Hugo Martinez

## Hugo Martinez, Sr.

**Hugo Martinez** was a Colonel in the Colombian National Police (CNP), and the Commander of the Search Bloc from 1992 to 1994. Despite his traditional and methodical mode of operation, he led the Search Bloc raid which killed infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar and the raid which captured drug lord Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela.

## Biography

### Early police career

Martinez joined the police forces in 1966, and rose to the rank of Colonel. He was recognized for spending three years in the Colombian jungles fighting the FARC rebels. After Search Bloc commander Colonel Horacio Carrillo was executed by Medellín cartel drug lord Pablo Escobar in November 1992, Martinez was persuaded by President César Gaviria to take leadership of the Search Bloc. Martinez was methodical and adhered to strict protocol, and was seen as the best candidate for by both President Gaviria and American ambassador Arthur Crosby. Martinez agreed to lead the Search Bloc after he heard that his son, Hugo Martinez, Jr. had joined the organization.

### Commander of the Search Bloc

#### Hunting Escobar

Upon assuming leadership, he decided to change the Search Bloc's tactics from bullet-to-bullet with Escobar's men to grid searches, having his men search the barrios and process anything of use before heading to the next neighborhood. The tactic was conventional and dated, but he felt that it would be useful for the hunt against Escobar. However, this did not yield immediate results, and DEA agent Javier Peña began co-operating with the Los Pepes vigilante group to clamp down Escobar's organization. This led to the Los Pepes killing/kidnapping Escobar's men before the Search Bloc could arrest them.

After Carlos Castaño Gil of the Los Pepes tricks the colonel's lieutenant son and holds him at gunpoint, only to have him saved by Peña, the colonel slightly berates his son. After noticing his son's skills in radio tracking, he assigns him on a more technical job: to triangulate the position of Escobar's sicario's based on their radio signals. Martinez also tells Peña that if anyone should capture or kill Escobar, it should be a Colombian policeman, referencing Peña's affiliation with the Los Pepes.

Sometime in 1993, Martinez leads an unsuccessful raid on a Medellin cartel base set up in Montecasino to attack the leadership of the Cali Cartel. Escobar was not present in the hideout, but the raid destroyed the last of Escobar's manpower, leaving him only with his driver El Limón

By late 1993, the National Police discover that Escobar is back in Medellin. Martinez Jr., using radio triangulation, locates Escobar in the Los Olivias neighbourhood. Martinez, accompanied by Trujillo and DEA Agent Steve Murphy lead the raid, which ultimately results in the death of the cartel boss and his driver. The raid made Martinez popular among the public.

#### Arresting Gilberto Rodríguez

In 1994, Martinez still worked as a highly respected colonel in the CNP. He attends a meeting between President Ernesto Samper and the Americans, where Peña runs into him and enquirers about the colonel's son and the current situation with the Cali cartel's rise to power. Martinez then arraigns the DEA agent for letting the Los Pepes loose, leading to the Cali Cartel's rise to power.

Later, Peña shows up at Martinez' doorstep and asks for his help to lead an operation to capture Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the *de facto* leader of the Cali Cartel. Martinez secretly transports his highly trained team from Bogoto to Cali while avoiding the local policemen, who are largely in the Cali cartel's payroll. Martinez' team hid in the truck as Peña and the local police raid another house far away, apparently looking for Hélmer Herrera. After declaring his raid unsuccessful, Peña tells Gustavo Calderon, the local police chief, to drive to a friend's mansion, which was actually Gilberto Rodriguez's hideout.

As Peña arrives, Martinez presents his warrant to Calderon, and announces that he's taking over, and has Calderon held captive in his police car as Martinez raids the house with Peña and Trujilio. After securing the house and its inhabitants, the CNP located Gilberto Rodriguez hiding under a bathtub. Calderon uses this time to trick the guard stationed out, and escapes to a payphone where he telephones for help from the local police.

Martinez and Peña load Rodriguez in the back of the truck, and made a run to the airport, avoiding the local police on the way. They also have DEA Agent Chris Feistl drive a decoy. The truck carrying Rodriguez arrives at the airport, but however the plane they're supposed to board is surrounded by local policemen. As Peña expresses his disappointment, Martinez calmy steps out and walks to the police officers, all of they having their guns drawn out. There, he chides the cops for working for money instead of the safety of the country, leading all of them to lower their guns and give way to the Colonel. Back in Bogoto, the colonel announces the arrest of the most powerful mob boss in Colombia to the general public.

### Forced resignation

In an effort to secure Gilberto's release, his son Nicolás Rodríguez presents papers, found in an earlier raid at Guillermo Pallomari's office, to corrupt officials claiming that the Colonel received bribes from the cartel, discrediting the colonel and forcing him to resign. After the Colonel turns in his gun and badge, he travels to the United States embassy where he informs Peña of his decision.

DEATH

He died suffering a heart attack on March 22 2020.