‘Narcos’ Season 3 Adds Miguel Ángel Silvestre of ‘Sense8’ to New Cast; Real-Life Agent Javier Peña Talks War Against Drugs, Pablo Escobar

‘Narcos’ season 3 is set to feature Miguel Ángel Silvestre in the new cast. He is set to play a money launderer for the cartel. Meanwhile, the real-life DEA Agent Javier Peña talked about the war against drugs and against Pablo Escobar in a recent interview.

According to E! News, Silvestre has been cast to play a new character on season 3 of Netflix’s popular crime web television series. The 34-year old Spanish actor is best known for his roles on television shows such as the Spanish drama ‘Velvet’ and The Wachowskis’ American science-fiction drama television series ‘Sense8.’

Silvestere teased his involvement in season 3 on an Instagram post while Hola! Espana was the first to confirm that he had joined the new cast. The publication reported that Silvestre’s character is someone in-charge of laundering money for a cartel. It was also revealed that Silvestre will take on a Colombian accent.

He has been traveling to and from Bogota, Colombia to film scenes for season 3. When asked about his new character, Silvestre teased, "He is an enigmatic person. It is not yet very well known how he is. He's had a love story that was bitter and also filled hatred." 

It was previously reported that season 3 of ‘Narcos’ will feature the rise of another powerful Columbian drug cartel known as the Cali Cartel in the wake Pablo Escobar’s death. Escobar was portrayed by award-winning actor Wagner Moura in seasons 1 and 2 of the show. The Cali Cartel, founded by Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela as well as Jose Santacruz Londono, is set to replace the Medellin Cartel’s domination of the international drug trade.

Executive producer Eric Newman confirmed during a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly that ‘Narcos’ will shift its focus from the Medellin Cartel to the Cali Cartel. Newman said, “They’re certainly teed up for that, that’s for sure. This show has always been about cocaine. We purposely did not call the show Pablo Escobar or Medellin.”

He continued, “In the same way that Osama Bin Laden begets ISIS, Medellin begets Cali begets the Mexican Cartels. Though they existed at the same time, Cali really got the Mexicans into cocaine, which proved to be a much better business than heroin.”

Meanwhile, the real-life DEA Agent Javier Peña recalled his experiences as a young agent working in the fight against illegal drug trade as well his experiences with the notorious drug lord Pablo Escboar. Peña is portrayed by Pedro Pascal on the series.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Peña revealed that he had conditions for producers before signing on as consultant for the show. He said, "The condition we had was that they wouldn't glamorise Escobar… We didn't want people to see him as a Robin Hood hero. He was a deadly mass murderer… We told them the real truth about what happened during the search for Escobar and we taught them the history."

He recalled taking the lead in the case to take down Pablo Escobar with his partner Steve Murphy saying, "I didn't know who Pablo Escobar was but I was a fast learner… He was at the height of his power. He had all the money he needed – he was responsible for about 80 per cent of the cocaine reaching the United States."

‘Narcos’ season 3 is expected to air on Netflix sometime next year. The network renewed the series for a third and fourth season last September 6, 2016.