Today's episode is sponsored by Audible get a free audiobook with a 30-day trial today by signing up at audible.com/infographics. Go to audible.com/infographics or text infographics to 500-500 to get started
The life of Pablo Escobar is a rags to riches story with a criminal bent born on December 1st
1949 Escobar rose from humble beginnings in Colombia to become one of the most successful drug traffickers in the world
According to one Escobar's biography he had an estimated net worth of 30 billion
Dollars and was named one of the ten richest people on earth by Forbes
How did this son of a farmer and a school teacher wind up one of the richest men on the planet?
That's what we'll find out in this episode of the infographic show pablo emilio escobar Gaviria
How did he become the king of cocaine?
Escobar's ambition played a major role in his rise to power as the king of cocaine
It seemed to dominate his personality and he is even quoted as saying I want to be big as a young man
He aspired to be the president of Colombia
He tried to channel his ambition into studying political science at La Universidad de Antioquia
But he ended up dropping out of school when he ran out of money to pay for his studies
Some people think this was a pivotal moment in his life according to one news report
His criminal career is said to have begun in earnest after lack of money forced him to leave his University
He may have started out as a small-time criminal who stole cars and supposedly even tombstones
But he did not stay that way for long
He eventually moved on to smuggling cigarettes in marijuana during this time his ambition to move up in the criminal world
Brought out another trait that would help him become the king of cocaine ruthlessness more money rolled in when he added
kidnapping and killing to his list of crimes
but he wanted something more in the
1970s Escobar saw an
opportunity to gain more power and wealth in the underground cocaine market the demand for cocaine in the United States was growing and
Smuggling cocaine was still a fledgling enterprise in Colombia after working for other drug traffickers for a while
Escobar made a big move to take over this illegal, but profitable industry in
1975 he allegedly ordered the murder, Vanetta
N'cole cane trafficker named fabio Restrepo and seized control of Restrepo drug trafficking operation
Escobar was not alone
however
He joined forces with a motley crew of individuals from diverse backgrounds
Among them were a pig farmer turned professional killer named jose Gonzalo rodríguez
Gotcha
And a marijuana trafficker named Carlos letter there were also three brothers from a ranching family named Jorge Juan David and Fabio Ochoa
Together they formed the infamous medellin cartel under Escobar's leadership
the medellin cartel
Expanded West rappels operation and made it bigger and better they developed more efficient ways to ship large amounts of cocaine to the United States
Instead of using suitcases and human mules on commercial airplanes to smuggle cocaine
They used their own planes
Including small planes that could fly below radar and large planes like dc-3s and DC sixes for large loads
according to one source
They also pulled off unexpected stunts like parachuting cocaine to speed boats in international waters in addition
They devised clever ways to smuggle cocaine into the u.s. Within legitimate shipments such as blending it into products like ecuadorian
Cocoa chilean wine and blue jeans the cocaine would then be chemically extracted from these products once they arrived in the United States
Escobar even transported cocaine by submarine one source states that he managed to obtain two remote-controlled
miniatures submarines from the Russian Navy each capable of carrying one ton that is about
4409 pounds of cocaine which is slightly less than the weight of an average u.s
car built in 2003 Escobar and the rest of the Medellin Cartel
Were rewarded for their ingenuity with huge profits in the 1980s one source notes that at the peak of his career
He illegally transported about 15 tons of cocaine daily earning a profit of 420 million dollars a week
There are many stories related to his great wealth
he
Supposedly bought a Learjet for the sole purpose of moving his money around he and his family lived in a lavish mansion with swimming pools
artificial lakes gardens and a private Zoo
He also had a soccer arena and a bullring built for his entertainment and it took 700 workers to run the place
Escobar also used his money to try to win over the people
He spent some of his wealth on community projects such as building churches sports facilities and housing for the poor
He even constructed a whole neighborhood called
Barrio Pablo Escobar that still exists today some of the benefactors of his generosity revere him as a hero to this day
But one report speculates that Escobar reached out to the community because he knew that he would be safer if the common people of Madyan
Loved him while these outward acts of charity and kindness improved his public image. They did not improve his personal conduct
He continued to resort to violence and ruthlessness to expand his power as the king of cocaine
He dealt with his enemies and other potentially problematic people with his infamous plateau or plomo
Silver or LED policy if anyone got in the way of what he wanted to do
He would first try to bribe them with money
If the person did not accept the bribe
then he would have that person killed the death toll resulting from Plateau or Plomo was high one report states that
Escobar was responsible for the murders of at least 40 judges 200 court officials a thousand policemen and
3500 civilians and that some estimates put the total as high as
60000 as the king of cocaine Escobar thought he could stay above the law and for a while
He did
Plateau or Plomo kept him out of jail for a long time because there were a lot of corrupt judges willing to take his bribes
And when he did have to go to jail as part of an agreement with the Colombian government not to be extradited to the US
On drug charges the prison and the sentence were a farce after his arrest in 1991
He served out his sentence in a luxurious prison of his own making
called la catedral where he could still run his drug trafficking operation as he did before what brought about
Escobar's downfall was that he could not stop testing the limits of his power while he was in prison
He had two Associates of his own cartel tortured and killed at la catedral in 1992
And this blatant disregard for the law caused the Colombian government and public opinion to turn against him
the Colombian government planned to transfer him to a regular prison and
Escobar fled once he found out
soon the local police a special squad of us trained Colombian soldiers called the search bloc and a shadowy collective of Escobar's enemies known as
los bebés
Looking for him Escobar managed to evade capture for 16 months until the search block was finally able to pinpoint his location
From a traced phone call. He was in a meta
When the authorities finally caught up with him in December 1993
It is widely reported that he died in a shootout with the police
But many people including his own son and brother
Believed that Escobar committed suicide one possible reason why he would have killed himself is that he did not want to be extradited to him
Extradition was a fate worse than death
One of his mottos was better a tomb in Colombia than a prison cell in the United States
If you want to learn more about Pablo Escobar, we suggest listening to an audiobook called killing Pablo the hunt for the world's greatest
Outlaw audible is offering our listeners a free audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. So you can check out this book risk-free
Audiobooks are a great sidekick for summer activities like hiking sunbathing on the beach running road
Tripping enjoying downtime outdoors and more go to audible.com slash
Infographics and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs download a title free and start listening
It's that easy go to audible.com slash infographics or text infographics to 500-500 to get started today
So do you admire Escobar's success in spite of his crimes like many people do or do you believe that he was a low-down dirty?
Criminal who got what he deserved. Let us know your thoughts in the comments also
Be sure to check out our other video called the grandpa gang who perform the biggest British bank heist
Thanks for watching. And as always don't forget to like share and subscribe
See you next time!