Vanilla Ice recalls adventures with cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar in Florida: ‘I’ve seen it all’

nypost.com:

retrospective interview with Vlad TV, the Texas-born rapper — real name Robert Van Winkle — recalled his unlikely friendship with the late vice lord that blossomed out of a mutual obsession with boat and car racing.“I hung out with Pablo Escobar many, many times,” Ice, 56, said wistfully, noting that his compound became a favored playground for legendary rogues who flourished in Florida at the time.“They would land helicopters at my house constantly,” he said. “I would have food just for them in the refrigerators.

I had my maids and everybody clean up after they left.”Aware of the Escobar’s passion for competition, Ice said he once boasted that his fortified Porsche could outgun the Colombian’s prized Ferrari Testarossa.

The cars were soon lined up next to each other to settle the question.“I smoked him,” Ice reminisced with pride.In that pre-internet world, Ice said he knew little of Escobar’s background as the head of the deadly Medellín Cartel’s — or the illicit origins of his wealth.“I didn’t have Google,” he said. “I didn’t know who these people are.

I thought they were businessmen. They liked to race boats like I did.”On some occasions, Escobar, who was shot dead in Colombia in 1993, would scoop him up for an unannounced field trip.“They would take me in helicopters to these great events and race boats and look at all the cool stuff they were making,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff we did.