Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was an infamous Colombian drug lord and a narco-terrorist. He was a well known cocaine smuggler. At the peak of his criminal career Escobar smuggled approximately of the drug into USA and amassed a fortune of $21.9 billion annually as personal income. Often touted as the “The King of Cocaine”, Escobar is considered the wealthiest criminals of all time apart form being featured in the world’s richest men list during his prime years, with a net worth of approximately $30 Billion at the time of his death.
Escobar started a criminal career while he was a teenager and was involved in several illegal activities including selling fake lottery tickets, contraband cigarettes and motor vehicle thefts. He associated himself with several established established drug and mafia lords like Oscar Benel Aguirre and Alvaro Prieto and soon went off to become one of the most revered yet feared drug lord in his home country of Colomia, especially of the Medellín area. Escobar was shot to death by National Police of Colombia at age 44.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Escobar was born in Rionegro, Colombia’s Antioquia Department on 1 December 1949 as the third of the seven children of elementary school teacher Hermilda Gaviria and farmer Abel de Jesús Dari Escobar and raised in the city of Medellín. His siblings include brothers Roberto, Luis Fernando, and Argimero and sisters Alba Marina, Luz Maria and Gloria Inés.
Escobar completed his primary and secondary education from Medellín and later attended Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín but dropped out before graduating after becoming involved with Oscar Benel Aguirre and Alvaro Prieto.He aimed to make COL $1 million before he turned 22. By the time he was 26, Escobar had already amassed COL $100 million as per his bank records.
Career Rise
Escobar began his criminal career when he was a teenager. Along with Oscar Benel Aguirre and contraband smuggler Alvaro Prieto , Escobar ran several scams like selling fake lottery tickets, contraband cigarettes and stealing cars. Escobar soon became the lord of the Medellín Cartel and at the peak of his criminal career, smuggled approximately 15 tons of cocaine, valued at half a billion dollars daily. Escobar was known for notoriously bribing or killing authorities who refused to accept his deals and employed various tactics of smuggling cocaine including hiding it in tyres, flying it into USA, using submarines to carry out the smuggling and changing routes and networks. He soon widened his smuggling network into other countries including Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominic Republic, Puerto Rico and several European countries and America.
Although Escobar was a feared drug lord, he generated a lot of goodwill in his native city of Medellín and in Colombia alike where he built several schools, hospitals and churches. Additionally, he donated money to build several housing projects for the poor. This led to the locals viewing him as a hero and protecting him from authorities by hiding him in their homes, so much so that he became a face of the Liberal Alternative movement and was elected as a member of Colombia’s Chamber of Representatives, but the fact remained that under Escobar, Colombia was viered as the world’s murder capital. Escobar was killed in a shootout conducted on 2 December 1993, in one of his several attempts of eluding the Search Bloc.
Wife and relationships
with Maria Victoria Henao
with Maria Victoria Henao
with Maria Victoria Henao
When Escobar 27 years old, he was romantically involved with 15-year-old Maria Victoria Henao and asked her family for her hand in marriage. Although Henao’s brother Mario, had worked with Escobar previously, the family considered Escobar to be socially inferior and denied the match. Escobar and Henoa eloped and married and soon became parents to a boy, Juan Pablo (now Sebastián Marroquín). They also had a daughter named Manuela.
with Virginia Vallejo
with Griselda Blanco,
Escobar also reportedly has a romantic relationship with journalist Virginia Vallejo who spoke about their relationship in her memoir Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar (meaning Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar). He also had a clandestine yet passionate relationship with Griselda Blanco, a drug distributor.
Pablo Escobar – Daughter and Son
While, daughter Manuela lives a private life under an assumed name, the son Juan has changed his name to Sebastián, and is an architect in Argentina.
House
Hacienda Nápoles (Spanish for “Naples Estate”) was a palatial property estate built by Escobar in Colombia. The estate covered 7.7 square miles or 20 square kilometers of land. Post his death, many of the original constructions of the property were re modified or razed down for other purposes. The estate housed a sculpture garden, a Spanish colonial house and a zoo that housed animals like elephants, ostriches, giraffes, hippotamuses, antelopes, etc. By 2006, the ownership of the property was transferred to the Colombian government for $2.23 million.
In 2014, the property was converted to a tourist paradise in the form of a Jurassic- Park style theme park, rented out to a private company. Now, the property comes with a water park, a Safari tour, numerous aquariums and cave replicas. A ticket to the part costs $15. The property also includes an Escobar museum, ruins of his original house and his burnt private car collection.
Pablo Escobar – Net Worth
Escobar had an estimated net worth of approximately $30 Million at the time of his death.
