Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (English: Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria; December 1, 1949 - December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord.
Escobar was born on December 1, 1949, 40 kilometers from Medellin. He was the third child in the family. His father was a poor peasant, his mother also came from the lower classes.
Like most of his peers, Pablo loved to listen heroic stories about the legendary Colombian “banditos”. About how they robbed the rich and helped the needy. Already as a child, he decided that when he grew up, he would become the same “banditos”. Who would have thought then that the innocent romantic dreams of a fragile, gentle boy would take the form of a nightmare in a couple of decades. At school, Pablo had to study among children from poorer families. In 1961, his family moved to Envigado, south of Medellin. There Pablo went to study at local school, in which far-left students predominated Political Views He and his new schoolmates openly supported Cuban revolution which happened several years earlier. He soon became addicted to marijuana and was kicked out of school at age 16. From this age, Pablo began to commit crimes.
Pablo began to spend most of his time in the poor neighborhoods of Medellin, which was a real hotbed of crime. At first, he began stealing tombstones from a local cemetery and, erasing the inscriptions, resold them again. Soon he created a small criminal gang of like-minded people and began to engage in a more sophisticated criminal trade: the theft of expensive cars for sale for spare parts. Then Pablo Escobar came up with another “brilliant” idea: to offer his “protection” to potential victims of theft. Those who refused to pay his gang sooner or later lost their cars. This was already a real racket.
At 21, he already had quite a few followers. At the same time, Escobar's crimes became even more sophisticated and cruel. From ordinary car thefts and racketeering, he started kidnapping. In 1971, Pablo Escobar's men kidnapped the wealthy Colombian industrialist Diego Echevario, who was killed after prolonged torture. This murder was never solved. The murdered Diego Echevario aroused open hatred among the local poor peasantry, and Pablo Escobar openly declared his involvement in the kidnapping and murder. The poor people of Medellin celebrated the death of Diego Echevario and, as a sign of gratitude to Escobar, began to respectfully call him “El Doctor.” Pablo Escobar began to “feed” the local poor by building them new cheap houses. He understood that sooner or later they would become a kind of protective buffer between him and the authorities, and his popularity in Medellin grew day by day.
In 1972, Pablo Escobar was already Medellin's most famous crime lord. His criminal group was involved in car thefts, smuggling and kidnappings. Soon his gang expanded beyond Medellin.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the new generation of Americans of the 70s was no longer content with just marijuana, they needed something stronger, and soon a new drug appeared on American streets - cocaine. On this Pablo Escobar began to build his criminal business. He first bought cocaine from manufacturers and resold it to smugglers, who then transported it to the United States. The absolute absence of any “brakes”, his manic readiness to torture and kill, put him beyond competition. When he heard rumors of some profitable criminal business, he, without unnecessary ceremony, simply seized it by force. Anyone who stood in his way or could in any way threaten him immediately disappeared without a trace. Soon Escobar controlled almost the entire cocaine industry in Colombia.
In March 1976, Pablo Escobar married his 15-year-old girlfriend, Maria Victoria Eneo Viejo, who had previously been in his circle. A month later their son Juan Pablo was born, and three and a half years later their daughter Manuella was born.
Pablo Escobar's drug business grew rapidly throughout South America. Soon he himself began smuggling cocaine into the United States. One of Escobar’s close associates, a certain Carlos Leider, who was responsible for transporting cocaine, organized a real drug trafficking transshipment point in the Bahamas. The service was delivered at the highest level. A large pier, a number of gas stations and a modern hotel with all amenities were built there. Not a single drug trafficker could export cocaine outside of Colombia without the permission of Pablo Escobar. He removed the so-called 35 percent tax from each shipment of drugs and ensured its delivery. Escobar's criminal career was more than successful; he was literally swimming in dollars. In the jungles of Colombia, he opened illegal chemical laboratories for the production of cocaine.
In the summer of 1977, he and three other major drug traffickers teamed up to create what became known as the Medellin cocaine cartel. He had the most powerful financial and cocaine empire, which no drug mafia in the world could dream of. To deliver cocaine, the cartel had a distribution network, airplanes, and even submarines. Pablo Escobar became the most indisputable authority in the cocaine world and the absolute leader of the Medellin cartel. He bought policemen, judges, politicians. If bribery did not work, then blackmail was used, but basically the cartel acted on the principle: “Pay or die.”
By 1979, the Medellin cartel already owned more than 80% of the US cocaine industry. 30-year-old Pablo Escobar became one of the richest people in the world, whose personal fortune amounted to billions of dollars. Escobar had 34 estates, 500 thousand hectares of land, 40 rare cars. On Escobar's estate, 20 artificial lakes, six swimming pools were dug, and even a small airport with a runway was built. At times it seemed that the cocaine drug lord simply did not know what to do with the money. Within his estate, Pablo Escobar ordered the construction of a safari zoo, to which the most exotic animals were brought from all over the world. The zoo had 120 antelopes, 30 buffaloes, 6 hippos, 3 elephants and 2 rhinoceroses.
In a part of his estate hidden from prying eyes, he loved to organize wild sexual orgies, for which young girls were invited.
However, Escobar himself practically did not use cocaine. Moreover, Pablo Escobar, despite the fact that his enormous fortune grew from the cocaine trade, treated drug addicts with contempt, considering them subhuman.
To enlist the support of the population, he launched extensive construction in Medellin. He paved roads, built stadiums and erected free houses for the poor, which were popularly called “Barrio Pablo Escobar”. He himself explained his charity by the fact that it hurt him to see how the poor suffered. Escobar saw himself as a Colombian Robin Hood.
In the criminal world, he reached the pinnacle of power. Now he was looking for a way to make his business legal. In 1982, Pablo Escobar ran for the Colombian Congress. And he eventually became a substitute member of the Colombian Congress at age 32. That is, he replaced congressmen during their absence.
Having broken into Congress, Escobar dreamed of becoming president of Colombia. At the same time, once in Bogota, he noticed that his popularity did not extend beyond Medellin. In Bogota they naturally heard about him, but as a dubious person paving a cocaine road to the presidency. One of the most popular politicians in Colombia, the main candidate for the presidency, Luis Carlos Galan, was the first to openly condemn the connection of the new congressman with the cocaine business.
A few days later, Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonia launched a broad campaign against the investment of dirty cocaine money in the election race. As a result, Pablo Escobar was expelled from the Colombian Congress in January 1984. Through the efforts of the Minister of Justice his political career disappeared once and for all. However, Escobar was not going to leave quietly and decided to take revenge on the minister.
On April 30, 1984, Bonia's ministerial Mercedes stopped at a traffic light on one of the busiest streets in Bogota. At that moment, an approaching motorcyclist shot at point-blank range with a machine gun. back“Mercedes”, where the Minister of Justice usually sat. An automatic burst literally blew off the head of Rodrigo Lara Bonia. This is the first time that bandits have killed such a high-ranking official in Colombia. From that day on, terror began to spread throughout Colombia.
In the mid-1980s, Escobar's cocaine empire controlled almost every aspect of Colombian society. However, a serious threat looms over him. The administration of US President Ronald Reagan declared its own war on the spread of drugs not only throughout the United States, but throughout the world. An agreement was reached between the United States and Colombia, according to which the Colombian government pledged to hand over to American justice the cocaine barons involved in trafficking drugs to the United States.
This was done because if drug traffickers were in any Colombian prison, they could, as before, continue to run their gangs without hindrance directly from their places of detention and would very soon be free. As for extradition to the United States, the drug traffickers understood that they would not be able to buy their freedom there.
The drug mafia responded with terror to the all-out war on drug lords launched by the government. Pablo Escobar created a terrorist group called Los Extraditables. Its terrorists attacked officials, police, and anyone who opposed the drug trade. The reason for the terrorist attack could have been a major police operation or the extradition of another cocaine mafia boss to the United States.
In November 1985, Escobar and other drug traffickers banded together to show the government that they could not be intimidated. Escobar hired large group leftist partisans to commit sabotage. Leftist guerrillas armed with machine guns, grenades and portable rocket launchers suddenly appeared in the center of Bogota and captured the Palace of Justice with at least several hundred people inside the building. The partisans refused to conduct any negotiations and began to fire in all directions without making any demands. While they held the Palace of Justice in their hands, they destroyed all documents relating to the extradition of criminals. Large army and police forces were brought into the capital of the country. After a full day of siege, assault battalions, supported by tanks and combat helicopters, stormed the Palace of Justice. The assault killed 97 people, including 11 of the 24 judges.
A year later, the Supreme Court overturned the agreement on the extradition of drug traffickers to the United States. However, after a few days, new president Colombia's Versilio Barco vetoed the Supreme Court's decision and reinstated the agreement. In February 1987, Escobar's closest assistant, Carlos Leider, was extradited to the United States.
Pablo Escobar was forced to build secret shelters throughout the country. Thanks to information from his people in the government, he managed to stay one step ahead law enforcement agencies. In addition, the peasants always warned him when suspicious people, a car with policemen or soldiers, or a helicopter appeared.
In 1989, Pablo Escobar again tried to make a deal with justice. He agreed to surrender to the police if the government would guarantee that he would not be extradited to the United States. The authorities refused. Escobar responded to this refusal with terror.
In August 1989, the terror reached its peak. On August 16, 1989, Supreme Court member Carlos Valencia died at the hands of Escobar's hitmen. The next day, police Colonel Waldemar Franklin Contero was killed. On August 18, 1989, at a pre-election rally, the famous Colombian politician Luis Carlos Galan was shot, who promised, if elected president of the country, to start an irreconcilable war against cocaine traffickers, to cleanse Colombia of drug lords by extraditing them to the United States.
Before the elections, the terror of the Medellin cartel acquired a special scope. Cartel hitmen killed dozens of people every day. In Bogota alone, one of the terrorist drug mafia groups committed 7 explosions within two weeks, as a result of which 37 people were killed and about 400 were seriously injured.
On November 27, 1989, Pablo Escobar planted a bomb on a passenger plane of the Colombian airline Avianaka, which was carrying 107 passengers and crew members. Successor of the deceased Luis Carlos Galan, future president Colombia, Cesar Gaviria, was supposed to fly on this plane. Three minutes after the airliner took off, a sound was heard on board. powerful explosion. The plane caught fire and crashed into the nearby hills. None of those on board survived. As it turned out later, Cezanne Gaviria canceled his flight at the last moment for some reason.
Massive raids swept across the country, during which chemical laboratories and coca plantations were destroyed. Dozens of drug cartel members are behind bars. In response to this, Pablo Escobar twice made 4 attempts on the life of the chief of the Colombian secret police, General Miguel Masa Marquez. In the second attempt, on December 6, 1989, a bomb explosion killed 62 people and injured 100 of varying degrees of severity.
By the beginning of the 90s he was considered one of richest people planets. His fortune was estimated at at least $3 billion. He topped the list of the most wanted drug traffickers in the United States. On his heels invariably followed the elite special forces, which set themselves the task of catching or destroying Pablo Escobar at any cost.
In 1990, just the mention of Pablo Escobar's name struck terror throughout Colombia. He was the most famous criminal in the world. The government created a “Special Search Group” whose target was Pablo Escobar himself. The group included the best police officers from selected units, as well as people from the army, special services and the prosecutor's office.
The creation of the “Special Search Group,” headed by Colonel Martinez, immediately brought positive results. Several people from Pablo Escobar's inner circle ended up in the dungeons of the secret police.
Escobar's men kidnapped some of Colombia's richest people. Pablo Escobar hoped that influential relatives of the hostages would put pressure on the government to cancel the agreement on the extradition of the criminals. And ultimately Escobar's plan succeeded. The government canceled the extradition of Pablo Escobar. On June 19, 1991, after Pablo Escobar was no longer in danger of extradition to the United States, he surrendered to the authorities. Escobar agreed to plead guilty to several minor crimes, in exchange for all his past sins being forgiven. Pablo Escobar was in prison... which he built for himself.
The prison was called “La Catedral” and was built in the Envigado mountain range. “La Catedral” looked more like an expensive, prestigious country club than an ordinary prison. There was a disco, a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and a sauna, and in the courtyard there was a large football field. Friends and women came to see him there. Escobar's family could visit him at any time. Colonel Martinez's "Special Search Group" did not have the right to approach La Catedral closer than 20 kilometers. Escobar came and went as he wanted. He attended football matches and nightclubs in Medellin.
During his imprisonment, Pablo Escobar continued to run his multi-billion dollar cocaine business. One day he learned that his associates in the cocaine cartel, taking advantage of his absence, robbed him. He immediately ordered his men to take them to La Catedral. He personally subjected them to unbearable torture, drilling his victims' knees and tearing out their nails, and then ordered his men to kill them and take the corpses outside the prison. This time Escobar went too far. On July 22, 1992, President Gaviria gave the order to transfer Pablo Escobar to a real prison. But Escobar found out about the president's decision and escaped from prison.
Now he was free, but he had enemies everywhere. There were fewer and fewer places left in which he could find a safe refuge. The US and Colombian governments this time were determined to put an end to Escobar and his Medellin cocaine cartel. After his escape from prison, everything began to fall apart. His friends began to leave him. Pablo Escobar's main mistake was that he could not critically assess the current situation. He considered himself a more significant figure than he actually was. He continued to have enormous financial capabilities, but he no longer had real power. The only way There was an attempt to at least somehow improve the situation by renewing the agreement with the government. Escobar tried several times to re-enter a deal with justice, but President Cesar Gaviria, as well as the US government, believed that this time it was not worth entering into any negotiations with the drug lord. It was decided to pursue him and, if possible, eliminate him during his arrest.
On January 30, 1993, Pablo Escobar planted powerful bomb on one of the crowded streets of Bogota. The explosion occurred when there were a lot of people. Mostly these were parents with their children. As a result of this terrorist attack, 21 people were killed and more than 70 were seriously injured.
A group of Colombian citizens created the organization “Los PEPES”, the acronym of which stood for “People Victims of Pablo Escobar”. It included Colombian citizens whose relatives died because of Escobar.
The day after the terrorist attack, Los Pepes detonated bombs in front of Pablo Escobar's house. The estate that belonged to his mother was almost completely burned to the ground. Instead of pursuing Pablo Escobar himself, Los Pepes began to terrorize and hunt everyone who was in any way connected with him or his cocaine business. They were simply killed. In a short amount of time, they caused significant damage to his cocaine empire. They killed many of his people and persecuted his family. They burned his estates. Now Escobar was seriously worried, since Los Pepes, having discovered the family, would immediately destroy it before last person, not even sparing his elderly mother and children. If his family were outside of Colombia, beyond the reach of Los Pepes, he could declare all-out war on the government and his enemies.
In the fall of 1993, the Medellin cocaine cartel collapsed. But Pablo Escobar himself was more worried about his family. For more than a year he had not seen his wife or children. He had not seen his loved ones for more than a year and was greatly missed. For Escobar this was intolerable. On December 1, 1993, Pablo Escobar turned 44 years old. He knew that he was under constant surveillance, so he tried to speak on the phone as briefly as possible so that he would not be detected by NSA agents. However, this time he finally lost his nerve.
The day after his birthday, December 2, 1993, he called his family. NSA agents had been waiting for this call for 24 hours. This time, while talking to his son Juan, he stayed on the line for about 5 minutes. After this, Escobar was spotted in the Medellin quarter of Los Olibos. Soon, the house in which Pablo Escobar was hiding was surrounded on all sides by special agents. The special forces knocked down the door and burst inside. At that moment, Escobar's bodyguard, El Limon, opened fire on the police who were trying to storm the house. He was wounded and fell to the ground. Immediately after this, with a pistol in his hands, Pablo Escobar himself leaned out of the same window. He opened random fire in all directions. Then he climbed out the window and tried to escape from his pursuers through the roof. There, a bullet fired by a sniper hit Escobar in the head and killed him on the spot.
On December 3, 1993, thousands of Colombians filled the streets of Medellin. Some came to mourn him, others to rejoice.
If today in the slums of Medellin you ask a question about who Pablo Escobar was, not one of the people interviewed will say a bad word about Escobar. Literally everyone speaks of him as a positive hero. At the same time, he was the most cruel and heartless criminal. Many even consider him the most cruel person in the world.
Now Escobar's prison has been looted, his estates are overgrown with grass, and his cars are rusting in the garage. Escobar's widow and children live in Argentina; his brother is almost completely blind after a letter bomb was sent to his cell.
Escobar's place was taken by competitors - the Rodriguez brothers Orejuelo and the Ochoa clan. And Medellin is still the most dangerous city in the world.
Curve Digital has announced the release of a video game based on the criminal life of the famous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Its release will take place in a year, in the spring of 2019.
Criminal life history worldwide famous criminal sometimes so incredible that it surpasses even common sense, so she belongs in the cinema. But, besides Pablo Escobar, the world knew at least ten more equally daring, cruel and incredibly rich drug lords.
Frank Lucas
Net worth: $50 million.
Frank Lucas is still alive and 87 years old, which is extremely uncharacteristic for a criminal of his stature. He made his fortune by transporting kilograms of heroin from Asia to the United States during the Vietnam War, hiding drugs in the coffins of dead American soldiers. In the 70s, he was arrested and sentenced to 70 years in prison, but he was able to turn in his accomplices, which led to more than a hundred arrests. After serving 5 years, Lucas was released, but a year later he was caught again, this time buying cocaine. Released in 1991.
The film “Gangster” was made based on his biography (stills from the film above).
Jose Figueroa Agosto
Net worth: $100 million.
Jose Figueroa Agosto, also known as Junior Capsule and Pablo Escobar of the Caribbean, controlled the supply of Colombian cocaine to the United States through Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. As befits a real drug lord, in 1999 Jose escaped from prison when he was sentenced to 209 years in prison, changed his appearance several times and paid large bribes to the police so that he would not be put behind bars again. Currently, Jose is serving his sentence, and his 100 million are in a secluded place known only to him.
Nikki Barnes
Net worth: $105 million from heroin sales.
Like many drug dealers, Barnes himself was not averse to being on drugs. He began using heroin at a young age. Then he finally decided that it was better to sell drugs than to buy them. And so began his stormy career.
In the 70s, he personally proclaimed himself because of numerous arrests that led to nothing, he always managed to extricate himself. This greatly angered the police and American President Jimmy Carter.
Barnes was jailed for life. Drug dealer helped justice for a long time working as an informant. For his length of service, he was pardoned and released in 1998.
Paul Lear Alexander
Net worth: 170 million from selling cocaine.
Paul Lear Alexander, or simply El Parito Loco, worked at one time as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration. At that very time, he was actively expanding his business, selling out competitors and establishing strong connections for his own business.
In 2010, he escaped from a Brazilian prison and is still wanted.
Freeway Rick Ross
Net worth: more than 600 million dollars.
In the 80s, he sold crack and earned more than half a million dollars. In 1996, he was sentenced to life, which was initially reduced to 20 years. As a result, he was released after 10 years for “exemplary behavior.”
He is best known for suing rapper Rico Ross for using his pseudonym.
Rafael Caro Quintero
Net worth: over $650 million.
Rafael Caro Quintero is the founder of the Mexican drug cartel Guadalajara, operating in the 80s. During his criminal activities, he killed several people, including a pilot and a federal agent. He was arrested for murder in 1985 and released from a Mexican prison in 2013. However, the US government was not pleased that Quintero was released and asked for his re-arrest. Quintero is currently wanted in Mexico, America and several other countries.
Joaquin Guzman Loera
Net worth: $1 billion.
Joaquin Guzman, or as he is popularly called, is the leader of the Sinaloa cartel. His main activity was the supply of cocaine, heroin and marijuana between America and Mexico.
Known for becoming the world's most wanted fugitive after the death of Osama bin Laden. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers Guzman the most powerful drug trafficker in history, surpassing Pablo Escobar himself.
Despite the fact that El Chapo escaped from prison several times, he is currently in custody. The drug lord was jailed in 2016 after he met with American actor Sean Pen. This meeting helped law enforcement agencies get on the trail of El Chapo.
Griselda Blanco
Net worth: $2 billion.
Griselda Blanco was among the pioneers of the drug business, building her empire in the 70s. She was popularly called the godmother of cocaine and was the head of the criminal Medellin cartel.
She is also known for the fact that she was married three times; she buried all three husbands (it is believed that she shot her second husband herself). Blanco also allegedly liked to make love to men while pointing a gun at them.
In 2012, she was shot dead by a passing motorcyclist (who remained unknown). Moreover, it was she herself who once came up with this method of murder during the fight against competitors.
Carlos Leder
Earned: $2.7 billion.
One of the founders of the Medellin cartel, known for numerous innovations in the drug business. I came up with a marketing campaign - “the first dose is free.” At some point, Leder wanted to legalize his business and suggested that the President of Colombia pay the entire external debt countries.
According to official data, he is currently serving a sentence of 135 years in an American prison. Since the exact location of his imprisonment is unknown, there are rumors that he was placed under the witness protection program and has been at large for a long time.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Net worth: over $25 billion.
Amado Fuentes received the nickname Lord of the Skies for transporting cocaine in airplanes. Despite the fact that Fuentes always tried to keep a low profile, American police I tried my best to catch the culprit. Because of this, the drug lord had to change his appearance with the help of plastic surgery. However, Fuentes died during the operation, apparently due to a lethal mixture of painkillers.
Pablo Escobar
Net worth: $30 billion.
The name always comes to mind when someone nearby says the word “cocaine.” Forbes magazine estimates that Escobar controlled 80 percent of the world's cocaine business.
Considered one of the most dangerous and brutal criminals in history. He is responsible for the murders of politicians, judges, journalists, police officers and even the bombing of a civilian aircraft.
The drug lord's son Sebastian Marroquin (Juan Pablo Escobar) said that somehow, once again hiding from government agents, Escobar, along with his son and daughter, ended up in a high-mountain shelter. The night turned out to be extremely cold, and while trying to warm his daughter and cook food, Escobar burned about $2 million in cash.
Colombian terrorist Pablo Escobar went down in world history as one of the most daring and brutal criminals of the 20th century. Having amassed a huge fortune in the drug business, he dealt with the powerful and, like Robin Hood, helped the poor and dreamed of the prosperity of his native country. On December 1, this unusual criminal would have turned 65 years old. By this date I propose 15 interesting facts about his personality.
1. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born on December 1, 1949 in Rionegro (Colombia) in the family of farmer Jesus Dari Escobar and school teacher Hemilda Gaviria. IN adolescence became addicted to cannabis and used it all his life.
2. In his youth, Pablo made his way through petty theft: he stole tombstones from a local cemetery and, erasing the inscriptions, sold them to Panamanian resellers; counterfeited lottery tickets, sold cigarettes and marijuana. The clever handsome man succeeded in everything. And he put together a criminal gang. Together with their accomplices, they stole cars to sell for parts or offered their protection to potential victims. If they refused to pay, they lost their cars. The unbridled young men were not afraid of anything. Robberies and kidnappings have become commonplace for them. In 1971, Pablo's men kidnapped wealthy Colombian industrialist Diego Echevario. Not receiving a ransom from the oligarch's relatives, they strangled the victim and threw the body into a landfill. The poor people of Medellin celebrated the death of Diego Echevario and began to respectfully call him "El Doctor" as a sign of gratitude to Escobar. While robbing the rich, Pablo did not forget about the poor, realizing that sooner or later they would become his defenders. He built them cheap housing, and his popularity in Medellin grew day by day.
3. So at the age of 22, Escobar was the most famous crime boss in Medellin. His gang grew, and Pablo decided to get involved in a new criminal business - cocaine trafficking. This narcotic substance was contained in many plants common in Colombia, and the local population has long been involved in its production. But Escobar thought globally. He put this matter in industrial scale. At first, Pablo’s group acted as intermediaries, buying goods from “artisans” and selling them to resellers who sold cocaine in the United States. And soon the businessman himself took up drug smuggling. Escobar's business covered not only the entire South America, he opened “branches” all over Caribbean. For example, a transshipment point was created in the Bahamas for the storage and further transportation of cocaine. A large pier, a number of gas stations and a modern hotel with all amenities were built. Not a single drug trafficker could export cocaine outside of Colombia without the permission of Pablo Escobar. Escobar removed the so-called 35 percent tax from each shipment of drugs and ensured its delivery. Escobar's criminal career was more than successful; he got rich, becoming one of the richest. He continued to invest dollars in the development of the drug industry.
4. In 1977, having combined his capital with three more cocaine magnates, Escobar and his companions created the Medellin cocaine cartel - not just a large monopoly, but an entire empire that entangled almost the entire world in its network. She had at her disposal airplanes, submarines, not to mention the most common means of transport. To sell goods and make a profit, Escobar did not disdain any techniques. He used blackmail, bribery of authorities, and threats.
5. In 1979, Escobar's empire accounted for more than 80% of the US cocaine industry. The 30-year-old drug trafficker became one of the richest people in the world, his personal fortune amounted to billions of dollars. Escobar decided to legalize his business. To do this, he decided to get into power and politics. Money and authority decided everything. In 1982, Pablo Escobar ran for office and, at 32, became a substitute congressman for the Colombian Congress, harboring dreams of the presidency. However, although a popular man in Medellin, he was known in other parts of the country as a dubious character, which was the reason for his expulsion from Congress. His rivals for the presidency have launched a widespread campaign against investing dirty money in electoral contests. Through the efforts of the Minister of Justice Rodrigo Lara Bonia, the road to big politics was blocked for Escobar.
6. This fact formed the basis of Escobar’s new criminal activity - terror. Revenge is what motivated the offended and wounded drug lord. He brutally dealt with the Minister of Justice, and a similar fate awaited many of his offenders. On his orders, thousands of people were killed, Colombia turned into a military camp. In the mid-80s. In the 20th century, his cocaine empire controlled all spheres of life in the country. But then the Reagan government declared war on the drug lords and organized massive campaigns to counter the spread of drugs not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Pablo even wanted to surrender to the Colombian authorities in exchange for not being extradited to the United States. The authorities refused, to which they received terror from Escobar.
7. On August 16, 1989, Supreme Court Judge Carlos Valencia died at the hands of the drug lord's killers. The next day, police Colonel Waldemar Franklin Contero was killed. On August 18, famous Colombian politician Luis Carlos Galan died from a bullet wound at an election rally. And before the elections, the terror of the Medellin cartel ran rampant with new strength: dozens of people became its victims every day. In Bogota alone, one of the terrorist drug mafia groups carried out 7 explosions within two weeks, as a result of which 37 people were killed and about 400 were seriously injured. On November 27, 1989, Escobar's mercenaries planted a bomb on a Boeing 727 of the Colombian airline Avianca, which was carrying 101 passengers and 6 crew members. The future president of Colombia, Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, was supposed to fly on this plane, but for some reason he canceled his flight. Five minutes after the airliner took off, a powerful explosion was heard, breaking the plane in half. Burning debris fell onto nearby hills. None of the people on board survived, and three people on the ground were killed by falling aircraft debris. The authorities declared a real war on cocaine dealers in terror: chemical laboratories and plantations were destroyed, and drug cartel workers found themselves behind bars. As a result of just one nationwide operation, 989 houses and farms, 367 aircraft, 73 boats, 710 cars, 4.7 tons of cocaine and 1,279 weapons were confiscated from Escobar. In response to this, Pablo twice made attempts on the life of the head of the Colombian secret police, General Miguel Masa Marquez. In the second attempt, on December 6, 1989, a bomb explosion killed 62 people and injured about 100 of varying degrees of severity.
8. In 1989, Forbes magazine estimated Escobar's fortune at $47 billion. Escobar owned 34 estates, 500 thousand hectares of land, 40 rare Rolls-Royce cars. On the Naples estate (20 thousand hectares, airstrips), he created the largest zoo on the continent, where 120 antelopes, 30 buffaloes, 6 hippopotamuses, 3 elephants and 2 rhinoceroses were brought from all over the world.
9. He topped the list of the most wanted drug traffickers in the United States. On his heels invariably followed elite special forces, which set itself the task of catching or destroying Pablo Escobar at any cost.
10. Escobar had 400 mistresses, for whom he built an entire town. Each mistress, among whom were local winners of beauty contests, fashion models, and actresses, had her own cottage with a swimming pool, all kinds of gazebos, fountains and other delights, a design that was not like any other. When one of the drug lord's girlfriends, 15-year-old Maria, became pregnant, he did not kill her or take her out of sight. Escobar married a girl, and she bore him two wonderful children - a son, Juan Pablo, and a daughter, Manuella.
All his life he tried to be a good husband and father and always cared about their safety. One day, while hiding from government agents, Escobar, along with his son and daughter, found himself in a high mountain hideout. The night turned out to be extremely cold, and in an attempt to warm his daughter, Escobar burned almost two million dollars in cash.
11. When a threat loomed over his head, he built a shelter for himself, which he considered a prison. The huge palace in the rocks of Envigado had not only torture chambers, but also a disco, a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and a sauna, and a bar. Escobar took revenge on his traitors with the most sophisticated executions.
12. In the fall of 1993, the Medellin cocaine cartel began to disintegrate, but the drug lord was more worried about his family. Escobar has not seen his wife or children for more than a year. On December 1, 1993, Pablo Escobar turned 44 years old. He celebrated his birthday at a secret apartment. He knew he was being followed and still called his son Juan. And although the conversation was brief, this time was enough for the intelligence services, who spotted where the drug lord was located. His house was surrounded. Escobar and his bodyguard fired back to the last. According to the official version, the drug lord was taken down by a Los Pepes sniper, who also killed him with a control shot to the head. However, Escobar's son Juan claims that his father committed suicide, seeing no other way out.
13. About 20 thousand people came to Escobar's funeral and cried. As witnesses to the funeral note, they were not hired actors. The feelings were sincere. When Escobar's coffin was carried through the streets of Medellin, a stampede began. The lid of the coffin was thrown off, and thousands of hands reached out to Pablo’s already frozen face with the sole purpose of touching the recently living legend in last time. Then the Colombians dismantled the dead man’s villa brick by brick in search of the valuables hidden by the richest drug lord.
14. After Escobar's death, his sister asked for forgiveness from the victims of her brother's criminal activities. At the same time, the Colombian authorities refused to register the relatives of the drug lord trademark"Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria." The refusal was made on the grounds of harm to public morals and order. It is noteworthy that neither the widow nor the children of the drug lord themselves bear his name: after moving to Argentina in the late 90s of the twentieth century, they changed their surnames. And US and Colombian law enforcement agencies are still searching for Escobar, believing that a double of the legendary cocaine king was shot dead in December 1993.
15.V computer games GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories The international airport is named after Pablo Escobar. In the Russian repertoire music group"Bad Balance" is a song by Pablo Escobar.
"El Patron" was the boss of the most powerful drug cartel the world has ever seen. In 1989, according to Forbes magazine, he took 7th place in the ranking of the richest people on the planet, with a personal fortune of $25 billion.
However, for such fabulous money, the drug king’s family also paid a considerable price: his wife remained a widow, and their two children lost loving father at the ages of 15 and 8 years. And, despite the fact that Escobar was killed in December 1993, they are still paying with a powerful emotional burden and constant threats from people who directly or indirectly suffered at the hands of the notorious drug lord.
In addition, they lost almost all the money, which was confiscated and handed over to the Colombian authorities.
Family curse
A few months after Escobar's death, due to constant persecution and persecution, his widow and children were forced to flee Colombia, first to Mozambique, then to many other countries, whose governments one after another refused to grant them political asylum. Everything except .
It's been 24 years since the bloody drug lord's family fled their home country. What happened with them since then? Who is Escobar's family today?
Wife: Maria Victoria Eneo Viejo
In 1974, when Escobar was 24, he began dating a 13-year-old Maria Victoria Eneo Viejo(Spanish: Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo). Her family did not approve of their relationship and the couple fled to the city of Palmyra, and in March 1976 they got married.
Throughout his life, Escobar had a huge number of extramarital affairs, but, despite all the adventures of her husband, Maria Victoria supported him in everything, remaining with him until the very end. last day his life. No one really knew about their relationship, but there was speculation that she was simply carried away by luxury.
Having fled to Argentina, the widow changed her name to Maria Isabel Santos Caballero(Spanish: Maria Isabel Santos Caballero). Together with their children, they lived the quiet life of an average family in a small apartment. This quiet life lasted only 5 years.
In 2000, Maria Isabel and her son were arrested on charges of falsification of documents, conspiracy and illegal money laundering. Allegedly, Escobar's wife received part of the money he earned from former members.
They were imprisoned in Argentina for 15 months (remarkably, they spent longer in prison than Pablo himself ever did), but were later released on the basis of insufficient evidence. A whole team of lawyers tried to incriminate them with many crimes, including drug trafficking, but in the end, due to lack of facts, they were forced to retreat.
Son: Juan Pablo Escobar Eneo
He inherited not only his father’s surname and first name, but also similar facial features. Quite a dangerous combination when trying to start life from scratch. Fleeing with his family to Argentina, he became known as Juan Sebastian Marroquin Santos(Spanish: Juan Sebastian Marroquín Santos), but this did not help him hide his true identity from the eyes of the unwanted public for long.
Juan was born in 1977 in Medellin. He loved his father very much, in general, the two were always very close, but by nature he was a pacifist and never agreed with the cruelty and violence that Escobar professed. Until he was 12-13 years old, he had no idea what his father was doing.
Exactly according to telephone conversation between father and son on that fateful December evening, US and Colombian special agents figured out the location of Escobar’s hideout. Neglecting caution, father and son remained on the line for almost 5 minutes. In this conversation, the drug lord told Juan that he would surrender to the police for his sake.
Having moved to Argentina, the young man entered school, dreaming of becoming an architect. He enjoyed his new life, measured and free, where there was no shooting and constant fear. But, hiding and living a lie, he could never feel happy. None of his friends and classmates knew who Juan Marroquin really was, for him this was a great relief, but at the same time he felt guilty.
In 2009, in collaboration with Morocquin, as well as his mother and two victims of cartel terror, a documentary film entitled " My Father's Sins"(Spanish: "Pecados de mi padre"). In this work, Juan addressed the victims of Pablo Escobar and the entire Colombian people to ask for forgiveness for the actions of his father.
Currently lives in Buenos Aires with his wife and daughter.
Daughter: Manuela Escobar Eneo
The daughter of the “Cocaine King” remained a more mysterious figure than her brother and mother. In contrast, Manuela has completely evaded the public eye. Today almost nothing is known about her, only what she was like as a child before Escobar's death.
She was born on October 6, 1984 in Brownsville (USA, Texas), i.e. I lost my father at the age of 8. According to the recollections of people close to the family, all this short time Manuela grew up as a very spoiled child, the center of attention, her father’s little princess.
One day she wanted a unicorn, Escobar bought a horse and ordered a cardboard cone in the shape of a horn to be stapled to her head. Also, wings were sewn to the horse's back, as a result of which it died from infection in the blood.
After his death, Manuela got used to life full of dangers and instability. At age 10, she moved with her family to Buenos Aires and changed her name to Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos(Spanish: Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos).
Since then, she has completely closed herself off from the public, pretending to be someone else. Since 2000 (when her mother and brother were arrested) practically nothing is known about her. We can only assume that 31-year-old Manuela Marroquín still lives in Buenos Aires, perhaps with a different name.
Parents
Father– Abel de Jesus Escobar Echeverri (Spanish: Abel de Jesus Escobar Echeverri), died in 2001 from pneumonia;
Mother– Hermilda Gaviria (Spanish: Hermilda Gaviria), died in 2006 at the age of 90, from diabetes.
The most successful terrorist in human history was born into the family of a simple farmer Abel de Jesus Escobar and a primary school teacher Hermilda Gaviria. The family had 7 children, the third of whom was Pablo. Their maternal grandfather Roberto Gaviria (Spanish: Roberto Gaviria Cobaleda) was a famous whiskey smuggler during Prohibition.
Brothers and sisters
Older brother: Roberto Escobar (Spanish)Robert Escobar Gaviria)
Born on January 11, 1947 in Rio Negro (Spanish: Rio Negro), Colombia. He was interested in studying chemistry and engineering and was actively involved in cycling. By the age of 18, he became a professional cyclist, winner of numerous national and international awards, and later coach of the Colombian youth cycling team. Eventually, he was drawn into a criminal lifestyle by his younger brother. He was Escobar’s “right hand”, and the chief accountant of the Medellin Cartel, bore the nickname El Osito.
Shortly before Pablo's death, he was imprisoned for 11 years in a maximum security colony. Having deep knowledge of the financial component of the cartel, in prison Roberto wrote the book “ The Accountant's Story: The Cruel World of the Medellin Cartel"(English: "The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel"), in which he spoke about the internal affairs of the drug empire.
In 1993, 16 days after the murder of his brother, while in prison, having received an anonymous explosive letter, he became blind in one eye and partially lost his hearing.
Since his release from prison in 2003, he has directed the Pablo Escobar Museum, which is located in the former estate of the drug lord Naples (Spanish: Nápoles).
According to Sebastian Marroquín, after Pablo Escobar's death, Roberto immediately betrayed the family by making a deal with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to lie about his brother.
Less is known about the others:
- older sister: Gloria Inés Escobar Gaviria (Spanish: Gloria Inés Escobar Gaviria);
- younger brother: Argemiro Escobar Gaviria (Spanish: Argemiro Escobar Gaviria);
- younger sister: Alba Marina Escobar Gaviria (Spanish: Alba Marina Escobar Gaviria);
- younger sister: Luz Maria Escobar Gaviria (Spanish: Luz María Escobar Gaviria);
- youngest brother: Luis Fernando Escobar Gaviria (Spanish: Luis Fernando Escobar Gaviria) (born in 1958 and died at the age of 19 in 1977).
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La Catedral(Spanish: La Catedral) - the luxurious prison of the legendary (Spanish: Pablo Escobar), in which the Colombian drug lord and his closest associates served their sentence for 13 months (from June 1991 to July 1992).
This prison is located in the picturesque Aburrá valley near the city (Spanish: Medellin) in close proximity to the outskirts of the neighboring town Envigado(Spanish: Envigado), unofficially called "Club Medellin", "Escobar's Hotel" or just a resort. Indeed, the word “Resort” suits La Catedral much more than the “luxury prison”, as the authorities preferred to classify it.
Translated from Spanish, the word “La Catedral” translates as “The Cathedral”. Don Pablo himself chose this name. And the point is not that he was a religious man - it was a nod towards his greatness. “You can consider me God! Because if I decide that someone is destined to die, he will die on the same day!” ©.
Imprisonment "behind bars". Reasons and mutual benefit
After several years of terror and enemy assassinations, incl. in high Colombian political leaders and their families, by the end of the 80s Escobar topped the list of the most wanted criminals not only in Colombia, but also in the United States. It was he who created the most powerful financial cocaine empire (“”), which controlled up to 80% of the world’s cocaine turnover. With financial support from the United States, the Colombian authorities created a “Special Search Group”, which included the best specialists intelligence services, army and prosecutor's office. They had only one goal: to catch or destroy El Patron.
Encircled on all sides, yielding constant pressure, in 1991 Escobar agreed to surrender to the authorities. As a result of 6 months of secret negotiations with the government (Spanish: César Gaviria Trujillo), Don Pablo agreed to plead guilty to several minor crimes and go to prison for 5 years, provided that he was forgiven for his past sins, as well as one more a small but very important caveat: he will serve his sentence in a prison built by himself - in La Catedral!
Inconceivable: the world's most brutal terrorist was serving time in a personal resort prison.
For Escobar, being placed in custody was beneficial; it gave him protection not only from enemies who were hunting him day and night, but also from what he feared most - from extradition to the United States. The drug lord knew well that in incorruptible American prisons everything would be completely different for him. No wonder Escobar's main motto was his famous phrase: “Better a grave in Colombia than a cage in the USA”.
In turn, the Colombian government, which understood the comedy and farce of this verdict, hoped to get rid of the main national headache in the form of Pablo Escobar for at least 5 years, even if only temporarily. The terror, murder, fear and total corruption he unleashed at all levels of government plunged the country into a state of chaos and despair, which is why his imprisonment seemed significant for Caesar Gaviria.
The agreement was in every sense mutually beneficial for both parties, which is why, on June 19, 1991, Pablo Escobar and several of his closest associates arrived in La Catedral to serve their 5-year sentence.
Superior Prison
The Medellin Cartel boss carefully planned almost every aspect of his prison, he specifically sought out and bought this 3 hectares of land on a cool mountainside overlooking beautiful view for the whole city.
And it’s not just about beauty, it was done more for one’s own safety - all the approaches to the impregnable fortress were clearly visible.
There was even an underground bunker equipped on the prison grounds in case of possible massive air strikes. Additionally, as part of the agreement with the government, the prisoner personally selected his own guards.
Escobar was always in close proximity to his family, a convenient location allowed him to literally observe the house where his family lived - a powerful telescope was installed in the prison, through which Escobar was able to see his daughter, talking to her on the phone for hours. There were also special radio transmitters, thanks to which El Patron could still control his drug business, earning tens of millions of dollars a day.
Instead of prison cells, there were luxurious bedrooms with double beds, imported furniture, 52-inch satellite televisions, and private bathrooms with Jacuzzis. High-ranking prisoners had at their disposal a swimming pool with a waterfall, a gym, billiard tables, a bar constantly replenished with elite alcohol, a disco, a sauna, a helipad, a football field and even a secret warehouse with ammunition. Don Pablo was visited at any time by family, friends and partners, and the most selective prostitutes often came here. Moreover, neither the Colombian National Police (CNP) nor the intelligence services had the right to approach La Catedral closer than 20 km! The prisoner himself left and came as he pleased, regularly visiting Medellin nightclubs, restaurants and football matches. At the same time, the government, fearing to destroy the fragile truce, preferred to pretend that it did not notice anything.
In the spring of 1992, Escobar, suspecting that his temporary managers, Fernando Galeano And Gerardo "Kiko" Moncada“rat” his money, ordered his assistants to bring it to prison, where he personally subjected the guilty to sophisticated torture, drilling the victims’ knees and tearing out their nails. After torture, they were shot and their corpses were cremated.
The escape
When, thanks to journalists, these facts became known to the general public, everyone realized that everything had gone too far. President Gaviria had no choice but to give the order to transfer the cocaine baron to a real prison.
A few days later, two unarmed officials arrived in La Catedral, the Deputy Minister of Justice Eduardo Mendoza(Spanish: Eduardo Mendoza) and head of the National Penitentiary Service Hernando Navas Rubio(Spanish: Hernando Navas Rubio) to personally inform the boss of the Medellin cartel of Cesar Gaviria's decision on changes to the agreement.
When Escobar heard this, he accused the government of treason and ordered his thugs to take the officials hostage, inviting Gaviria to change his mind and leave everything as it was. The next day, the prison was cordoned off by armored vehicles and 80 soldiers from an elite battalion.
On July 22, 1992, Escobar firmly decided that he had already “had enough.” When, after a lengthy firefight, the soldiers began their assault, the drug lord and his men abandoned the hostages and went into the mountains. Surprisingly, it turns out that part of the back wall of the prison was prudently made of plasterboard, so breaking the wall and escaping did not cost them anything. The escape was easy because Escobar had long ago bribed most of the Colombian officials from the political and judicial structures, as well as the military, up to the highest level. He was simply allowed to escape, because so many were bribed: with bribes or blackmail, "lead or silver".
After this escape, the largest manhunt in history was immediately announced in Colombia. More than 600 national police officers, together with navy SEALs began to cover literally the entire country. Soon they were joined by a new paramilitary organization (Spanish: Los Pepes, “People Victims of Pablo Escobar”). This ruthless group, whose actions were secretly encouraged by the governments of Colombia and the United States, began its own hunt for drug cartel members and their relatives. And she acted as radically and cruelly as the cocaine mafia itself.
A reward of 10 million dollars was placed on the head of the “cocaine king” (an amount corresponding to the salary of the President of Colombia for almost 200 years!).
This hunt lasted for 17 months. The constant threat of his wife and children had a strong destabilizing effect on Escobar. First, in the fall of 1993, the Medellin cartel collapsed, and on December 2, 1993, Pablo Escobar was killed.
Subsequent years
With the death of its owner, La Catedral remained abandoned for many years. Almost all the property left there was confiscated and transferred to the ownership of the municipality of Envigado. Expensive furniture and plumbing, air conditioners, state-of-the-art computers, televisions, giant screens for film projection and other stereo and video equipment - part of all this was transferred to local municipal facilities (prisons, hospitals). The other part, of course, was successfully mastered by officials.
The only thing left in the huge concrete building were several paintings, which were then also taken out by someone. The looters took out almost everything they could: pipes, paving slabs, tiles, roofing materials. To this day, many of the houses in the surrounding area El Salado(Spanish: El Salado) are built from “prison” building materials.
Like everything related to Pablo Escobar, La Catedral was also shrouded in many secrets, for example, rumors about buried containers filled with millions of dollars circulated around the prison for a long time. These rumors attracted thousands of treasure hunters here, incl. soldiers and policemen. As a result of these searches, many walls were dismantled, all the ground was dug up, but not a single dollar was found. Frustrated in their search, treasure hunters often took even bricks as an expensive souvenir. Thus, over the first 10 years, La Catedral was slowly but surely dismantled: in the end, there was practically nothing left except the foundation.
Our days
Today La Catedral has changed in ways that almost certainly no one could have imagined 20 years ago. In 2007, a group of Benedictine monks moved here and founded a home for the elderly and a shelter for homeless residents of Envigado. This place is now called "Monasterio Santa Gertrudis La Magna Antigua Carcel La Catedral".
In addition to living quarters, the monks built a chapel, a dining room, a library and a small planetarium. The entire territory of the shelter is replete with blooming green spaces and flower beds. The walls of the buildings are decorated with mosaic works with images of animals, monks and peasants. The Benedictines explain that they specifically tried to fill this place with life and color so that people could forget the terrible things that happened here more than a quarter of a century ago.
Instead of the former football field, today there is a parking lot. The goal was left in memory of the fact that once upon a time balls from Pablo Emilio Escobar himself flew into their target.
Nevertheless, the spirit of Pablo Escobar still hovers in the local air to this day. At the entrance to the territory of La Catedral there is a guard tower with a mannequin of a vigilant guard inside. On the wall of the tower hangs a sign with a meaningful phrase: “He who is envied and who is envious himself suffers double torment.”. Nearby there is another memorial plaque that reads: “He who kills another without cause or effect condemns himself to death.”.
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