP) conducted search operations for him in and around Medellin. The first American agents on the ground after the escape were DEA agent Javier Pena and myself. At the time, I was serving as the ATF attache to Colombia. My participation was requested…..
Greetings. My name is J. J. Ballesteros, author of Run for the Devil and The Moonlight Runner. I am currently working on the second book in the Run for the Devil trilogy. I will be using this blog to post news and other tidbits relating to Run for the Devil and my upcoming book. I hope you will continue to follow the adventures of Simon Donovan and the crew of the schooner Siete Mares.
Thank you for interest.