WHO WAS PABLO ESCOBAR?
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's ambition and ruthlessness made him one of the wealthiest,
most powerful and most violent criminals of all time.
Pablo Escobar was on Born December 1, 1949 in the city of Rionegro, Colombia. His father
was a peasant farmer, his mother an elementary school teacher.
Pablo was a handful, even while at school, he used to steal tombstones and used to sell
them to smugglers for a price. It was his childhood dream to be a millionaire by 22.
Ambition burned from a young age. In the early 1970s, he turned into a thief and a bodyguard,
and he made a quick $100,000 on the side kidnapping and ransoming a Medellín executive before
entering the drug trade. His next step on the ladder was to become a millionaire by
working for contraband smuggler Alvaro Prieto. In 1975, Escobar started creating his cocaine
empire. Initially he personally flew shipments between Colombia and Panama to smuggle into
the United States. Later Escobar had a whole fleet of aeroplanes and helicopters, including
a Learjet. In March 1976 at the age of 27, Escobar married
Maria Victoria who was 15 years old. Together they have two children: Juan Pablo (now Juan
Sebastián Marroquín Santos) and Manuela. Escobar created and lived in a luxurious estate
called Hacienda Nápoles.
In the same year he was arrested by Colombian authorities in possession of drugs. However
he got out by bribing the arresting officers and the case collapsed. This was the beginning
of a policy that endured throughout his reign: a paid cop turns a blind eye.
Under his leadership, large amounts of coca paste were purchased in Bolivia and Peru,
processed, and brought to the United States. Escobar partnered with five or six other illegal
entrepreneurs from the Medellin area, forming the infamous Medellin Cartel.
Escobar eventually dominated over 80% of the cocaine shipped to the U.S. He became one
of the ten richest people on earth Those he couldn't bribe, he killed. Hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of police officers were murdered on Escobar's orders simply for doing
their job.
Escobar may have been a criminal but he was also a hero to the poor of Medellín. He built
many parks, hospitals, schools, churches, sports stadiums and frequently distributed
money to the poor. He even provided housing to local communities to ensure nobody went
homeless. To this day, many see Escobar as a Columbian Robin Hood.
When the origin of his wealth became an issue of public debate, U.S. started pressuring
Colombia to extradite him. Using terror, Escobar tried to influence Colombian politics towards
a no-extradition clause and to grant amnesty to drug barons in exchange for giving up the
drug trade. His terror campaign claimed the lives of politicians, civil servants, journalists
and ordinary citizens. It turned public opinion against him and caused a break-up of the alliance
of drug traffickers. After one year in prison, in 1993 Escobar was killed in a firefight
with the Colombian police. The fatal bullet wound was right above his ear - the exact
same place where Escobar told his brother he would shoot himself were he ever cornered.
The truth will always remain unknown.