Pablo Escobar’s nephew finds $18m bag of cash hidden in uncle’s old house

Some banknotes were not useable, having decayed in wall for many years

Medellin drugs cartel leader Pablo Escobar is said to have hiden millions of dollars of cash in his home city. AFP

Visitors take pictures in front of the "HK617" Colombian airplane used by drug lord Pablo Escobar to send his first cocaine shipment into the United States, at the entrance to the Napoles ranch in Puerto Triunfo municipality, Antioquia Department, Colombia on June 21, 2009. The Napoles ranch, which has an area of 2,200 hectares and was built by the late drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, has turned into a theme park. AFP)

A boy smiles in the Pablo Escobar neighbourhood in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia. Escobar is thought to have hidden millions of dollars in his city hideouts. AFP

TO GO WITH AFP STORY - A man looks at a toy depicting the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar dressed up as Robin Hood. AFP

Relatives place flowers on a memorial wall in tribute to the victims of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in 2019. AFP

Colombian soldiers patrol in Medellin region on June 05, 1991. Colombian police killed him in a rooftop shootout in 1993. At the time, he had amassed an estimated net worth of $30 billion, equal to $59bn today. AFP

At the height of his wealth, Forbes estimated Pablo Escobar to have been the seventh richest person in the world. AFP

Yolanda Cubo holds the portrait of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar at her house. The “King of Cocaine” even ran for president once, but was unsuccessful. AFP

People walk next to a wall memorial in tribute to the victims of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar at 'Inflection Park' in Medellin. AFP

View of photographs of late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar at the Hacienda Napoles theme park. AFP

A nephew of the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar says he has found a plastic bag full of money, worth $18 million, in the wall of one of his uncle’s houses.

Nicolas Escobar told Colombian media that “a vision” led him to search the house in his uncle's home city of Medellin.

Several sightings of a mysterious man entering the house and disappearing also prompted him to look through the building.

"Every time I sat in the dining room and looked towards the car park, I saw a man entering the place and disappearing," Mr Escobar told Colombian TV channel Red+ Noticias.

"The smell was astonishing – a smell 100 times worse than something that had died."

Some of the bank notes were unuseable, having decayed in the wall for many years.

Mr Escobar said he also found a typewriter, satellite phones, gold pen, a camera and an undeveloped roll of film, which could provide fascinating new insights into the narco's life.

It was not the first time Mr Escobar had found hidden money in his uncle’s houses.

The drug baron, who led the Medellin Cartel that at one time provided America with 80 per cent of its cocaine, is thought to have hidden millions of dollars in his city hideouts.

At the height of his wealth, Forbes  estimated Pablo Escobar to have been the seventh richest person in the world.

The “King of Cocaine” even ran for president once, but was unsuccessful.

Colombian police killed him in a rooftop shootout in 1993. At the time, he had amassed an estimated net worth of $30 billion, equal to $59bn today.