Ex-DEA Agent Steve Murphy on Delta Force and the Escobar Manhunt

On his podcast, retired Navy SEAL Mike Ritland interviews retired DEA Special Agent Steve Murphy, one of the two agents credited with helping take down Pablo Escobar, about the manhunt that followed Escobar's escape from La Catedral.

Key points

• A war, not an investigation: Murphy, who was stationed in Bogotá and Medellín, says the cartel's enforcers carried Galil 7.62 rifles, RPGs and hand grenades against a joint U.S.-Colombian task force.
• Elite units attached: He recalls meeting Colonel Jerry Boykin and learning that Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 were joining the task force, bringing capabilities he had never seen.
• Politics slowed it: Murphy believes that with a freer hand the operators likely would have caught Escobar within three weeks of his escape rather than the three months it took, and blames a Colombian colonel who repeatedly blocked the "green suits."
• Narcos and reality: A technical consultant on Narcos and the agent portrayed in it, Murphy says the show captured the broad strokes but compressed timelines and invented composite characters.
• Life now: He co-wrote Manhunters and hosts his own podcast, where he reads his guests' books before they sit down together.

Quick take

Murphy deflects credit, saying "If you got to toot your own horn, it's probably not worth tooting," and shares it with his DEA partner Javier Peña. He describes the two as a study in contrasts whose different styles helped the task force succeed.

Watch the full video: Mike Ritland