Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (1949-1993) was the world’s largest and richest bandit until his death in 1993. His life was marked by drugs, power and violence. Hundreds of judges, journalists, policemen, politicians, competitors and many innocent bystanders were killed. But Escobar was also a political rebel, an anarchist and an advocate of a disadvantaged social class. By many he was seen as the Robin Hood of Medellin.
Pablo Escobar began his criminal career stealing gravestones from the cemetery to sell on to smugglers from Panama. Later he proceded to stealing cars from the streets of Medellin and gradually became more involved in other criminal activities and ultimately landed in the drug trade. In the 1980s Escobar came into government, he was Deputy Representative of the Colombian Liberal Party, this further strengthened his power because he could now easily bribe officials, judges and other politicians to support his criminal activities. The judges and politicians who refused to cooperate were personally taken care of by Escobar. He became known for giving government officials the easy choice “plata o plomo” which in Spanish literally means “money or lead”. Escobar was responsible for the murder of Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan, and the bombing of Avianca flight 203 and the DAS buildings in Bogota in 1989. It is also thought that Escobar was responsible for the assault on the Colombian Supreme Court in 1985 carried out by leftist guerrillas, the storm led to the death of half of all the judges in the capital city of Colombia.
Pablo Escobar’s Grave
Pablo Escobar was a drug baron and narco-terrorist who was the head of the cartel of Medellín, a Colombian drug cartel that at its peak controlled 80 percent of the global cocaine trade. The drug made Pablo Escobar particularly rich. In 1989, Forbes estimated him as the seventh richest man in the world with a net worth of US$ 25 billion. Part of this money, Escobar invested in his estate: Hacienda Napoles. The drug lord was a great lover of wildlife. On his property he collected big wild cats, giraffes and elephants. After Escobar’s death in 1993 the Colombian government confiscated his property and it was later tranformed into a museum of drugs.
The Medellin cartel of Pablo Escobar held Colombia in the grip of terror for many years. Using threats like “Plata o plomo” the bribery and violence continued for a long time. Before he knew it he was the biggest drug lord in the world. At its peak Escobar earned about US$ 1 million a day, and was being held accountable for as many as 8000 murders.
Hacienda Napoles
The estate with villa of of the drug baron Pablo Escobar is known as Hacienda Napoles. In the eighties he was one of the richest people in the world and invested a lot of money in his living arangements. In recent years, Hacienda Napoles has become a real tourist attraction. Around the villa a theme park has been constructed and in the old villa you can admire the remains of the decadent lifestyle of Pablo Escobar.
Medellin cartel
The Medellin cartel was a very organized network of drug traffickers. The cartel originated from the city of Medellin in the 70s and then. The Medellin cartel was initially founded by Juan David Ochoa, he led the cartel along with his brothers and Pablo Escobar. At its height, the merits of the Medellin Cartel were as high as US$ 60 million per month, the total value of the entire cartel was estimated at a cool US$ 28 billion in total.