Buzz
Pablo Escobar—the infamous King of Cocaine, the Godfather, the Tsar of Cocaine. His legacy is tied to many titles, but it is also shrouded in layers of contradiction.
Though he presented himself as a benefactor to the Colombian people, claiming to protect those abandoned by the government, the true narrative, pieced together by his family and the countless agents who spent years chasing him, paints a far darker picture: that of a ruthless killer who would do anything to amass his fortune. This is the darker side of Escobar’s story that should never be forgotten.
10. He Plundered Tombstones to Kickstart His Fortune
Escobar’s ruthlessness in business started early. Born on December 1, 1949, in Rionegro, Colombia, and raised in Medellin, he grew up amid the chaos of La Violencia, a period marked by political instability and extreme poverty. Determined to change his fate, one of his earliest criminal ventures was looting tombstones from local cemeteries, removing the names, and selling them to smugglers in Panama. Escobar boldly claimed that by the age of 22, he would be a millionaire—and he had no doubts about it.
In the early 1970s, Escobar had already crafted a multifaceted criminal career, dabbling as both a thief and a bodyguard. However, like many aspiring drug lords, he set his sights on becoming the head of a cartel, a position that would demand immense bloodshed to achieve.
9. He Relied on Hit Men to Do His Dirty Work
To ascend to the top of his illicit empire, Escobar needed to instill fear in both his allies and adversaries. Blood was rarely spilled by his own hands; instead, he wielded a deadly network of hit men. His most infamous enforcer was John Jairo Velasquez, known as “Popeye.” Popeye’s most notorious act was the assassination of Luis Carlos Galan, a presidential candidate and outspoken critic of drug trafficking, in 1989. After being convicted for his role in that murder, Popeye confessed to being involved in approximately 300 killings and ordering around 3,000 more.
Popeye recounted in an interview with Bocas magazine, “I had to kill a bus driver. The mother of a friend of Pablo Escobar was on his bus, and when she got off, he sped up, knocking her over. He just left her there, dying. The man came to Pablo Escobar to ask for help with revenge. I found the driver and killed him. I didn’t feel a thing. I never lost sleep over my actions.” In 1992, Popeye was sentenced to 52 years in prison, but despite his staggering body count, he was paroled in 2014.
8. He Posed as a ‘Robin Hood’ Figure
Incredibly, despite his reign of terror, Escobar managed to cultivate an image akin to Robin Hood. He funded schools and sports facilities for local communities, made substantial charity donations, covered people’s medical expenses, and even built homes for the impoverished. His creation, Barrio Pablo Escobar, still stands today, providing shelter for over 12,000 people across 2,800 homes. There are even photos of him at the site with a sign that reads: “Welcome to Barrio Pablo Escobar. Here, you breathe peace.”
Escobar never missed an opportunity to bolster his public image and dreamed of one day becoming the president of Colombia. An anonymous admirer in his uncle’s newspaper described him this way: “His hands, almost priest-like, tracing arcs of friendship and generosity in the air. Yes, I know him, his eyes filled with tears because there is not enough bread for the nation’s tables. I’ve seen his sorrow when he encounters street children—angels without toys, without gifts, without a future.”
Javier Pena, the former DEA agent who helped track down Escobar, remarked, “People adored him, and that often worked against us. In Colombia, many viewed him as a God, but he was nothing more than a master manipulator.”
7. He Transformed Medellin into Colombia’s Murder Capital
In 1989, Medellin was reported to have the highest homicide rate in Colombia. That year alone, over 2,600 individuals were murdered in a city with a population of two million.
Charles Anthony Gillespie, who served as the US ambassador to Colombia from 1985 to 1988, stated that the city had fallen under the control of the narcotics empire, and killings occurred daily. He mentioned:
A group of assassins emerged in Colombia, known as sicarios (hired killers). These were often young street children, raised in small gangs where they were taught the skills of killing. They were tested by being handed a gun, then sent out on motorcycles to approach someone from behind, placing the gun as close as possible to the victim's head or the rear window of their car and firing. Alternatively, they would do this when the car was stopped at a traffic light. If the car was unarmored or lacked protective plates, the victim was doomed.
He further stated:
Medellin had effectively fallen into the hands of the narcotics traffickers. [...] In the three years I spent in Colombia, I made two trips to Medellin but never stayed the night. The city was simply too dangerous.
6. He Took the Lives of 107 Passengers on a Plane
In 1989, Avianca Flight 203, which was en route to Cali, suffered a deadly explosion killing all 101 passengers and six crew members. The Boeing 727 crashed close to Bogota, marking the deadliest criminal attack in Colombia for decades. Escobar orchestrated the bombing with the hope of killing presidential candidate Cesar Gaviria Trujillo. However, Trujillo was not on board and went on to become president. The bombing also claimed the lives of two Americans, prompting the Bush administration to intensify its efforts to capture Escobar.
A witness who contacted Radio Caracol shortly after the incident described the scene: 'I heard explosions, thinking it might be a problem with transformers at the electrical station. But when I looked up, I saw a plane burst into flames, and bodies along with pieces of luggage were falling from the sky.'
5. His Bombing Campaign Also Caused the Deaths of Children
In early 1993, another one of Pablo Escobar’s bombs claimed the lives of 20 shoppers, including four children, and left around 70 others injured. The attack occurred during rush hour at the Center 93 mall in northern Bogota, where a remote-controlled bomb, hidden in a stolen van, exploded outside a bookstore where children were shopping for school supplies. A government spokesperson confirmed, “We have now received confirmation from military intelligence that Escobar planned and executed this bombing.”
Escobar, who was a fugitive at the time, had warned the Colombian government that he would cause mass chaos unless he was granted political rights on par with those of the country’s left-wing guerrillas. President Gaviria responded to the bombing by stating, “Intelligence indicates that the narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and the remnants of his murderous group are responsible for this horrific act. However, both the government and the people will not be intimidated.”
4. Underage Girls
In 1976, before his criminal career truly took off, Pablo Escobar married Maria Victoria Henao. He was 26, and she was just 15. Escobar’s predilection for young girls continued throughout his marriage. He employed a group known as Los Senuelos, or “the bait,” to recruit underage girls from impoverished neighborhoods and bring them to lavish parties. After one particularly depraved event, Colombian police discovered the bodies of 24 young girls, all under 19, according to Semana magazine.
In 1991, Escobar constructed his own private luxury prison, La Catedral, where he could serve his sentence after surrendering yet still maintain control over his criminal activities. No Colombian authorities were allowed within five kilometers (about three miles) of the facility. Reports also surfaced claiming that Escobar had young girls brought to his luxurious prison for his personal pleasure.
3. Betrayal by His Own Brother
During the fall of Escobar, his own brother, former accountant Roberto Escobar, turned against him. In his book, Pablo Escobar: My Father, Juan Sebastian Marroquin Santos, Pablo’s son, shared, "My uncle Roberto Escobar, who was an informant for the DEA, played an active role in betraying him to his enemies. He did this to my father, his siblings, and even my grandmother. It's a story I regret, and I wish it could have been one of family loyalty, respect, and love, but unfortunately, it wasn't that way."
The paramilitary group Los PEPES, which stands for ‘People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar,’ along with the Cali Cartel, the US and Colombian governments, and Roberto Escobar, split the Medellin cartel and turned Escobar’s closest allies into his enemies. After 16 months of pursuit, Escobar was tracked via a phone call to his son and was shot on a rooftop in Medellin on December 2, 1993. His death sparked a massive local outcry, with over 25,000 people attending his funeral. Afterward, the New York Daily News reported, ‘The locals wept and cried, calling the fallen drug lord a hero to the poor.’ His grave in Cemetario Jardins Montesacro, Itagui, remains the second most visited in South America.
2. Bribing the Government of Colombia
Escobar was so powerful that he could buy off even the highest-ranking politicians, officials, and judges. His infamous phrase ‘Plata o plomo,’ meaning ‘silver or lead,’ was his motto—those who couldn't be persuaded with money were killed.
As Mark Bowden, the author of Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw, noted in his account:
From 1976 to 1980, bank deposits in Colombia’s four largest cities saw a dramatic increase, more than doubling. A massive influx of illicit American money flooded the country, prompting the elite to seek ways to access this wealth legally. Under President Alfonso Lopez Michelsen’s administration, a practice known as 'opening a side window' was permitted by the central bank, allowing the unrestricted exchange of dollars for Colombian pesos. The government remained complicit by turning a blind eye to the growing phenomenon.
1. The Family Suffered Immensely
Even after his passing, Escobar’s wife and son were forced to relocate to Argentina, where they lived in exile. Maria Henao, his wife, adopted the name Maria Santos Caballero, while their son, Juan Pablo, changed his identity to Juan Sebastian Marroquin Santos. In 2000, both were arrested on charges of money laundering and sentenced to 15 months in prison, but they were released due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Maria Henao, in her defense, stated, 'I am a prisoner in Argentina simply for being Colombian. They aim to prosecute the ghost of Pablo Escobar in an attempt to demonstrate that Argentina is taking action against drug trafficking.'
Juan Sebastian also shared his thoughts about his father in an interview with Euronews. He said, “I believe the portrayal of Pablo Escobar has often been exploited to spin false stories about him. As his son, it’s my responsibility to present the real truth about Escobar. This isn’t a truth that benefits me—in fact, it makes my father appear even worse than how he is depicted in films.”
