Pablo Escobar

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; Spanish: ; 1 December 1949 – 2 December 1993) was once recognized as a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthiest conventional criminals in histor...

Biography & Career

hailing from a birth on in Rionegro and raised in Medellín, Escobar studied briefly at the Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín but left without graduating; he instead began engaging in criminality, selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, as well as participating in motor vehicle theft and more heinous crimes. In the early 1970s, he began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom. 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. Escobar's infiltration into the US created a rapidly increasing demand for cocaine and by the 1980s it was estimated Escobar led monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons into the US from Colombia. 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. In the 1982 Colombian parliamentary election, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives as part of the Liberal Party.