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25 Unbelievable Facts for People Who Can’t Get Enough of Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar was the wealthiest drug lord in the world before. He was known as the “King of Cocaine” and was the son of a poor Colombian farmer in Antioquia, Colombia. At the age of 35, Pablo Escobar was one of the world’s wealthiest men and he had an estimated net worth of $30 billion. He was known as a wealthy narcoterrorist, drug lord and cocaine trafficker.

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born on December 1, 1949 in Rionegro, Antioquia. He was shot and died at the age of 44 in Medellin, Colombia on December 2, 1993 while trying to escape from the Colombian National Police. His death led to the market domination of his greatest rival, Cali Cartel.

During his teenage years, Pablo Escobar decided to become a criminal. He claimed to be a millionaire at the early age of 22. His first crime came from stealing gravestones and selling them to smugglers. However, until now, his brother denies these allegations.

For the most part, Escobar’s crime activity involved Oscar Bernal Aguirre, his partner. Their crimes, mostly consisted of selling contraband cigarettes, stealing cars, selling fake lottery tickets and running street scams.

Here are the 25 insane facts about Pablo Escobar.

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1. During 1980’s, Escobar’s cartel brought in almost $420 million per week, almost $22 billion a year

He is indeed one of the richest men in the world. Selling cocaine made him a billionaire.

2. For almost 7 years straight, from 1987 until 1993, Escobar was listed in the Forbes List of International billionaires. In 1989, Pablo Escobar was listed as the seventh-richest man in the world.

Due to his overloaded wealth, Forbes magazine listed Escobar as one of the richest men in the world in 1989. His wealth brought him up to 7th place as the richest man in the world. After a year of announcing his wealth and political ambitions, he was shot and ended up dead in a violent gunfight with the police.

3. He supplied 80% of the world’s cocaine by the end of 1980’s.

He was indeed the most famous supplier of cocaine at that time, monopolizing the market with 80%.

4. 15 tons of cocaine were smuggled into the US every day.

Strategies and techniques of a drug lord really matter. “The Medellin cartel smuggled the cocaine straight to the Florida coast. The Colombians and Americans counterparts would airdrop loads of cocaine to sea, then followed by rushing speedboats or fly it right in the countryside of Florida” according to Grillo, a journalist.

5. Four out of five of the Americans doing cocaine were snorting lines supplied by the “El Patron”

Pablo Escobar’s influence was incredible. He was the supplier of almost 80% of the cocaine that was being delivered in the United States.

6. It didn’t matter to the “King of Cocaine” if he lost $2.1 billion in profits each month

Escobar’s extreme wealth became problematic when he was unable to stack and organize cash quickly enough. Due to his overloaded stacks of cash, he piled it in Colombian farming fields, warehouses and even in the walls of cartel member’s homes. It didn’t matter to the “King of Cocaine” if he lost $2.1 billion in profits each month because he had lots of billions being piled.

7. Each month, he spent around $2,500 on rubber bands to hold stacks of bills together

One of Escobar’s biggest problems was how to stack and pile money. Did you know that, in an attempt to remedy this, he spent $2,500 a month on rubber bands needed to hold stacks of bills together? How incredible!

8. He started a fire worth almost $2 million to keep his daughter warm

At that time, Escobar’s daughter, Manuela, became hypothermic when the family was living in a hideout in the Medellin mountainside. Escobar decided to burn $2 million in crisp banknotes just to keep his daughter warm.

9. Pablo Escobar was nicknamed “Robin hood”. He built a housing for the homeless, constructed 70 community soccer fields, and built a zoo.

Despite being a drug lord in Colombia, Escobar showed his love and generosity to the people, especially to the poor living in Medellin. He built many hospitals, parks, schools, churches, sports stadiums and often distributed money to the poor. He provided a housing to local communities so nobody went homeless. Until these days, many consider Pablo Escobar to be their Robin Hood and their hero.

10. Pablo Escobar cut himself a deal with Colombia to be imprisoned. “La Catedral”- the cathedral, is a luxurious prison he built.

In 1991, Escobar was imprisoned to “La Catedral”. In his agreement with the Colombian government, he was allowed to select who will work with him in the prison. He was also allowed to run his cartel business and accept visitors inside the prison.

La Catedral was built and prepared with a soccer field, barbecue pit and patios. It was also nearby another compound, which was reserved for his family. The authorities of Colombia were not allowed within 3 miles of his prison.

11. He made the case disappear after he got caught and arrested

He unsuccessfully tried to bribe the Medellin judges who were filing a case against him after he got arrested for the first time. After many months of legal procedures, Pablo killed the two arresting officers and the case was suddenly dropped. This became how Pablo Escobar dealt with high and low authorities. Just two options were given: bribe them or kill them.

12. Pablo smuggled cocaine in old plane tires and gave the pilot $500,000 per flight in return

As his business began to really take off, he started to bring drugs through plane tires. A pilot earned $500,000 per flight, depending on how much cocaine he could bring into the country.

13. During 1982, Pablo Escobar was elected as the official representative of the Colombian government

It is not impossible for Escobar to make himself a politician. The power of money legitimized himself. Money talks, and even a criminal like Escobar could become a politician with enough of it. He once became a congressman and was given an automatic judicial immunity. In other words, he could no longer be prosecuted under the Colombian law. He was also given a diplomatic visa, which allowed him to travel to the USA and enjoy the mansions he bought in Miami, Florida.

14. Pablo Escobar built his own luxurious prison

He was confined in a luxury prison. The prison had comfortable waterbeds, entertainment systems and a spectacular view. To top it off, he was protected by his personal prison guards.

15. Millions of dollars were buried around the Colombian countryside

Escobar profited millions of dollars a day, so much that he essentially ran out of space to store his money. One brilliant way, he discovered, was to hide them inside the drums and bury them around the Colombian countryside. Even after his death, many drums were buried in or near properties Escobar owned in Colombia, Mexico and other countries.

16. Pablo Escobar killed a lot of people

During the time of Pablo, he killed three Colombian presidential candidates, the Justice Minister, Attorney General, over 200 judges, more than 1,000 police officers, dozens of journalists and countless ordinary citizens. He killed over 3,000 people.

17. He made a lot of nicknames

Pablo Escobar was one of the richest people in the world. No wonder he had given many nicknames such as “The King of Cocaine”, Don Pablo (Lord Pablo), El Padrino (The Godfather), El Patrón (The Boss), El Señor (The Lord), El Mágico (The Magician), El Pablito (little Pablo) and El Zar de la Cocaína (The Tsar of Cocaine). That’s a lot of superlatives.

18. Pablo Escobar married his wife when she was 15 years old.

Pablo Escobar was 15 when he fell in love with his best friend’s sister, Maria Victoria, 13. Two years later, Pablo decided to marry Victoria at the age of 15 while Pablo was 17. They were blessed to have two children together, Juan Pablo and Manuela.

19. Pablo controlled his mistresses.

Pablo loved, respected and valued his family. He loved his children so very much that he forced one of his mistresses to abort her child when she became pregnant. He did this, he claims, because he promised his daughter that she would be his last child.

20. Pablo Escobar loved entertainment with Beauty Queens.

Pablo used to hire beauty queens for a night for entertainment with his closest friends. The women would run naked to an expensive car and whoever got in first would be the winner and got to keep it. He would also force them to shave their heads, swallow insects, or engage in naked tree climbing contests for his entertainment.

21. The La Catedral, the house of Pablo Escobar, has its own a Casino, night club and even a spa

With the threat of being extradited hanging over his head, Escobar made an agreement with the Colombian government. One of those agreements was he will create his own luxurious private prison, which he named “La Catedral”. The prison must be built according to Escobar’s specifications and he could also choose his own guards.

The prison included a soccer field, Jacuzzi, bar, waterfall and a giant dollhouse.

22. Pablo Escoar’s daughter wanted to have a Unicorn and he made it happen

If you have enough money, nothing is impossible. When Pablo’s daughter decided that she wanted a unicorn, he gave her one immediately. He stapled a cone to a horse’s head and wings on its back. The horse later died due to infection.

23. Pablo owned a luxurious Estate called Hacienda Napoles

In 1979, Escobar constructed a luxurious country estate (Hacienda Los Nápoles) on a 7,400-acre ranch. The land for the ranch cost him $63 million.

Escobar hired over 700 servants to keep it well maintained. Inside the Hacienda Napoles you could find pinball machines, billiard tables, bars, TV’s and jukeboxes. There was also a private bullfighting ring, six swimming pools and lakes where it would be possible to jet ski. It even had its own personal zoo, which contained hundreds of exotic animals that ranged from lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, camels, ostriches, and more.

24. He blew up an airplane

Pablo Escobar wanted to kill the presidential candidate César Gaviria Trujillo. He planted a bomb on Avianca Airlines 203 where 110 people died, including two Americans.

25.The Death of Pablo Escobar on December 2, 1993

On December 2, 1993, Pablo Escobar was shot in his leg, torso, and a fatal shot in his ear. Most people believed that he committed a suicide while others say he was shot by a policeman.

The place where he died was the exact place where Escobar wanted to shoot himself if ever cornered. Unfortunately, the truth will never be known.

 

 

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