Pablo Escobar's Life Was Even More Messed Up Than It Seems On Narcos

Born in 1949 in a small city a short distance from Medellin, Pablo was thrust into a life of crime fairly early. As a boy he used to sell fake lottery tickets and contraband cigarettes. Eventually he ‘moved up’ and started stealing cars.

In the ‘70s, he participated in his very first kidnapping, earning $100,000 dollars to help kidnap a Medellin executive. This first taste of wealth really impressed the man who would later become a billionaire.

By the mid 70’s, Escobar had established himself as the main reason most Americans did cocaine as he was responsible for about $500 million worth of cocaine a day into the United States.
He went on to form the Medellin cartel with six other ‘businessmen’ and started raking in $60 million a day, as well as controlling 80% of the world’s cocaine supply. He was so rich he was able to afford to transport his product by submarine.
 
In 1976, he was captured by Colombian authorities in possession of drugs. However, he bribed the arresting officers and the case collapsed. He kept himself out of jail by bribing officers and killing the ones that refused to take his money. That method of survival became known as ‘plata o plomo’ (silver or lead), and the reason he is responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of police officers’ deaths.

In the ‘80s, the demand for cocaine skyrocketed and Pablo’s cartel started smuggling 15 tonnes of cocaine per day to the U.S.--Just to put things into perspective, that’s approximately the weight of not one but two African elephants.

Having that much illegal money had its downside though. Not only was he spending around $1000 a week on rubber bands to hold all the money, but 10% of his yearly earnings was eaten by rats. That’s around $2 billion dollars lost each year. He lost more each year to rats that most people will ever own in a lifetime.

In 1991, Pablo Escobar agreed to surrender to the Colombian authorities. However, he wasn’t willing to do his time with other inmates, which is why he helped design his own luxury prison. From there he continued to run his operations and Colombian authorities weren’t allowed within 3 miles of the compound.

In times of need, he didn’t hesitate to burn $2 million to save his daughter from the cold weather, as his family were hiding at a farm in the mountains.

Pablo was both a villain and a hero for the people in Colombia. He is said to be responsible for approximately 4,000 deaths including a Colombian presidential candidate. However, he built many parks, hospitals, schools, churches, sports stadiums and frequently distributed money to the poor, which made him loved by many.

However, he was killed by a fatal bullet wound right above his ear -- the exact same place where he told his brother he would shoot himself were he ever cornered. Whether this was on purpose or just a weird coincidence, we’ll never know.


Source: providr.com