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Locked Up In The Lap Of Luxury: One Drug Lord's Decked-Out Cell

Photos reveal Brazilian drug trafficker Jarvis Chimenes Pavao's cell at Tacumbu prison in Asuncion, Paraguay, last week.
Norberto Duarte
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos reveal Brazilian drug trafficker Jarvis Chimenes Pavao's cell at Tacumbu prison in Asuncion, Paraguay, last week.

The photos wouldn't be out place in a Craigslist ad: "Three-room suite features tiled walls, plush chairs, flat-screen TV and plenty of storage. With a conference room and a cozy living room, it's perfect for both work and relaxation. Treadmill included!"

Chimenes Pavao's three-room quarters featured a plasma TV, a library and even a collection of DVDs.
Norberto Duarte / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Chimenes Pavao's three-room quarters featured a plasma TV, a library and even a collection of DVDs.

Except it's not an apartment: It's a three-room cell at the crowded Tacumbu prison in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Brazilian drug trafficker Jarvis Chimenes Pavao was serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering at the prison, Agence France-Presse reports. After police found a bomb inside the prison, they investigated reports that Chimenes Pavao was planning to escape — and discovered his cozy setup.

Police discovered the luxury cell as they were investigating an alleged escape plot.
Norberto Duarte / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Police discovered the luxury cell as they were investigating an alleged escape plot.

He had air conditioning, a refrigerator, a library and a DVD collection ... including the full Pablo Escobar TV miniseries.

Chimenes Pavao's DVD collection included two box sets of the TV miniseries <em>Pablo Escobar, El Patron del Mal. </em>
Norberto Duarte / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Chimenes Pavao's DVD collection included two box sets of the TV miniseries Pablo Escobar, El Patron del Mal.

Chimenes Pavao had bribed multiple prison directors and justice ministers to allow him to deck out his prison quarters, his lawyer says, according to AFP.

You can read the news agency's full coverage of the scandal over at Yahoo News.

Shoes, art and a tiled wall in Chimenes Pavao's prison quarters.
Norberto Duarte / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Shoes, art and a tiled wall in Chimenes Pavao's prison quarters.

The druglord has now been transferred out of his posh dwellings, AFP writes:

"Among the 3,500 inmates at Tacumbu — double its capacity — many already say they miss him.

" 'I don't know what's going to become of us without him,' said a fellow prisoner, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"He said Chimenes Pavao was a generous benefactor who paid for a football pitch and chapel at the prison, as well as employing bodyguards among the inmates."

The decked-out cell featured an impressive amount of storage.
Norberto Duarte / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
The decked-out cell featured an impressive amount of storage.

Most of the inmates at the overcrowded prison "eat only irregularly and sleep on cardboard boxes or directly on the floor," AFP reports.

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Camila Flamiano Domonoske covers cars, energy and the future of mobility for NPR's Business Desk.