Source: Latin Post

So, on his birthday, here are a few things about him that one simply must not miss.

Source: Vistazo

1. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, was born in the year 1949 to Abel de Jesús Dari Escobar, a farmer and Hermilda Gaviria, an elementary school teacher.

2. He began small. He is said to have been in the business of stealing gravestones and handing them to smugglers for resale. However, his brother Roberto Escobar denied it.

3. Before becoming well-known, Escobar sold contraband cigarettes, stole cars, scammed people and sold fake lottery tickets.

Source: Business Insider

4. Then he moved on to the next level where he acted as a bodyguard and is even said to have kidnapped a Medellin executive. He then eventually moved to the drug business.

5. He started working for the smuggler Alvaro Pietro, and gradually increased his bank balance.

6. He started his own cocaine operation in 1975. He even flew a plane many times between Colombia and Panama along the smuggling routes. The very wealthy Escobar would later hang this plane over the gate of his ranch at Hacienda Napoles.

Source: Business Insider

7. In 1976, he was married to a 15-year-old Maria Victoria. He was 27 then. They had two chidren together, Juan Pablo and Manuela.

8. Once, Escobar was arrested because he was found in possession of cocaine. He unsuccessfully tried to bribe the judges. But since the case was not getting settled on his terms, Escobar killed the arresting officers. The case was dropped.

9. Eventually the demand for cocaine in the USA reached its peak and Escobar supplied it all. He and cartel co-founder Carlos Lehder decided to take over an island, Norman’s Cay, as a trans-shipment point. Some believed that Escobar bought the island. However, Roberto claimed that the island was solely Lehder’s venture.

Source: 90 Miles From Tyranny

10. The profits from this route made him exceptionally wealthy and he bought 20 sq km of land in Antioquia, where he built his palatial home, Hacienda Napoles . It had a lake, a zoo and many other recreational facilities for his family and the organisation.

11. The Medellin Cartel was shipping 80,000 kg of cocaine from Colombia to USA at one point. The biggest shipment was 23,000 kg that was smuggled mixed with fish paste. Roberto even confirmed the use of manned submarines to smuggle cocaine.

12. In 1982, Escobar was elected as part of the Colombian Liberal Party.

Source: Daily Mail

13. In 1989, Escobar was declared as the seventh richest man in the world by the Forbes magazine.

14. Escobar was allegedly responsible for the assassination of the 1989 Colombian presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galan as he refused to bow down to Escobar’s coercion and illegal dealings. Escobar was also allegedly responsible for the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 and the bombing of the DAS Building .

15. After Galan’s death, Escobar agreed to surrender to the Colombian government in 1991. He was confined in a luxury prison, which he helped design. He continued to manage his business from there.

The prison, La Catedral, was basically Escobar’s home away from home where he got to choose his guards, continued to receive visitors, had a football pitch and a barbecue pit. Colombian authorities were not allowed within 3 miles of the prison. More than a prison, the La Catedral protected him from possible assassination by members of other cartels.

Source: National Post

16. Before his confinement, he also got the extradition treaty nullified. The new Constitution of Colombia of 1991 prohibited extradition of Colombian citizens. This created quite a controversy making everyone believe that Escobar had bribed the officials.

17. He also paid the left-wing guerrilla group M-19 to storm and siege the Supreme Court , which led to the death of half of the 25 Supreme Court Justices.

18. At the peak of his career, Escobar and the Medellin Cartel were smuggling 15,000 kg of cocaine every day. It fetched the cartel around 60 million USD per day.

Source: The Huffington Post

19. Escobar, who wreaked havoc in the Colombian and USA governments, was a benefactor of the poor. It was a symbiotic relationship between Escobar and the people of Medellin.

He made hospitals, schools, churches, took up housing projects and even distributed money amongst the poor.They would serve as lookouts, withhold information and basically do anything to protect him in return.

20. Other Colombian cartels offered Escobar anything from 20 to 30 per cent of their profits because he was the one who could ship it all to USA. The struggle of the cartels to remain in power led to 25,100 deaths in 1991 and 27,100 in 1992, making Colombia the murder capital of the world.

21. In his war against authorities, Escobar had killed three Colombian presidential candidates, more than 200 judges, a justice minister, dozens of journalists, an attorney general and more than 1,000 police officers.

Source: The Huffington Post

22. As if it was all not enough, the Medellin Cartel, for the most part was in a deadly war with the Cali Cartel.

23. The Medellin Cartel had so much money that they spent $1000 per week to buy rubber bands so that they could bind the cash.

24. Ten per cent of their cash was deducted every year because rats would nibble at hundred dollar notes and spoil them. While in hiding, Escobar literally burned $2 million to keep his daughter warm.

Source: The Huffington Post

25. Escobar was shot dead on 2nd December, 1993. He was found hiding in a modest neighbourhood with the help of electronic surveillance. He tried to escape by running across the roofs. He was fatally shot through the ear, which killed him. But till this day, members of his family believe that he shot himself.

So, plata o plomo?