The ex-butler of notorious drug dealer Pablo Escobar has had his claim for a luxury lakeside paradise property owned by the cartel boss thrown out after he claimed it was his because he had squatted there for the last 20 years.
The Supreme Court of Justice decision is final and means that William Duque, the NARCO series true life protagonist ex-butler and gardener, we have to find a new home after the court refused to grant him ownership of the villa and attached farm.
The luxury ‘La Manuela’ Villa and farm is located in the village of Uvital, in El Penol municipality, in the department of Antioquia, located in the North Eastern area of Colombia.
It is located on the artificially made and picturesque Lake Guatape which supplies a local hydroelectric plant and the court’s decision to reject his claim was made earlier this week on 9th November.
Duque claimed that he was the owner of those lands by squatters rights, since he had lived there for more than 20 years as of January 25, 1991. He said much of that time he was the only person living there.
The first time that Duque set foot on that farm was as a gardener, then Victoria Eugenia Henao, wife of the drug trafficker, hired him as a butler of Escobar in the late 1980s.
Duque said that once the capo was in prison, and later with his escape and death, his wife and children left the country, and he stayed on the grounds, as reported by CaracolTV Colombian newspaper.
He said that from that moment, he held possession, defending it from invaders, looters and souvenir hunters.
He told the court that he had put up “private property” notices and fences with barbed wire and the top, paid for the stables to be converted into living accommodation, planted tomatoes and beans, and raised livestock.
He also maintained the lighting and trails.
In addition, Duque pointed out that the Fund for Rehabilitation, Social Investment and Fight against Organized Crime (FRISCO) had never laid claim to the lands.
However, the Civil Court of the Marinilla Circuit (Antioquia) and the Superior Court of the Antioquia Judicial District ordered the property to be returned to the Government.
The decision was made because it was not proven that Duque was the owner of the estate that was subject to extinction of ownership in 2005.
The Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court studied the case and agreed with the Court.
They said that material possession cannot justify a declaration of belonging.
The failure of the bid to gain control of the multi-million-pound property means that Duque will need to find himself a new home.
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, “El Patron”, was born in Rionegro, Antioquia, in 1949 and died in Medellin in 1993. In that time he became the most powerful, respected and feared leader of the Colombian Mafia.
La Manuela ranch 
La Manuela ranch 
Pablo Escobar
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Story By: Pol F, Sub-Editor: Joana Mihajlovska, Agency: Newsflash
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