Current Owners Of The Miami Beach Mansion Once Owned By Colombian Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Are Having The Mansion Torn Down

The Miami Beach mansion once owned by Pablo Escobar is being demolished Tuesday according to the Miami Herald.

Christian de Berdouare and his wife, journalist Jennifer Valoppi, are the current owners of the property at 5860 North Bay Road. de Berdouare is the founder and CEO of the fast food chain Chicken Kitchen.

They are having the property demolished. 

Valoppi puts it:

We want to close a very dark chapter in the history of Miami. Escobar killed so many people. We want to erase those memories and create something new and inspiring.

de Berdouare and Valoppi have also drilled holes in the walls using metal detectors and magnetometers looking for any hidden loot left behind by El Patrón.  The United States Government seized the mansion in 1987.

Escobar bought the mansion built in 1948 for $762,500 in 1980. The oceanfront mansion has four bedrooms and six bathrooms. It also has an attached marina and 150 feet of frontage on the ocean.  

Miami Civil Rights Attorney Roger Schindler bought the mansion from the U.S. government in 1990 for $915,000. He abandoned it several years ago after a fire destroyed part of the mansion.

Schindler sold the dilapidated mansion to de Berdouare and Valoppi for $9.64 million in 2014. 

Only a lone banyan tree will remain on the 7,336-square-foot lot until de Berdouare and Valoppi build their dream house. the new home will be a modern design and big picture windows over looking Biscayne Bay.