Anyone who has read related books/articles or watched the Netflix series "Narcos" will already know that Pablo Escobar did not die at the hands of British mercenaries in 1989.
However, this is a gripping tale of how close those men came to actually making that happen.
The story is told from the perspective of three of the surviving members of the team, including the head of the group (Dave Tomkins) and the leader of the assault team (Peter McAleese).
Various other key contributors are interviewed, such as the DEA agents portrayed in the "Narcos" series - Javier Pena & Steve Murphy - who provide valuable background on the situation in Columbia at the time.
The team was made up of tough and battle-hardened hired guns; many coming from Special Forces (SAS) backgrounds and all having that fatalistic (British) battlefield sense of humour.
McAleese, in particular, gives a fascinating insight into his background which adds to the human element of the story.
The fact that their assassination attempt on Escobar was undone by a helicopter crash in bad weather during their required low-level incursion, does nothing to take away from the excellent build up, recounted by the main protagonists and aided with actual footage shot by Tomkins at the time.
I found it fascinating to watch and knew nothing of this episode of history prior to seeing this. Other harsh user reviews seem a little unfair to me.
My advice - give this a watch.
They may not have killed Escobar, but there was every chance they may have done had their mission gone to plan...
8 out of 10 found this helpful.
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