"YOU don’t get asked to assassinate Pablo Escobar unless you have the right experience,” says Glasgow-born mercenary Peter McAleese, recalling being hired to kill one of the world’s most notorious men. “It was like f***ing Christmas.” 

It’s a tale of guns, gang warfare, drugs, and even more guns. Killing Escobar, a powerful documentary due to premier tomorrow, tells the true story of how the East End man, now 78, was tasked with leading a squad to take down the Colombian in 1989. 

Using never-before-seen footage and featuring accounts from McAleese, his squad mates, and from those on the other side of the fence – including one of Escobar’s hitmen – it’s an event filmmaker David Whitney has been desperate to bring to life for three decades: and he is sure it will be worth the wait. 

Glasgow Times: McAleese in Colombia McAleese in Colombia

“It’s a relatively unknown story but I really felt passionately that there was a feature here, which is why I pursued it,” he said. 

“It has everything. It has action, it has intrigue.

“It’s got danger. It’s a true story. It’s a team of mainly British mercenaries.

“What is there not to like about this? It’s an amazing story and so dramatic,

“That’s what film-makers look for. We look for the drama and the human stories and at the heart of this story is Peter McAleese.”

For many, Escobar’s exploits will be familiar from the Netflix series Narcos but David is quick to stress the documentary’s tale is something entirely different.

Filmed during the course of the last year, David and his crew visited Glasgow – a “brilliant city”, he says, where he explored McAleese’s upbringing – America, and, crucially, Colombia itself. 

There he was able to track down a former hitman of Escobar’s, who was on the ground on the day of the group’s ultimately unsuccessful attack. 

“There’s an awful lot of content out there about Escobar but this is a really fresh angle that people probably won’t have seen before,” David said. 

“This film is not about Pablo Escobar. It’s about Peter McAleese and his men and what they went through.
 Glasgow Times: David Whitney, centre, on set in Colombia David Whitney, centre, on set in Colombia

“We went and spoke to Jorge Salcedo [who ultimately helped to bring down Escobar]. He’s in witness protection in America and we went and interviewed in secret and he gave, for the first time, his depiction of what happened.

“We really wanted to have real depth to the film and speaking to the people who were there is how you do it.

“We also managed to track down one of Escobar’s hitmen who was there on the day Peter launched this helicopter raid. We managed to find him. He’s in hiding still in Colombia and is still a wanted man, who killed a lot of people who want revenge.

“It was so thrilling to hear when we met him that he knew all about this and what happened on the day. You don’t just want to talk to nice, middle-class people all the time and want to speak to people who have done real difficult things.

Glasgow Times: British mercenaries in Colombia in 1989 British mercenaries in Colombia in 1989

“If that means going to Colombia to speak to hitmen, then so be it.” 

If it’s people who have done difficult things you’re after, then they don’t come much better qualified than McAleese. 

Raised under the watchful eye of Barlinne, he enjoyed a chequered military career, serving in Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – and South Africa, before training bodyguards in Moscow and working with security forces in Algeria and Iraq. 

His extraordinary life was retold in his book, No Mean Soldier, but Killing Escobar shines the spotlight on some of his lesser-known tales. As well as the mission McAleese opens up about his marriage and how he struggled to make his family life work. 

Glasgow Times: Glasgow actor Paul Donnelly portrays McAleese during the film Glasgow actor Paul Donnelly portrays McAleese during the film

“He’s led an extraordinary life and gone through a great deal of personal struggle,” said David. “A lot of that came to the fore during that time in Colombia.”

“When I pitched it to him and how I wanted to do it, he agreed. t’s not been easy. Peter is a tough, old man and is challenging at times. He was quite a dangerous person many years ago but we have become friends over the course of the film.

“He trusted me and I didn’t want to sell him down the river and stitch him up but I also didn’t want to do a puff piece. I wanted to really nail down his regrets, his faults, his mistakes, and I am just grateful he trusted me to go there.” 

Killing Escobar premieres tomorrow at the Glasgow Film Festival. For tickets, visit here.