Pablo Escobar at the age of 22

Pablo Escobar getting off his private airplane

His cousin was not only creative with routes but also with way to smuggle and conceal drugs, he was the fist to smuggle drugs with submarines!  This is around the time when the business exploded and they would smuggle 15 tones a day. Pablo Escobar had a whopping 750 000 employees (he had more employees than Dominos, Google and Fedex combined) with the enterprise earning 70 million dollars a day, more than enough to subsidize the massive enterprise and wild desires the Escobars had, including private zoos. Pablo Escobar would bought more air plains and submarines in order to smuggle more cocaine. A Boeing 727s, strip out all the passenger seats and fly up to 10 tons per flight into the U.S via Norman’s Cay, a shipping point in the Bahamas which made smuggling in the United States easier than ever. The island had everything Medellin needed: an air strip which provided easy access, a hotel where smugglers can sleep, a harbor another path for drug smuggling, and a refrigerated warehouse to store cocaine.
Another big part of the prime of Medellin Cartel was El Senor`s most lavish private estate.

Helicopter at Hacienda Napoles (now the building is in ruins)

Hacienda Napoles is another legendary moment of the story. Iconic place. Its former glory now in ruins and dust, quiet the allegory of Pablo`s life. 7 pools, 3 zoos, private airport, bullring, kart racing and tennis court.
1978 was the year when the land for the infamous Hacienda Napoles was discovered, El Patron had paid for the 7,400-acre $63 million. A year later the hacienda was built, and it took 700 people to maintain it! On top of the main entrance you can still an air plane, this is the exact air plane Pablito personally piloted and used to smuggle cocaine in the USA.
With 750k employees, there was food on their tables, they had roof over their heads, children had places to play, learn and even heal. A big value in El Patron`s life was education, due to his behavior in his early years he was kicked out of school.
To this day there is a Neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia called Pablo Escobar.

Pablo Escobar neighborhood in Medellin.

Pablo in Politics

1981 Pablo Escobar and Juan Pablo Escobar in front of the White House.

This might sound outrageous to some people but i think he was a great father, judging from what i have seen on interviews with his son. One of the biggest and most values Pablo had were education, he wanted his children to be highly educated and he succeed in that aspect - his son Juan Pablo Escobar is now an architect.


His his sister Manuela was born 7 years later in 1984 and just like little Pablito she was very loved by her father and he would go to extremes to fulfill every little wish she had.When Manuela asked her father how much a billion dollars was, he responded “the value of your eyes, my princess.”There is not much information that comes directly from her, because she avoids public appearances.

Pablo Escobar being kissed by his wife Maria and daughter Manuela, behind them is Juan Pablo Escobar

The death of Pablo

Courtesy of Cristiano Siqueria

On December 02 of 1993, just a day after he turned 44. Pablo Escobar took the decision to end his life and save the lives of his family. He knew his phone was being monitored and tracked so he called his family. Pablo would often say to his son that the phone meant death. He was tracked and a chase on a rooftop of a house in Medellin. His cousin Luzmila recalls that he woke up that day at 12 O`clock when she left him some lunch and he asked her to come back around 3. At five past 3 as she was approaching the house where he hid, events of the day unraveled, Pablo was laying on the rooftop, dead. His son recalls that his father would often tell him that if he finds himself surrounded by enemies he would kill himself before authorities have the chance to catch him. He would put a gun to his right ear and will shoot himself. On the infamous photo of Pablo on the rooftop we can see his Sig Sauer (9mm gun), lying next to its owner. Pablo often said that he would use when he puts an end to his own life. A famous quote by him is "I can replace things, but I could never replace my wife and kids."
The day Pablo Gaviria Escobar was buried 25,000 people showed up to pay their last respect to El Señor. 25,000 people wept and cried for their hero and may be 25,000 rejoiced that a villain had been stricken down.
After Pablo`s death his family was forced to leave Colombia and change their names. His son in a fit of rage after receiving the news about his father`s death threatens to kill his enemies and to this day he is sorry for his reaction that day, up until recently he was scared of going back to his home country.

The phone Pablo Escobar used that day. Courtesy of  http://jamesmollison.com

Due to his mother`s brave actions and peaceful mindset, the family was no longer in danger. There is story of her meeting with Cali cartel, and gathered all of Cali cartel bosses and mafia, 40 people attended and she made a deal - they will take everything Pablo has earned and they will split it up amongst themselves. After that they fled to Argentina, where they lived in Privacy until one day their cover was blown and they faced jail. Juan Pablo (now Sebastian Marroquin) recalls that the authorities wanted the money the Cali Cartel and mafia bosses now had, they also wanted the Escobar family to betray Pablo, his mother being the bravest woman in Colombia never gave up her husband`s name and legacy.
16 years passed and his son was able to get back to Colombia, he seeks forgiveness from his father`s victim families. Rodrigo Lara Bonilla`s son had given his his forgiveness and was spotted recently attending a mass with Sebastian Marroquin in Colombia.

Juan Pablo Escobar with Jorge Lara Restrepo. Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/JuanPabloEscobarHenao