QUICK FACTS
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria
Don Pablo
1 December 1949
44 years
Rionegro, Colombia
Rionegro, Colombia
NA
Abel de Jesús Escobar Echeverri
Hermilda de los Dolores Gaviria Berrío
Maria Victoria Henao
Rionegro, Colombia
Married
Roberto Escobar
Argemiro Escobar
Luis Fernando Escobar
Alba Marina Escobar
Gloria Inés Escobar
Luz María Escobar
1.67 m in feet(5′ 6″)
70 Kg
Liceo Antioqueño – Sede Principal
Latin American Autonomous University
college drop out
NA
Christian
Colombian
Sagittarius
Drug Seller
$25 Billion
WHO IS PABLO EMILIO ESCOBAR GAVIRIA
The founder and only head of the Medellin Cartel were Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord and terrorist who lived from December 1, 1949, until December 2, 1993. The “king of cocaine,” Pablo Escobar, accumulated an estimated net worth of $30 billion by the time of his death, which is equal to $70 billion in 2022 when his drug cartel was in charge of the importation of cocaine into the United States in the 1980s and the early 1990s. Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history.
Pablo Escobar was raised in Medellin and was born in Rionegro. He attended the Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana de Medellin for a brief period of time but left without receiving a degree.
Instead, he started to engage in criminal activity, selling counterfeit lottery tickets and illegal cigarettes, as well as robbing cars. He started working for several drug traffickers in the early 1970s, frequently kidnapping and detaining victims for ransom.
Pablo Escobar developed the initial smuggling lines from Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador via Colombia and finally into the United States in 1976 when he launched the Medellin Cartel, which disseminated powder cocaine. The demand for cocaine increased exponentially as a result of Escobar’s entry into the nation; during the 1980s, it was claimed that Escobar was responsible for monthly shipments from Colombia of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine.As a result, he swiftly rose to prominence as one of the richest men in the world. However, as he fought rival cartels both domestically and internationally, massacres and the assassinations of police officers, judges, townspeople, and important politicians occurred, turning Colombia into the murder capital of the world.
“There are two hundred million idiots, manipulated by a million intelligent men.”
Pablo Escobar Gaviria
CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE OF PABLO ESCOBAR
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born in Rionegro, Antioquia Department, on December 1, 1949. He was the third of seven children and grew up in the adjacent city of Medellin. His mother was a teacher, while his father was a modest farmer. Escobar left high school just before turning 17. Two years later, he returned with his cousin, Gustavo Gaviria. Due to the terrible life, they had on the streets of Medellin, teachers at the time perceived them as gangster bullies.
After more than a year, the two stopped attending, but Escobar persisted and temporarily achieved independence in Latin America by fabricating high school degrees. He then pursued a degree in college with the intention of becoming a criminal defense attorney, a politician, and ultimately the president, but he was forced to leave due to a lack of funding.
1. CRIMINAL CAREER
In 1966, Escobar started a career in crime. Escobar’s first crime was likely street fraud, although it is alleged that he and his team started their criminal careers by robbing gravestones, sandblasting their inscriptions, and then selling them. After dropping out of school, Escobar joined vehicle-theft organizations and, by the time he was 20 years old, was well-known among car thieves. With enough cash on hand, Escobar hired authorities to help him launder his stolen goods after he and his crew stole automobiles and disassembled them to sell their components. Escobar is believed to have spent many months in a Medellin prison prior to becoming 20 years old, however, arrest documents have been destroyed.
Escobar quickly got involved in violent crime, hiring gangs to abduct individuals who owed him money and demanding ransoms. Sometimes, even after receiving the ransom, Escobar would rip up tickets. Diego Echavarria, a businessman who was abducted and later assassinated in the summer of 1971, was his most well-known victim. Escobar and his crew became notorious for this kidnapping, for which the Echavarria family demanded a $50,000 ransom.
2. MEDELLIN GROUP
When the cocaine trade started to take off in Colombia in the middle of the 1970s, Escobar had been a part of organized crime for ten years. Fabio Restrepo, one of Colombia’s original drug traffickers, sent 40 to 60 kg of cocaine to Miami once or twice a year. Restrepo was slain in 1975 by Escobar, who also took control of his market and company. The Colombian Security Service (DAS), which was likewise drawn to Escobar’s spectacular rise, detained him in May 1976 while he was returning from cocaine dealing in Ecuador. Agents from DAS discovered 39 kg of cocaine in Escobar’s car’s spare tire.
Escobar was released alongside other convicts after he was able to influence the first judge in the litigation and bribe the second one. The agent who had detained Escobar was killed a year later. Escobar kept up the same pattern of law enforcement cooperation. His approach, often known as “silver or lead” or “money or bullets,” became well-known. The Medellin Group wasn’t founded until the early 1970s, but it quickly grew after Escobar met many drug lords in April 1978 on a farm. By the end of 1978, they had sent almost 19,000 kg of cocaine to the United States.
3. RISE TO PROMINENCE
Escobar organized more smuggling shipments, routes, and distribution networks in South Florida, California, Puerto Rico, and other regions of the country as the demand for cocaine in the United States rapidly expanded. He collaborated with cartel co-founder Carlos Lehder to create a new trans-shipment location in the Bahamas on the island of Norman’s Cay, which is located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southeast of Florida. Escobar did not acquire Norman’s Cay, according to his brother; Lehder owned it alone. Escobar and Robert Vesco bought the majority of the island’s territory, including a 1-kilometer (3,300-foot) runway, a harbor, a hotel, homes, boats, and airplanes. They also constructed a cold storage facility to store the cocaine.
This served as the Medellin Cartel’s main smuggling route from 1978 until 1982. Escobar quickly acquired 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi) of property in Antioquia for many millions of dollars, on which he erected the Hacienda Nápoles, thanks to the immense income this route brought him. He built his family and the cartel a mansion with a zoo, a lake, a sculpture garden, a private bullring, and other facilities.
4. DURING HIS HEYDAY, ESCOBAR
Escobar also supported charities in Colombia and generously rewarded the workers in his cocaine lab. Escobar invested millions in some of Medellin’s most impoverished districts. He worked on the construction of soccer fields, electrical lines, and roadways. He also constructed facilities for the homeless to live in. Escobar began his political career in the 1970s and assisted in the foundation of the Liberal Party of Colombia. He was elected to the Colombian Congress in 1982. Even though he was simply an alternative, Colombian law immediately gave him parliamentary immunity and access to a diplomatic passport. At the same time, Escobar was steadily gaining notoriety and earning the nickname “Robin Hood Paisa” due to his charitable endeavors. In one interview, he claimed that the bicycle rental business he started when he was 16 was the source of his wealth.
Rodrigo Lara-Bonilla, the newly appointed minister of justice, had taken on the role of Escobar’s adversary in Congress and had started by accusing Escobar of illegal conduct. Lara-underlings Bonilla’s looked into Escobar’s arrest in 1976. A few months later, Escobar was kicked out of the Liberal Party by party head Luis Carlos Galán. Escobar resisted, but in January 1984 he declared his departure from politics. The murder of Lara Bonilla occurred three months later.
Luis Carlos Galán, who expelled him from politics and was killed on August 18, 1989, at Escobar’s urging, was still on Escobar’s bad side. Escobar then attempted to kill Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, who was on board Avianca Flight 203 but missed the plane and lived, by detonating a bomb on it. The explosion killed all 107 people. The U.S. government started to directly intervene after the explosion claimed the lives of two Americans as well.
5. LA CATEDRAL PRISON
The César Gaviria administration began taking action against Escobar and the drug gangs after the murder of Luis Carlos Galán. In the end, the government was able to bargain with Escobar and persuade him to turn himself in and stop all illegal activities in exchange for a lighter sentence and special care while he was being held. Escobar surrendered to Colombian police in 1991, putting a stop to a string of earlier violent crimes intended to exert pressure on the government and the public. The 1991 Colombian Constitution, which had just been ratified, forbade the extradition of Colombian residents to the United States before he turned himself in.
Escobar and other drug lords were accused of influencing members of the Constituent Assembly to enact this bill, which made it contentious. Escobar was imprisoned at La Catedral, which later became his opulent private jail and had a football field, a massive playhouse, a bar, a Jacuzzi, and a waterfall. On July 22, 1992, the authorities attempted to transfer Escobar to a more standard jail when reports of his continuous criminal activity while incarcerated started to appear in the media. Because of Escobar’s influence, he was able to learn about the strategy beforehand and successfully flee, spending the rest of his life avoiding capture.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF PABLO ESCOBAR
Pablo Escobar received no awards during his lifetime. He was known as one of the most notorious and violent drug lords in history, and he was widely condemned for his illegal activities and the harm he caused society.
PABLO ESCOBAR GAVIRIA ‘S HOUSE MAP
PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY OF PABLO ESCOBAR
Escobar, then age 26, married Mara Victoria Henao, then age 15, in March 1976. The pair eloped because the Henao family disallowed their relationship because they believed Escobar to be a social pariah. Their two children were Juan Pablo (now Sebastián Marroqun) and Manuela. In her 2007 biography Amando a Pablo, Odiando an Escobar (Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar), the journalist Virginia Vallejo details her relationship with Escobar and the connections he had with several presidents, Caribbean dictators, and prominent politicians. The 2017 film Loving Pablo was inspired by her book. Griselda Blanco, a drug dealer, is claimed to have had a hidden but intense relationship with Escobar; several passages in her notebook give him the nicknames “Coque de Mi Rey” and “Polla Blanca” from My Coke King (White Cock). Once Escobar was gone, the rival Cali Cartel swiftly surpassed the Medellin Cartel in strength. This situation persisted until the Colombian authorities dismantled the Cali Cartel in the mid-1990s. The underprivileged in Medellin still see Escobar as a benefactor. Numerous books, films, and television shows have been about him, such as “Narcos” and “Escobar: Paradise Lost.” The master criminal who once controlled one of the biggest drug empires in history continues to captivate a lot of people.
QUOTES OF PABLO ESCOBAR
“Life is full of surprises, some good, some not so good.”
“All empires are created of blood and fire.”
“Everyone has a price, the important thing is to find out what it is.”
“I can replace things, but I could never replace my wife and kids.”
“There are two hundred million idiots, manipulated by a million intelligent men.”
“Lies are necessary when the truth is too difficult to believe.”
“I am not a rich person. I am a poor person with money.”
“To have power does not mean that one can abuse the poor.”
“I’m a decent man who exports flowers.”
“Sometimes I feel like God…when I order someone killed – they die the same day.”
TRIVIA OF PABLO ESCOBAR
Escobar was responsible for the deaths of around 4,000 people, including, among others, 200 judges, 1,000 police, journalists, and government officials.
Eighty percent of the cocaine that was delivered to the United States in the 1980s was produced by Escobar’s Medellin cartel.
Escobar was involved in automobile theft and the sale of stolen gravestones to smugglers before he entered the drug trade.
In 1949, Pablo Escobar was born in the Colombian town of Rionegro. His mother taught in a school, while his father was a farmer
Pablo Escobar, who was then 27 years old, married Maria Victoria Henao Vallejo, who was just 15 years old, in 1976Escobar’s opulent Colombian home was turned into a theme park after his death, complete with animals, life-size dinosaur replicas, Escobar’s collection of vintage vehicles, and more.
Pablo Escobar Burning Money
Learjet was purchased by Pablo Escobar expressly for transporting money.
Escobar is said to have hidden cocaine in the tires of aircraft. The daily salary of product pilots may reach $500,000, depending on how much they fly.
Escobar promised to settle Colombia’s debt, which is believed to be worth $10 billion, in an effort to amend the extradition regulations.
The rubber bands that Escobar used to keep his money secure cost him about $2,500 every month.
Escobar’s income peaked at almost $30 billion.
Manuela Escobar, Pablo Escobar’s Daughter, fell ill while the family was hiding. Escobar burned approximately two million dollars to keep her warm.
Escobar, who peaked at number seven in 1989, was on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest individuals for seven years in a row, starting in 1987.
A portion of Escobar’s massive fleet, which included 142 aircraft, 20 helicopters, 32 boats, and 141 residences and offices, was captured by Colombian police in the late 1980s.
Escobar purchased two submarines in addition to aircraft, helicopters, vehicles, trucks, and boats to deliver his cocaine into the United States since his company was so large and closely monitored.
Escobar trafficked up to 15 tons of cocaine each day during the height of the drug trade.
Authorities discovered The Power Of Positive Thinking in Spanish translation among the items they seized from Escobar’s residence.
Escobar funded several initiatives to aid Colombia’s underprivileged citizens despite his heinous economic operations. He founded churches and hospitals, started food distribution programs, erected parks and football stadiums, and developed a barrio.
The biggest worry for Pablo Escobar was extradition. He didn’t want to spend his last years in a prison cell in the United States, no matter what occurred
At the age of 44, Pablo Escobar was killed by gunfire. Some people think the wound was caused by the victim themselves.
A large number of the underprivileged Colombians to whom Escobar had personally given money attended his funeral in Medellin, which was attended by over 25,000 people.
Escobar lost around 10% of his revenue to spoilage. Most of those banknotes were probably eaten by rats.
Escobar won a seat in Colombia’s Congress by campaigning on the strength of his incredible riches and notoriety.
THERE ARE SIX MOVIES AND TV SHOWS BASED ON PABLO ESCOBAR’S LIFE
1. Narcos
There is no need to introduce this Pablo Escobar Netflix series, which has gripped fans since its August 2015 premiere with a compelling narrative based on Pablo Escobar‘s life and a terrific performance by Wagner Moura. The third season of Narcos, which was published in September 2017, delves more into the Cali cartel and its members, who were originally Escobar’s colleagues. The first two seasons of Narcos look back on the DEA’s (Drug Enforcement Administration) quest for the Colombian drug lord and his Medellin cartel.
2. Blow
A biopic about drug lord George Jung, who oversaw the largest cocaine importation network in the USA throughout the 1970s and 1980s, was produced by filmmaker Ted Demme in 2001. The charismatic Johnny Depp played the part of “Boston George,” who begins as nothing more than a straightforward marijuana dealer until encountering Pablo Escobar and a Colombian prisoner who informs him about the largest cocaine trafficking network in the world (Cliff Curtis). The young American is fascinated by this Colombian and wins his trust before becoming his right-hand man.
3. Paradise Lost
Benicio del Toro played Pablo Escobar in Andrea Di Stefano’s Paradise Lost in 2014. The main emphasis of the movie is the romance between young Canadian surfer Nick (Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games) and Maria, a stunning young Colombian who introduces him to her uncle, Pablo Escobar, a meeting he is not yet ready to forget.
4. Infiltrator
United States Customs Service special agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston), played by Brad Furman, was thrust into the center of Pablo Escobar’s network of narcotics trafficking in 2015. His goal is to expose 85 drug lords that work for Escobar as well as a global bank that is complicit in the trade. Robert Mazur’s actual experiences, which required him to assume a different identity and infiltrate the largest clan of cocaine dealers in the world, served as inspiration for the novel Infiltrator.
5. Loving Pablo
The latest film by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Loving Pablo, centers on the love story between Pablo Escobar (Javier Bardem) and journalist Virginia Vallejo (Penelope Cruz). The Spanish pair, who haven’t been together on a major motion picture since Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona eleven years ago, expertly manages the explosive romance
6. Pablo Escobar, le Patron du mal
Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord, is another documentary series about his life that is accessible on Netflix. The 113 episodes of this Colombian-American drama, which debuted in 2012, follow the unique life of a drug trafficker, from his earliest criminal endeavors to the establishment of his drug network.
BEST PABLO ESCOBAR BOOK BIOGRAPHIES FOR FANS OF NARCOS
1. Pablo Escobar’s Story 1: The Rise, by Shaun Attwood
This book offers a wealth of knowledge on the infamous “king of drugs.” You may learn about his life, his crimes, and the details of his most well-known deeds in it.
2. Pablo Escobar’s Story 2: Narcos at War, by Shaun Attwood
You’ll hear tales from Part 2 of this drama that haven’t been reported in English, such as how Pablo’s desire for a teenage volleyball player resulted in the death of his brother-in-law and how half of the Medellin Cartel’s top commanders were assassinated. the fate of those who survived the Palace of Justice assault. the role played by the government in the assassination of popular presidential contender Galán. For anybody interested in learning more about the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, this book is unquestionably essential.
3. Pablo Escobar’s Story 3: Narcos Fall, by Shaun Attwood
The utterly shocking facts concerning Pablo’s killings of numerous of his pals are revealed in Part 3 of the book. a bombing attempt by the Cali Cartel close to Pablo’s jail.
His final days with his family were gloomy and miserable. Who was after him, and how did he die?
4. Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, the World’s Most Wanted Criminal, by Steve Murphy
Tons of cocaine were smuggled out of Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s by Pablo Escobar‘s Medellin Cartel into North America and Europe.
Pablo Escobar purchased politicians and law enforcement officers with his billions in personal fortune. By building homes and sporting facilities, he rose to the status of a hero in poor communities.
5. Pablo Escobar: Beyond Narcos, by Shaun Attwood
Pablo Escobar, a drug lord from Colombia, was both a psychopath and a loving parent, a fearsome adversary, and a dear friend. While giving millions to the needy, he bombed and tormented his adversaries, some of whom had their eyes removed with hot spoons. This man made a million dollars by taking advantage of America’s cocaine addiction after years of merciless ingenuity. He has a menagerie of creatures he’s gathered on his global travels within his enormous, opulent home.
6. Fruit of the Drunken Tree, by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Due to their gated neighborhood, Chula, 7, and her elder sister Cassandra have carefree lives in Bogota. Even yet, the threat of kidnappings, car bombings, and killings continues to exist just beyond the boundaries of the neighborhood.
The authorities are still plagued by drug lord Pablo Escobar and his fame has captured the interest of the country.
7. The Sound of Things Falling, by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
One of the most prominent authors from South America is Juan Gabriel Vásquez. He has received praise for being one of his generation’s most well-known writers.
He talks about his trip through Colombia to learn more about the history of his native nation in this elegantly written, award-winning book.
8. Pablo Escobar: My Father, by Juan Pablo Escobar
We previously believed we understood all there was to know about Pablo Escobar. the most notorious drug lord in the world, yet these tales have never been spoken from inside his own house; they are always told from the outside.
More than 20 years after the ultimate capture of the cocaine king. Juan Pablo Escobar goes back in time to see his father as he once was. He was a man who could demonstrate unending love for his family while yet being capable of the most horrifying acts of cruelty.
9. Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw, by Mark Bowden
The account of the 15-month search for Pablo Escobar, a drug kingpin from Colombia, is told in the book Killing Pablo. He broke out of his opulent, mansion-like jail, causing turmoil throughout the nation. In a gripping, first-person narrative, acclaimed journalist Mark Bowden reveals previously unrevealed details about how US military and intelligence professionals oversaw the clandestine effort to discover and eliminate the most dangerous criminal in the world.
PABLO ESCOBAR DEATH
Escobar was threatened by the Cali Cartel, a rival organization, the Colombian police, and the American government. Escobar was discovered on December 2, 1993, at a home in a middle-class Medellin neighborhood by Colombian special forces using equipment supplied by the US. Escobar was being sought by police, but things rapidly became violent, and shots were fired. Escobar attempted to climb to the roof but was shot and killed. He was shot in the feet and body, and one of the bullets killed him by striking him in the ear. This led to a discussion on whether he shot himself to death or committed suicide. It’s Still Unclear That Who Killed Pablo Escobar.
NET WORTH OF PABLO ESCOBAR
Pablo Escobar’s Net Worth was reported $25 billion, so he had enough money to spend, which he did. His extravagant way of life included private jets, opulent residences, and extravagant events.