The Escobar Deal: How Helpful?

Bogota has struck a cynical deal with Pablo Escobar, Colombia’s most notorious drug kingpin. He surrendered to authorities Wednesday after being on the run for seven years, a time in which his henchmen murdered a Colombian attorney general, three presidential candidates, several judges and policemen and hundreds of bystanders--not to mention the country’s image.

In exchange for turning himself in, the government has agreed that Escobar will not be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted in several major drug-trafficking cases. He will also be allowed to serve his time in a comfortable private prison, protected by hand-picked “guards.”

One wants to believe that some good has been served by getting such a thug out of circulation, but this arrangement smells like the proverbial deal with the devil. A small-time hood who scrambled to power (if not respectability) as head of the Medellin cocaine cartel, Escobar claims he’s tired of running. More likely he’s tired of trying to keep his drug empire together while on the run. Lately Escobar’s filthy trade has been undermined by a rival cocaine cartel based in Cali. From his spacious prison cell, it will be easier for Escobar to compete--so drug-related bloodletting may not yet be over in Colombia.

That’s sad, because the government undoubtedly struck its deal with Escobar to relieve the widespread public fear and anxiety that have resulted from drug violence. The Colombian people are exhausted after years of assassinations and bombings. But any benefits gained by putting Escobar away will be strictly short-term. Thugs like him won’t give up as long as there’s a profit in drugs.

The U.S. government has criticized the Escobar deal, but it can do more than that. It must redouble efforts to dry up the market he caters to, and not just through interdiction efforts and other police actions. Studies indicate that casual drug use is declining in the United States. The drug problem is more focused now in a relatively small population of hard-core addicts. If those desperate people can be helped, the day may yet come when Escobar will have nothing to do in his hilltop prison.