State of Play: The Real Story Behind Netflix’s Narcos

By Javier Peña

Javier Peña joined the DEA in 1984 and started working in Bogota, Colombia, four years later. There, he participated in the successful manhunt for narcotics kingpin Pablo Escobar. After the death of Escobar, Peña continued to serve in the DEA in Puerto Rico, Texas, and Colombia again. He retired in 2014 as special agent in charge of the Houston division. Peña's involvement in the manhunt of Escobar is portrayed in the Netflex series "Narcos."

The brutal battle against the Cali Cartel enters a new chapter in the war on drugs, with the Season 3 premiere of the Netflix series Narcos on September 1st. It follows the previous seasons that tracked the life and eventual demise of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)’s Javier Pena was one of two agents who was instrumental in bringing down Escobar and the notorious Medellin Cartel. Pena and his partner Steve Murphy, both depicted in Narcos, were consultants on the show’s first two seasons.

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