Under Escobar's mastermind, Restrepo was assassinated in 1975, and Escobar seized his market and business. One of Colombia's first drug dealers was Fabio Restrepo, who shipped about 40 to 60 kilograms of cocaine to Miami once or twice a year. Medellin GroupĮscobar had been involved in organized crime for a decade when the cocaine trade began to spread in Colombia in the mid-1970s. His most famous kidnapping victim was businessman Diego Echavarria, who was kidnapped and eventually killed in the summer of 1971, Escobar received a $50,000 ransom from the Echavarria family, His gang also became famous because of it. Escobar soon became involved in violent crime, employing criminals to kidnap people who owed him money and demand ransoms, sometimes tearing up tickets even when Escobar received the ransom. While arrest records have been lost, Escobar apparently sat in a Medellin prison for several months before his 20th birthday. He and his gang stole cars and dismantled them to sell their parts, and with enough money on hand, Escobar bribed officials to launder his loot. After dropping out of school, Escobar began to join car theft gangs, and at the age of 20 was already a household name for car thieves. Escobar is rumored to have started his criminal career with his gang by stealing tombstones, sandblasting their inscriptions, and reselling them, though his most likely first crime was street fraud. His life has also served as inspiration for or has been dramatized widely in film, television, and in music.Įscobar began his criminal career in 1966. Additionally, his private estate, Hacienda Nápoles, has been transformed into a theme park. His killing was mourned and his funeral attended by over 25,000 people. Įscobar's legacy remains controversial while many denounce the heinous nature of his crimes, he was seen as a ' Robin Hood-like' figure for many in Colombia, as he provided many amenities to the poor. As a result, the Medellín Cartel crumbled, and in 1993, Escobar was killed in his hometown by Colombian National Police, a day after his 44th birthday. In 1992, Escobar escaped and went into hiding when authorities attempted to move him to a more standard holding facility, leading to a nationwide manhunt. In 1991, Escobar surrendered to authorities, and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on a host of charges, but struck a deal of no extradition with Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, with the ability of being housed in his own, self-built prison, La Catedral. governments, who routinely pushed for his arrest, with Escobar widely believed to have orchestrated the DAS Building and Avianca Flight 203 bombings in retaliation. However, Escobar's political ambitions were thwarted by the Colombian and U.S. Through this, he was responsible for community projects such as the construction of houses and football fields, which gained him popularity among the locals of the towns that he frequented. In the 1982 Colombian parliamentary election, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. As a result, he quickly became one of the richest people in the world, but constantly battled rival cartels domestically and abroad, leading to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians, making Colombia the murder capital of the world. created exponential demand for cocaine and by the 1980s it was estimated Escobar led monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the country from Colombia. In 1976, Escobar founded the Medellín Cartel, which distributed powder cocaine, and established the first smuggling routes from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, through Colombia and eventually into the United States. In the early 1970s, he began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom. īorn in Rionegro and raised in Medellín, Escobar studied briefly at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín, but left without graduating he instead began engaging in criminal activity, selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, as well as participating in motor vehicle theft. Dubbed 'the king of cocaine', Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death-equivalent to $70 billion as of 2022-while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria ( / ˈ ɛ s k ə b ɑːr/ Spanish: 1 December 1949 – 2 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Illegal drug trade, assassinations, bombing, bribery, racketeering, murder

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