SPECIAL Forces hero Peter McAleese, who was once tasked with assassinating Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, has died at the age of 81.
In 1989, McAleese was offered $1million to murder Escobar.
The job was funded by Escobar’s rival Cali cartel and is believed to have had the backing of the US government.
He led a black ops team of 12 but just a few miles away from his target’s Medellin estate his helicopter crashed in the jungle.
McAleese broke ribs in the accident and spent three days on the mountainside waiting to be rescued.
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He said: “The pain was f*****g excruciating. I started thinking, how did I get myself into this s**t?”
McAleese was born in a rough part of Glasgow and joined the SAS in 1962.
He was booted out for “disciplinary reasons” and served three stints in prison. He later became a private soldier, fighting in civil wars across Africa.
After his bungled mission to kill Escobar he returned to the UK and bought a pub.
He also wrote a memoir, No Mean Soldier.
A friend said: “Peter was a warrior in the military world but a gentleman in the streets.”