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Who is Pablo Escobar, the ruthless Colombian drug lord
Pablo Escobar was a popular Colombian drug lord responsible for killing about 4,000 people, including an estimated 200 judges and…
Pablo Escobar was a popular Colombian drug lord responsible for killing about 4,000 people, including an estimated 200 judges and 1,000 police, journalists, and government officials.
His full name is Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria; he was born December 1, 1949, in Rionegro, Colombia—died December 2, 1993, Medellín. He is the head of the Medellín cartel and was arguably the world’s most powerful drug trafficker in the 1980s and early ’90s.
Escobar’s fame and ordeals eclipses just about every drug kingpin in history. He started from nothing and in as little as a couple of decades, became one of the most powerful men in the world.
Along the way, he did some truly staggering things…
Meet Pablo Escobar?
Pablo Escobar’s father was a farmer and his mother a schoolteacher; soon after his birth, Escobar’s family moved to Envigado, Colombia, a suburb of Medellín. While still a teenager, he began a life of crime.
Escobar’s early activities included selling fake diplomas, smuggling stereo equipment, and stealing tombstones to resell. He also stole cars, and it was this offense that resulted in his first arrest, in 1974.
Meanwhile, as the cocaine industry grew in Colombia— a big thanks in part to its proximity to Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, major growers of coca, from which cocaine is derived. Pablo Escobar became involved in drug smuggling.
In the mid-1970s he helped found the crime organization that later became known as the Medellín cartel.
How Much Money Does Pablo Escobar Had?
According to some reports, he was worth approximately $25 billion, which supported a lavish lifestyle that included a 7,000-acre (2,800-hectare) estate called Hacienda Nápoles in Colombia.
His estate was reportedly cost $63 million and featured a soccer field, dinosaur statues, artificial lakes, a bullfighting arena, an airstrip, and a tennis court. The property also had a zoo that housed giraffes, hippopotamuses, and camels, among other animals.
Escobar made the Forbes’ billionaires list of the world’s richest people seven years in a row beginning in 1987 and peaked at number seven in 1989.
Escobar’s business was so big and so that in addition to planes, helicopters, cars, trucks, and boats, he even bought two submarines for transporting his cocaine into the US.
Many of his properties had hidden stashes of cash and jewelry.
Is Escobar a Philanthropist?
In his hope to win the support of common Colombians, Escobar funded various projects to aid the poor, earning him comparisons to Robin Hood. More so, that perception helped him win election to an alternate seat in the country’s Congress in 1982.
Also, he built hospitals, stadiums, and housing for the poor. He even sponsored local soccer teams.
Who is Pablo Escobar’s wife?
He married Maria Victoria Henao when she was just 15-years-old and the pair remained together until his death in 1993. They had two children – Juan Pablo, who has since changed his name to Sebastian Marroquin, and Manuela.
After Escobar’s death, his family fled the country and traveled for a year before being granted asylum in Argentina.
How did Pablo Escobar die?
He was killed on a rooftop during a shoot-out as he was trying to run from the police on December 2, 1993.
According to his son Sebastian Marroquin has said he is “absolutely certain” the infamous drug kingpin took his own life to save his family from being taken, hostage.
In an agreement with the Colombian government in 1991, Escobar agreed to go to a prison called La Catedral for what was meant to be five years so he wouldn’t be extradited to the US.
La Catedral was a luxury prison built for Escobar which included a football pitch, bar, jacuzzi, and waterfall. He refused and escaped his prison after being there for one year and one month.
It was said he simply walked out the back gate.
A colossus, Escobar inspired numerous books, movies, and TV projects in the decades after his death.
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