Biography
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (born December 1, 1949 – December 2, 1993) was an innovative drug lord and narco-terrorist from Colombia, known as Pablo Escobar.
He was the founder and leader of the Medellin Cartel, one of the largest drug cartels that ever existed.
Pablo Escobar was known as the King of Cocaine because of his wealth from the cocaine business. During his lifetime, the Medellin Cartel controlled the drug trade in the United States during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Colombian drug lord
Pablo Escobar |
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 Pablo Escobar: History ‧ Biography ‧ Photos |
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| Full name: | Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria |
| Stage name: | Don Pablo, Pablo Escobar, The Godfather (El Padrino) |
| Born: | December 1, 1949 (age 44) |
| Place of birth: | Rionegro, Colombia |
| Deceased: | December 2, 1993, Medellín, Colombia |
| Nationality: | Colombian |
| Height: | 1.67 meters |
| Parents: | Hermilda de los Dolores Gaviria Berrío, Abel de Jesús Escobar Echeverri |
| Siblings: | Roberto Escobar, Luis Fernando Escobar, Argemiro Escobar, Alba Marina Escobar, Luz María Escobar, Gloria Inés Escobar |
| Wife • Husband/wife: | Maria Victoria Henao (m. 1976–1993) |
| Girlfriend • Partner: | Virginia Vallejo (former) |
| The children: | Manuela Escobar, Sebastián Marroquín |
| Job: | drug lord • drug lord |
| Net worth: | US$30 billion-US$70 billion |
Early life
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born on December 1, 1949 to Colombian parents in Rionegro, Antioquia. He was the third child in the family and had six siblings. His mother’s name was Hermilda de los Dolores Gaviria Berrío while his father was Abel de Jesús Escobar Echeverri.
Pablo Escobar had three brothers: Roberto Escobar, Luis Fernando Escobar, and Argemiro Escobar and three sisters: Alba Marina Escobar, Luz María Escobar and Gloria Inés Escobar. His grandparents were Inés Berrío, Sara María Echeverri, Pablo Emilio Escobar and Roberto Gaviria.
Although born in Rionegro, he grew up in the city of Medellin, also in the province of Antioquia. His father was a farmer, and his mother was a high school teacher.
Pablo Escobar first dropped out of high school in 1966, a few weeks before he turned seventeen. He resumed school in 1968 and dropped out after a year. However, he did manage to get into college but did not finish.
Education
Pablo Escobar attended public elementary and secondary schools in Medellin.
He was a university student at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana, where he briefly attended before dropping out.
Career
Pablo Escobar’s journey into the world of crime began in 1966 when he joined a neighborhood gang. The gang was involved in stealing tombstones, sandblasting the inscriptions on them, and reselling them. By the time he was twenty, he had become notorious for car theft. He and his gang stole cars, disassembled them, and sold the parts.
He then became involved in kidnapping, hiring criminals to kidnap people and collect ransoms before they were released. In the mid-1970s, he became involved in the cocaine trade as it began to spread to Colombia.
Pablo Escobar founded the Medellin Cartel in 1976 and was joined by other drug lords. The cartel began smuggling powdered cocaine into the United States.
By tapping into the US market, Pablo Escobar created a huge demand for cocaine. And by the 1980s, he was smuggling 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the US from Colombia. As a result, he quickly amassed a huge fortune and became one of the richest men in the world.
Throughout his life, Pablo Escobar was involved in a constant war with rival cartels in Colombia and the United States as he sought to maintain his monopoly on the drug market. He was responsible for numerous massacres of his rivals and the murder of law enforcement officers, judges, politicians, and Colombian citizens.
Pablo Escobar was interested in politics and participated in the 1982 Colombian Congressional Elections. He was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Deputies under the Alternative Liberal Movement. As a political officeholder, he was noted for his work on community projects such as housing and soccer fields, which made him popular among the local population.
In 1991, Pablo Escobar surrendered to authorities and was sentenced to five years in prison for several of his crimes. He reached a non-extradition agreement with the Colombian government and built a prison called La Catedral.
He only spent a year in prison before escaping when he learned that the authorities wanted to transfer him to a standard correctional facility. His escape sparked a nationwide manhunt that led to the collapse of the Medellin Cartel.
The Colombian National Police learned of Pablo Escobar’s hideout in Los Olivia, Medellin, and raided the location on December 2, 1993. A shootout ensued between the authorities and Pablo Escobar and his bodyguards. Pablo Escobar was killed in the ensuing shootout. He died one day after his 44th birthday.
Personal life
Pablo Escobar left behind his widow, Maria Victoria Henao, and two children, a son and a daughter. His son was Juna Pablo Escobar (now known as Sebastián Marroquín), and his daughter was Manuela Pablo.
After his death, the family fled Colombia because they could not find a country that would grant them asylum. They first fled to Mozambique before moving to Argentina. They assumed new identities and started a new life in the country. Maria Victoria Henao went into real estate and soon became a successful businesswoman.
Maria Victoria Henao was loyal and supportive of Pablo Escobar, despite knowing about his infidelity with other women. She also negotiated with the Cali Cartel, giving them millions of dollars in compensation for Pablo Escobar’s war with them. They did not kill her or the children. She also promised that her son, Manuela Escobar, would not take revenge on the cartel or get involved in the drug trade.
Pablo Escobar once dated Virginia Vallejo.
Many Colombians mourned the death of Pablo Escobar, and more than 25,000 people attended his funeral. Many locals loved him for his Robin Hood-like personality. His private estate, Hacienda Nápoles, was turned into a theme park by the government.
Net worth
Pablo Escobar became one of the richest men in the world because of his involvement in the cocaine business.
At the time of his death, Pablo Escobar was said to have had an estimated net worth of $30 billion (USD), which is equivalent to $70 billion (USD) in today’s money.
