A locked safe was discovered within a wall of drug lord Pablo Escobar's former Miami Beach pink mansion, after it was demolished by its new owners on Tuesday. Christian de Berdouare of Chicken Kitchen bought the mansion in 2014 for $9.65 million and was in charge of having it demolished, as reported by HNGN.
Amid hopes the safe could contain a loot stashed by Escobar during his reign over a $20 billion drug empire, de Berdouare moved quickly to hide it off-site, according to The Daily Mail.
The 1,300-pound (600 kg) safe was found when excavator operator, Miguel Mato, knocked down the last walls on the 7,336-square-foot home overlooking Biscayne Bay. "We had left one of the walls because they had to film a scene for a documentary. When I started to knock it down, a piece of rubble hit the foundation, the floor sunk and I saw it," Mato said, according to The Miami Herald. "It was something gray. I grabbed it with the excavator's claw, realized it was a safe and started to yell to tell them."
Professional treasure hunters were hired by de Berdouare to search the rubble. He believed when he bought the Miami mansion that Escobar, who was killed by Colombian police, may have hidden cash and diamonds there, according to BBC News.
"This is real. It's still locked. It's very, very heavy. We can't believe it. Now Pablito is my best friend," de Berdouare told the Miami Herald.
