December 1, 1949 – Rionegro, Colombia – A child is born in one of the most poverty stricken places in the world where evil men will soon unleash a barrage of violence, corruption, and fear that will bring the country to its knees. This infant will soon lead the darkness that will envelope Colombia. He will also become the wealthiest criminal in history. By the time he turns 40, his net worth will be $30 billion which is equivalent to $70 billion in 2022
1950-1960 – Medellin, Colombia – The boy and his family move to another impoverished city as the child continues to grow more violent each day. He is growing physically strong and using his high level of intelligence to satisfy his thirst to commit crimes. This criminal activity includes selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, as well as participating in motor vehicle theft.
Mid – 1970’s – Western Hemisphere – The boy is now a man completely focused on gaining wealth by engaging in criminal activity. However, selling illegal cigarettes does not pay his bills. At the same time, the illegal cocaine trade begins to spread in Colombia. His business plan suddenly changes.
1976 – South America – He immediately gets involved in the cocaine trade. By the end of the year he forms the Medellin Cartel, which distributes cocaine to the U.S. via south Florida.
His infiltration into the U.S. creates exponential demand for the drug. By the 1980s he is moving monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the country from Colombia. By the end of 1978, he will have transported 19,000 kg of cocaine to the U.S.
As a result, he quickly becomes one of the richest people in the world. But, in order to continue, he must constantly battle rival cartels domestically and abroad. This leads to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians. One man makes Colombia the murder capital of the world.
His rapid rise to power soon catches the attention of the Colombian Security Service (DAS), who arrest him in May 1976 on his return from drug trafficking in Ecuador. DAS agents find 39 kg of cocaine in the spare tire of his car. He manages to change the first judge in his case and bribe the second judge so that he would be released.
The following year, the agent who arrested him is assassinated. His new strategy comes to be known as “silver or lead,” or “money or bullets.”
1982 – Bogotá, Columbia – While highly intelligent, the man has one emotional weakness that will eventually kill him and destroy the Medellin Cartel; the desire for political power. He runs for a seat in Colombia’s parliament and wins. The need to be seen and heard publically has always been the beginning of the end for factions of organized crime.
Interestingly, this man is also heavily involved in philanthropy in Colombia. He spends millions developing some of Medellin’s poorest neighborhoods. He helps build roads, power lines, soccer fields, and housing complexes for the homeless. He becomes viewed by many as the “Robin Hood” of South America. The people appreciate and protect him.
As he becomes a billionaire, he buys more land, airplanes, judges, prosecutors, and politicians. His most unusual expenditure is the building of his home; Hacienda Nápoles. The luxury house contains a zoo, a lake, a sculpture garden, a private bullring, and other amenities for his family and the cartel. Hippos still live in the rainforest near his former home.
April 1984 – Bogotá – the new Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara-Bonilla, becomes his enemy, accusing him of criminal activity. He fights back, but pressure from the cartel prompts his retirement from politics. Three months later, Lara-Bonilla is murdered.
This murder is the largest mistake he will ever make. The entire world is shocked, Colombian police forces begin to hunt for him, and worse, he rattles the attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA.)
November 6, 1985 – Bogotá – Far-left wing guerrillas, supported by this man, attack the Colombian Judiciary Building and kill half of the justices of the Supreme Court. This violent act is too much for President Ronald Reagan to ignore.
The mighty U.S. military teams up with the Colombian military to plan the arrest or assassination of this man known as Pablo Escobar.
1991 – Colombia – After years of hiding, killing, and trafficking cocaine, Escobar surrenders to authorities, and is sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with no extradition to the U.S. Criminals in Colombia know that extradition to the U.S. means hefty prison sentences with little chance to bribe their way to freedom. Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, grants him the ability to be housed in his own, self-built prison, La Catedral. This foolish decision by the president allows Escobar to escape within months.
December 2, 1993 – Time is up. Escobar is found in Medellin by Colombian Special Forces using technology provided by the U.S. They try to arrest him. But he refuses to be returned to a cage with no freedom. The billionaire with a drug empire that spans from the southern Andes Mountains to Northern California takes his last breath after snipers fire their weapons as he tries to escape through the roof of a house.
The 44 year old Pablo Escobar spilled more blood than any criminal in history. On December 2, he finally learned that those who live by the sword will eventually die by the sword.