Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug trafficker who was estimated to make nearly $ 22 billion a year from his business before he died in 1993. He was born on December 1, 1949 in Rionegro as Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, the son of Hermilda Gaviria and Dari Escobar. It is believed that he began breaking the law as a teenager by stealing tombstones and reselling them. Their activities turned into street fraud, counterfeit lottery tickets, car theft and ultimately drug trafficking. When Pablo Escobar reached his heyday, he was one of the richest men in the world and responsible for about 80% of coccaine smuggling into the United States. His nickname was the “King of Cocaine”.
Pablo Escobar’s other popular nicknames were “Don Pablo” & “El Patron.”
Pablo Escobar’s mother was a school teacher and his father was a farmer.
His father was a farmer and his mother was a school teacher.
Pablo Escobar married Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo in 1976. He was 27 and she was 15. They remained married until his death.
Escobar got the nickname “Robin Hood” from poor people.
At one point when the Escobar family was in hiding his daughter became ill. Pablo burned about 2 million dollar bills to keep her warm.
Pablo Escobar spent millions on schools, football stadiums, hospitals, and churches.
Pablo Escobar had a Lear jet specifically for flying his cash around.
“La Catedral” jail housed a casino, a nightclub, and even a spa.
Pilots that flew planes with tires full of cash could earn half a million dollars a day.
The biggest cocaine shipment ever made in the United States by Escobar weighed around 51,000 pounds.
Pablo Escobar handled so much cash that he spent about $2500 a month just on rubber bands to hold it.
Escobar purchased a 20 square kilometers land which included the “Hacienda Napoles” near the north western Colombian town.
It is estimated that Pablo Escobar’s income peaked at $30 billion.
Search Bloc, a Colombian electronic surveillance team found Escobar’s hiding place in Medellin.
From 1987 onward for seven years Pablo Escobar ranked as one of Forbes’ billionaires.
Escobar offered to pay Colombia’s debt nearly 10 billion dollars to change the laws of extradition.
Pablo Escobar had two submarines that he used to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He also had planes, helicopters, boats, trucks, and cars.
Sebastian Marroquin is the son of Pablo Escobar. He is a Colombian architect & author.
It is estimated that Pablo Escobar was responsible for smuggling 15 tons of cocaine every day at the height of his career in the drug trade.
Escobar was responsible for killing a Colombian presidential nominee, a justice minister, more than 200 judges and over 1000 police officers.
Pablo Escobar was nicknamed ‘Robin Hood’ because he supported the poor.
In 1980, Colombian authorities held Escobar’s massive fleet, 20 helicopters, 32 yachts, 141 homes, 142 planes and many offices.
Pablo Escobar had several nicknames including Don Pablo, El Padrino, El Patron, El Senor, El Magico, and The Tsar of Cocaine.
Pablo Escobar purchased a Learjet specifically to transport his cash.
It is estimated that approximately 10% of Pablo Escobar’s fortune was lost due to rats eating the cash.
Escobar paid around $500,000 dollars to pilots per day to transport his cocaine.
Throughout his career as a drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is estimated to have been responsible for the murders of at least 4,000 people including 1000 police workers, government workers and journalists, as well as 200 judges.
Pablo Escobar built a zoo on his estate in Puerto Triunfo that had giraffes and elephants and hippos. There are still hippos on the estate today.
Pablo Escobar’s estate was transformed into a theme park after his death.
The biggest fear Pablo Escobar had was being extradited to the United States and spending the rest of his life in an American jail.
Pablo Escobar was killed by a gunshot when he was 44 years old. Some believe that he committed suicide.
He had often said that if he was cornered he would shoot himself in the ear. He was shot in the ear.
Approximately 25,000 people attended Pablo Escobar’s funeral. Many were poor people that he had personally helped.
