Delta Force on the Pablo Escobar Hunt: DEA Agent Steve Murphy Breaks Silence | Ep. 312

About this video

Mike Ritland interviews retired DEA special agent Steve Murphy, who worked in Colombia from 1991-1994 and is credited with involvement in the hunt for Pablo Escobar. Murphy recounts his early life in Tennessee and West Virginia, his entry into law enforcement at age 19, and his career path from small-town police officer to railroad police to ultimately joining the DEA. The conversation covers Murphy’s formative experiences in policing, his philosophy of respectful public service, and several incidents from his early law enforcement career.

Key takeaways

• Murphy attributes his law enforcement career to a childhood run-in with police at age 10, which sparked his interest in becoming an officer despite family expectations to run the family carpet business
• Murphy emphasizes that respect and treating policing as genuine public service—rather than authority—shaped his approach, including using discretion to give breaks when appropriate rather than strict enforcement
• Murphy’s path to the DEA came through a fellow railroad cop who had worked DEA task force cases, inspiring Murphy to complete his degree (which took 11 years) and apply, taking two more years to get hired in 1987

Episode details: published October 6, 2026 · 125.5K views · 3:32:38 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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