Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria He was one of the most famous drug traffickers in history. He was born in Rionagro, Colombia, December 1st 1949 and died in Medellin on December 2nd 1993. From a young age he undertook the Crime road And he managed to fit into the growing drug business. In the 70s he founded the powerful Medellin cartelwhich controlled much of the world cocaine traffic, and became one of the richest men in the world. Famous for his coldness, he never scrupted himself to order the death of anyone who was on his wayaccording to the principle “Plata or Plomo” -” Money or lead “, the phrase made iconic by the TV series NARCOS – nor to make real massacres. He was found by the Colombian special forces and killed in 1993.
Pablo Escobar’s youth and drug market in Colombia
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born in Rionagro, and from a young age he led a road life to Medellin abandoning the school in 1966 and then accomplished Thefts and kidnappings in person. In 1974 he was arrested For a short time and after the release, thanks also to the close friendships in prison, he took the path of drug trafficking. It should be remembered that in the 70s Colombia was becoming one of the cocaine business centers: drug traffickers acquired the raw materials in Andine countries (Ecuador, Bolivia, etc.), transformed it into cocaine and illegally exported it into the various international squares, in particular in the United States, where the demand was growing. Escobar entered the lap at the right time.
Plata or Plomo: the beginning of the ascent and the political career
Escobar’s fame and wealth soon began to grow. In 1976 he was arrested, but he managed to be released by corrupting the judges. The drug trafficker method is known as “Plata or Plomo“,” Money or lead “: those who were on his way, politicians, officials, law enforcement officers, had to choose between letting himself corrupt or be killed. In 1976 he married the fifteen -year -old Maria Victoria Henaowho will give him two children.
In the same period he founded the Medellin cartel which controlled the drug trafficking in Colombia, disappearing it with rival Calì cartel. To sell drugs in the United States, in 1978 the sign founded by Escobar purchased a small island of the Bahamas archipelago, Norman’s Cay, Also equipped with a landing track, taking advantage of planes and even submarines to transport and sell cocaine. The wealth of Escobar, moreover, was immense. In 1978 he inaugurated the Tenuta Nápolesa vast property in which a private zoo were located, numerous artificial lakes, a landing track and other attractions. He also began to be recognized as a sort of Robin Hood, donating money to the poorest part of the population of Medellin. He also finished the football team of theAtletico Nacionalwhich in 1989 will win the Libertadores Cup (South American equivalent of the European Champions League). Escobar also embarked on the political career and in 1982 he was elected deputy to the Colombian Parliament. His presence, however, aroused embarrassment and shortly after his election a newspaper published a photo of the 1976 arrest. After various controversies, the drug trafficker He was forced to resign and, for retaliation, he had various people assassinated, including the Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara Bonillawho had been one of his accusers.
The apogee of the criminal career
The failure of political experience profoundly affected Escobar, who however continued his “Brilliant criminal career”. In 1985 he finished The assault on the Bogota Palace of Justiceconducted by a guerrilla group called M19. In the “battle” unleashed by the Colombian army to free the building they were killedoverall, approximately One hundred people.
The Medellin sign, moreover, made Attacks and murders throughout Colombia. Escobar’s main objective was to obtain the cancellation of the treated on the basis of which drug traffickers could be extradited in the United Statestreated that was actually Abbogged for a short time in 1986but was restored almost immediately. Escobar also had journalists and magistrates assassinate who interposed in his business and in 1989 ordered the death of Luis Galáncandidate for the presidency of the Republic, who had refused to get corrupted. In addition, on August 18, 1989, in an attempt to eliminate Galán’s successor as a candidate, César Gaviria, ordered to place a bomb on Avianca 203 scheduled flightbetween Bogota and Calì, on which he believed Gaviria would travel. The candidate was not on the flight, but The bomb caused the death of 107 people. At the end of the 80s he also broke out the war against the Calì cartelthe beginning of another trail of blood.
The delivery, escape and death of Pablo Escobar
In the 90sEscobar’s fortune began to decline: in fact in 1990 Gaviria was elected president of Colombia and declared war on drug signs. The drug trafficker was still in a position of strength and could negotiate his delivery with the government: I agree to cease criminal activities, in exchange for a five -year “bland” imprisonment in a luxury prison he built himself, a seal called The cateter. In addition, the extradition treaty with the United States was abolished by the new Colombian Constitution.
In the 1991 Escobar He got delivered and was “imprisoned” A La Cateterral. However, the conditions of his detention aroused controversy, especially since the trafficker had not ceased criminal activities And he walked away when he wanted from the “prison”. In 1992 the government therefore ordered to transfer Escobar to a conventional prison, but the trafficker, who had his infiltrated in the police forces, came to know in advance and the July 22 escaped. Thus began a man’s hunt conducted not only by the police, but also by a paramilitary group, Los Pepes (acronym for Los pursuing Por Pablo Escobar), financed by the Calì cartel. Hunting ended on December 2, 1993when Colombian special forces identified Escobar in an apartment in Medellin thanks to the technology provided by the United States. The trafficker tried to escape together with his guardaspalle, but He was killed by an agent (according to another version, he committed suicide so as not to be captured).
The consequences and inheritance
After Escobar’s death, the Medellin cartel He framed and the control of the drug market passed to Calì cartel. His wife Maria Victoria Henao and the two children of the trafficker, including Manuela Escobar, moved to Argentina. Among the “bequests” of Escobar there are even some hippopotami that in the 70s the trafficker had brought to the Nápoles estate. The specimens have multiplied and today there are about 160: the only population of hippos in the wild state outside of Africa. Escobar left Boxes full of moneyburied in hiding places that nobody knows the existence: in 2015 a farmer, carrying out excavation, found containers with about 600 million dollars in cash. It is estimated that in Colombia there is a hundred of these hiding places.
