Pablo Escobar Biography
by Staff Writer“The Life of Pablo Escobar”
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, Colombia’s biggest drug kingpin, made a fortune off of cocaine trafficking. Escobar was possibly the most successful criminal in history, fashioning a crime empire by corrupting the Colombian government on a massive scale.
Pablo Escobar was born on December 1, 1949. He was the son of a peasant farmer and a school teacher. He grew up in Envigado, a suburb of the city of Medellin. Entering into a life of crime at a young age; he was stealing cars by age 20 and rumor has it he stole cemetery tomb stones and sold them to smugglers from Panama.
In 1976, Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo married Pablo Escobar. Pablo and Maria had two children together; Juan Pablo and Manuela. Although it has been rumored that he was with many other women, he remained married to Maria until his death.
In the early 1970’s Escobar crossed the threshold into the world of cocaine trafficking. He began by driving coca paste from the Andean Mountains to Medellin. By the 1980’s he became known in the United States and many other countries for his cocaine smuggling and ruthlessness as leader of the Medellin Cartel. He was on his way to becoming the most dominant and merciless drug lord in history. His Cartel soon controlled about 80 percent of the world’s cocaine market.
Escobar was extremely powerful and exceptionally capable of influencing many people. He would bribe such authorities as judges and politicians. If they did not take Escobar’s bribes, the judges, politicians or their families knew they would most probably be facing death. Because of these famous death threats, Escobar usually did not have a hard time getting his way with prosecutors either.
Escobar’s fortune was exceptional for a criminal figure. At his death it was estimated that he was worth 3 billion dollars. In 1889, Forbes magazine recorded him as the seventh richest man in the world. He owned a multimillion dollar home, ranches, farms and horses. He had beautiful fixtures in his home and an antique car collection.
Escobar contributed a lot to Evnigado, Medellin the neighborhood that he grew up in. With his wealth he built hospitals, homes, schools and soccer fields in his childhood town. In doing so, many people did not see him as a drug dealer, but as an altruistic and charitable man. He was favored by the poor because of the financial aid he provided for them. In their world he was a hero.
However, a different Escobar was seen in the eyes of the Colombian government. Head of the Medellin Cartel, he was growing in power, taking on the government and threatening the people in control. Evidently, Escobar became enemy number one. The Medellin cartel became a target. Columbia began to believe that their national security depended on the destruction of the Medellin cartel and they went about doing this with a certain amount of help from the United States.
In 1991, Escobar was convicted and was sentenced for five years in prison. He actually turned himself in for fear of being excommunicated. However, Escobar was permitted him to build his own prison. He called his self-built prison La Catedral. It was similar to a Hacienda and with an extremely comfortable living environment.
On July 22, 1992 Escobar escaped from prison and as a result, Search Bloc was created. Search Bloc was a police task force created by the Colombian government with the purpose of incarcerating and/or killing Pablo Escobar.
December 2, 1993 marked the death of Escobar. Pablo Escobar is believed to have been shot and killed by members of the Search Bloc/Colombian National Police; although it has been contested. Escobar died at 44 years of age.
