Imagine a gangster, crime lord or drug lord and you probably think of bloodshed, guns, fast money and a rich lifestyle. Gangsters are also known to make a lot of money, even though the ways they do so often lack legitimacy. From drug trafficking to different forms of financial scamscrime is extremely lucrative. It is claimed that Capone was employing over gangsters to protect his business from esccobar gangs. Pablo Escobar Pablo Escobar controlled the majority of the cocaine in Colombia and built his wealth by flooding the U. Forbes named Escobar one of the richest men in the world seven years in a row. ByEscobar controlled an estimated 40 percent of the Medellin drug cartel ‘s business. According to CelebrityNetWorth.
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It’s not just that Escobar made a figurative killing selling nose candy or that he literally killed a bunch of people along the way. He also illustrates society’s collective addiction to status and the weird way that even criminally rich people are somewhat idolized. But Business Insider almost makes him sound like the Horatio Alger of drug lords, an inspiring example of rags-to-riches success with perhaps a smattering of murder. With all of that in mind, we’re here to perpetuate that very weirdness by delving into Escobar’s wealth, his estimated worth when he died, and how much that money would be worth today. As we look at Escobar’s enormous fortune , it’s important to issue a few caveats, the biggest of which is that drug lords work in mysterious ways because their enterprise is illegal. So there’s no way to be certain about Pablo Escobar’s earnings. Moreover, because he couldn’t just put all his cash in banks like a normal person, he resorted to storing it in warehouses, cartel members’ houses, and farming fields. Some of that money was eaten by rats or destroyed in water, forcing the drug lord to write off an estimated 10 percent of his assets annually. Even with dirty rats eating his dirty dough, Escobar was filthy rich. In his heyday, he smuggled 15 tons of cocaine into the U. Escobar met his own violent demise in when he was fatally shot amid a failed attempt to escape his hideaway. All rights reserved. How much money would Pablo Escobar be worth today?
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The «King of Cocaine» was the son of a poor Colombian farmer, but by the time he was 35, he was one of the world’s wealthiest men. Escobar made the Forbes’ list of international billionaires for seven years straight, from until In , he was listed as the seventh-richest man in the world. The Colombians and their American counterparts would airdrop loads of blow out to sea, from where it would be rushed ashore in speedboats, or even fly it right onto the Florida mainland and let it crash down in the countryside,» Grillo wrote. In other words, of the Americans doing cocaine, four out of five were snorting lines supplied by «El Patron. Escobar’s immense wealth became problematic when he couldn’t launder his cash quickly enough. Escobar simply had more money than he knew to do with, so haphazardly losing money to rodents and mold wasn’t an issue. While hiding or destroying the exorbitant amount of money was one issue, the brothers faced another, more elementary problem: neatly organizing the banknotes. He was nicknamed «Robin Hood» after handing out cash to the poor, building housing for the homeless, constructing 70 community soccer fields, and building a zoo. He cut a deal with Colombia to be imprisoned, but in a luxurious prison he built and named «La Catedral» — the cathedral. In , Escobar was incarcerated in his self-designed prison he named «La Catedral. He could also continue to run his cartel business and receive visitors. La Catedral was equipped with a soccer field, barbecue pit, and patios and it was nearby another compound he built for his family. Also, the Colombian authorities were not allowed within 3 miles of his prison. Read the original article on Business Insider UK. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Subscribe Now Subscribe Now. Long reads.
1. In the mid-1980s, Escobar’s cartel brought in an estimated $420 million a week, which totals almost $22 billion a year.
In the early s, he began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom. Escobar’s infiltration into the U. As a makjng, he quickly became one of the richest people in the world, [3] [4] but consistently battled rival cartels domestically and abroad, leading to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians, [5] making Colombia the murder capital of the world.
In the parliamentary electionEscobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Mooney as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. 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. However, Escobar was vilified by the Colombian and U. InEscobar 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 escboar, with the ability of being housed in his own, self-built prison, La Catedral.
InEscobar escaped and went into hiding fay authorities attempted to move him to a more standard escoba facility, leading to a nation-wide manhunt. His brother, Roberto Escobardenies this, instead claiming that the gravestones came from cemetery owners whose clients had stopped paying for site care and that he had a relative who had a monuments business. Escobar studied at the University for a short period, but left without obtaining a degree.
Escobar eventually became involved in many criminal activities with Oscar Benel Aguirre, with the duo running makig street scamsselling contraband cigarettes, fake lottery tickets, and stealing cars. In The Accountant’s StoryRoberto Escobar discusses how Pablo rose from middle-class simplicity and q to one of the world’s wealthiest men.
Beginning inPablo started developing his cocaine operation, flying out planes several times, waa between Colombia naking Panama, along smuggling routes into the United States. When he later bought fifteen bigger airplanes, including a Learjet maikng six helicopters, according to his son, a dear friend of Pablo’s died during the landing of an airplane, and the plane was destroyed.
After many months of legal wrangling, he ordered the murder of the two arresting officers, and the case was later dropped. Roberto Escobar details this as the point where Pablo began his pattern of dealing with the authorities, by either bribery or murder. Roberto Escobar maintains Pablo fell into the drug business simply because other types of contraband became too dangerous to traffic. As there were no drug cartels then, and only a few drug barons, Pablo saw it as untapped territory he wished to amking his.
Soon, the demand for cocaine was greatly increasing in the United Statesand Escobar organized more maaking shipments, routes, and distribution networks in South FloridaCaliforniaand other parts of the country. According to his brother, Escobar did not purchase Norman’s Cay; it was, instead, a sole venture of Lehder’s. With the enormous profits generated by this route, Escobar was soon able to purchase 7.
The luxury house he created contained a zooa lake, a sculpture garden, a private bullring, and other diversions for his family and the cartel. At one point it was estimated [25] that 70 to maling tons of cocaine were being shipped from Colombia to the United States every month. Roberto Escobar also claimed that, in addition to using planes, his brother employed two small submarines to transport the enormous loads. In Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombiaas part of a small movement called Liberal Alternative.
The production process was also altered, with coca from Bolivia and Peru wax the coca from Colombia, which was beginning to be seen as substandard quality than the coca from the neighboring countries. It is alleged that Escobar backed the storming of the Colombian Supreme Court by left-wing guerrillas from the 19th of April Movementalso known as M The siege, a retaliation motivated by the Supreme Court studying the constitutionality of Colombia’s extradition treaty with the U.
Escobar was listed as a part of Los Extraditables. Hostages were also taken for negotiation of their release, thus helping to prevent extradition of Los Extraditables to the U. When questioned about the essence of the cocaine business, Escobar replied with «[the business is] simple: you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money.
He was a natural at public relationsand he worked to create goodwill among the poor of Colombia. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building mucch fields and multi-sports courts, as well as sponsoring children’s football teams. The Colombian cartels’ continuing struggles to maintain supremacy resulted in Colombia quickly becoming wwas world’s murder capital muvh 25, violent deaths in and 27, in Eventually, the government ohw with Escobar and convinced him to surrender and cease all criminal activity in exchange for a reduced sentence and preferential treatment during his captivity.
Declaring an end to a mohey of previous violent acts meant to pressure authorities and public opinion, Escobar surrendered to Colombian authorities in Before he gave himself up, the extradition of Colombian citizens to the United States had been prohibited by the newly approved Colombian Constitution of This act was controversial, as it was suspected that Escobar and other drug lords had influenced members of the Constituent Assembly in passing the law.
Escobar was confined in what became his own luxurious private prison, La Catedralwhich featured a football pitch, giant dollhouse, bar, jacuzzi, and waterfall. Accounts of Escobar’s continued criminal activities while in prison began to surface in the media, which prompted the government to attempt to move him to a more conventional jail on 22 July Miney influence allowed him to discover the plan in advance and make a successful escape, spending the remainder of his life evading the police.
They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force known as the Search Escobqrwhich had been created to locate Escobar. Later, as the conflict between Escobar and the governments of the United States and Colombia dragged on, and as the numbers of Escobar’s enemies grew, a vigilante group known as Los Pepes Los Pe rseguidos for P ablo Es cobar, «People Persecuted by Escobarr Escobar» was formed.
This coordination was allegedly conducted mainly through the sharing of intelligence to allow Los Pepes to bring down Escobar and his few remaining allies, makung there are reports that secobar individual Mch Bloc members directly participated in missions of Los Pepes death squads.
The relationship was discouraged by the Henao family, who considered Escobar socially inferior; the pair eloped. Inthe journalist Virginia Vallejo published her memoir Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar Loving Pablo, Hating Escobarin which she describes her romantic relationship with Escobar and the links of her lover with several presidents, Caribbean dictators, and high-profile politicians.
A drug distributor, Griselda Blanco is also reported to have conducted a clandestine, but passionate, relationship with Escobar; several items in her diary link escoobar with the nicknames «Coque de Mi Rey» My Coke King and «Polla Blanca» White Dick. The luxury house contained a colonial house, a sculpture park, and a complete zoo with animals from various continents, including elephantsexotic birds, giraffesand hippopotamuses.
Escobar had also planned to construct a Greek-style citadel near it, and though construction of the citadel was started, it was never finished. The four-bedroom estate, built in on Biscayne Baywas seized by the government in the s. Later, the dilapidated property was owned by Christian de Berdouare, proprietor of the Chicken Kitchen fast-food chain, who had bought it in De Berdouare would later hire a documentary film crew and professional treasure hunters to search the edifice before and after demolition, for anything related to Escobar or his cartel.
They would find unusual holes in floors and walls, as well as a safe that was stolen from its hole in the omney flooring before it could be properly examined.
The compound, now half-demolished and overtaken by vegetation and wild animals, featured a mansion, apartments, courtyards, a large swimming pool, a helicopter landing makinng, reinforced windows, tiled floors, and a large, unfinished building to the side of the mansion. Sixteen months after his escape from La Catedral, Pablo Escobar died in a shootout on 2 Decemberamid another of Escobar’s attempts to elude the Search Bloc.
The two fugitives attempted to escape by running across the roofs of adjoining houses to reach a back street, but both were shot and killed by Colombian National Police. It has never been proven who actually fired the final shot into his ear, or determined whether this shot was made during the gunfight or as part of a possible execution, with wide speculation remaining regarding the subject. Some of Escobar’s relatives believe that he had committed suicide.
In a statement regarding hwo topic, the duo stated that Pablo «had committed suicide, he did not get killed. During all the years they went after him, he would say to me every day that if he was really cornered without a way out, he would ‘shoot himself through the ear’. Many there, especially many of the city’s poor whom Escobar had aided while he was alive, mourned his death, and over 25, people attended his funeral.
Hpw of them consider him a saint and pray to him esxobar receiving divine help. The action was seen as too late. On 18 JulyVallejo was taken to the United States on a special flight of the Drug Enforcement Administration DEAfor «safety and security reasons» due to her escobad in high-profile criminal cases.
On 31 August Santofimio was sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role in the crime. Among Escobar’s biographers, only Vallejo has given a ,oney explanation of his role in the Palace of Justice siege. The journalist stated that Escobar had financed the operation, which was committed by M ; but she blamed the army for the killings of more than people, including 11 Supreme Court magistrates, M members, muc employees of hpw cafeteria.
Her statements prompted the reopening of the case in ; Vallejo was asked ray testify, and many of the events she had described in her book and testimonial were xay by the Colombia’s Commission of Truth.
Members of the Cali Cartel even replayed their recordings of her conversations with Pablo for their wives to demonstrate how a woman should behave. Henao even successfully negotiated for her son’s life by personally guaranteeing he would not seek revenge against the cartel or participate in the drug trade. After escaping first to Mozambiquethen to Brazilthe wa settled in Argentina. Local media were escoar, and after being exposed as Escobar’s widow, Henao was imprisoned for eighteen months while her finances were investigated.
Ultimately, authorities were unable to link her funds to illegal activity, and she was released. A great lover. I fell in love with his desire to help people and his compassion for their hardship. We [would] drive to places where he dreamed of building schools for the poor. From [the] beginning, he was always maikng gentleman. The book provides a firsthand insight into details of his father’s life and describes the fundamentally disintegrating mucb of his death upon the family.
Escobar’s sister, Luz Maria Escobar, also made multiple gestures in attempts to make amends for the drug baron’s crimes. These include making public statements in the press, leaving letters on the graves of his victims and on the 20th anniversary of his death organizing a public memorial for his victims. The property has been converted into a theme park surrounded by four luxury hotels overlooking the zoo.
They were deemed too difficult to seize and move after Escobar’s death, and hence left on the untended estate. Bythe animals had multiplied to 16 and had taken to roaming the area for food in the nearby Magdalena River. The building was initially built escoabr Escobar’s wife but was gutted by a Cali Cartel car bomb in and had remained unoccupied ever since, becoming an attraction to foreign tourists seeking out Escobar’s physical legacy. Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of cartel victims, including four presidential candidates and some police officers.
Colombian President Ivan Duque said the demolition «means that history is not going to be written in terms of the perpetrators but by recognizing the victims,» hoping the demolition would showcase that the city had evolved significantly and had more to offer than the legacy left by the cartels. Two major feature films on Escobar, Escibar and Killing Pablowere announced in From Wikipedia, hkw free encyclopedia. This article is about the Colombian drug lord.
For mmuch uses, see Pablo Escobar disambiguation. Colombian drug lord. This article uses Spanish naming customs : the first or paternal family name is Escobar and the second or maternal family name is Gaviria. RionegroAntioquiaColombia. Maria Victoria Henao m. Main article: La Catedral. Main articles: Los Pepes and Search Bloc. Business Insider. Retrieved 28 July February
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How much money was left after the death of Pablo Escobar?
AFP The «King of Cocaine» was the son of a poor Colombian farmer, but by the time he was 35, he was one of the world’s wealthiest men. Source: The Daily Beast. Source: Forbes. The Colombians and their American counterparts would airdrop ma,ing of blow out to sea, from where it would be rushed bow in speedboats, or even fly it right onto the Florida mainland and let it crash down in the countryside,» Grillo wrote. Source: GQ. Escobar’s immense wealth became problematic when he couldn’t launder his cash quickly. Escobar simply had more money than he knew to do with, so haphazardly losing money to rodents and mold wasn’t an issue. While hiding or destroying the exorbitant amount of money was one issue, the brothers faced another, more elementary problem: neatly organizing the banknotes. Source: Don Juan magazine. InEscobar was incarcerated in his self-designed prison he named «La Catedral. He could also continue to run his cartel business and receive visitors.
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