The trafficker involved in the assassination of former soccer player Andres Escobar was killed
Article by Adrian Duţă – Published on Sunday, 08 February 2026, 00:02 / Updated on Sunday, 08 February 2026 00:03
Juan Santiago Gallon, the Colombian drug trafficker involved in the 1994 assassination of soccer player Andres Escobar, was assassinated in Toluca, Mexico. He was shot after getting out of the car, on his way to the entrance of a restaurant
Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, pointed to him as responsible for the crime committed against the player who had participated in the World Cup in the United States in 1994.
Santiago Gallon, the trafficker involved in the death of Andres Escobar, assassinated in Mexico
“Santiago Gallon assassinated out of jealousy, in a discotheque, the football player from Antioquia, Andres Escobar, who had just returned from a World Football Championship. The deed destroyed the international image of the country. Yesterday, Santiago Gallon was assassinated in Mexico,” said Petro, in a message published on the X social network.
However, beyond the Columbia president's statement, investigations determined that Gallon was not the direct perpetrator. He was convicted of indirect participation in the Escobar case, serving about 15 months in prison 3 decades ago.
His name appeared in subsequent investigations into drug trafficking and paramilitarism, but he was never convicted as a direct perpetrator of the murder.
Gallon had been living in Mexico for several years. His murder, according to Ole, took place when he got out of a car to enter a restaurant. He was shot.
Santiago Gallon, the trafficker involved in the death of Andres Escobar, assassinated in Mexico/ photo: Ole
Andre Escobar, killed after scoring an own goal in the World Cup
At the 1994 World Cup, Colombia was assigned to Romania's group. The South Americans lost 1-2 to the United States in Los Angeles, a match in which Andre Escobar scored an own goal. Colombia also lost to Romania, score 1-4.
After the elimination from the competition, even in the group stage, several teammates advised the defender not to return to Medellin and wait for the spirits to calm down after the own goal against the USA. But Andre Escobar returned to his hometown and was killed on July 2 at the El Indio bar, a nightclub.
Andres was 27 years old when he was killed in cold blood, shot 6 times.
51 matchesAndres Escobar played for the Colombian national team
How Andres Escobar was assassinated
In the parking lot, the brothers Pedro David and Juan Santiago Gallon Henao reproached Escobar for the own goal, and he asked them to leave him alone. However, the Gallon Henao brothers' driver and bodyguard, Humberto Munoz Castro, got out of his vehicle and, without saying a word, shot him six times.
He was later sentenced to 43 years in prison, but was released in 2005.
This assassination caused a huge shock wave in Colombia and the world of football, especially because of the recent memory of the World Cup. The tournament was still in progress when news of the murder arrived: the final, won by Brazil on penalties against Italy, took place on 17 July.
Gallon was arrested in 1995 after being implicated in Escobar's assassination and was again indicted in 2009 for financially supporting a group of 300 paramilitaries in Antioquia (northwest), for which he was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
Also, in 2018, he was captured in the city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, in a case of drug trafficking to Europe.
However, on December 31 of the same year, a judge in Medellin released him.
