The elimination of the largest drug dealer in the market, Pablo Escobar, was supposed to stop the flow of cocaine from Colombia. But, 25 years after his death, Colombia is still the main drug supplier in the world. Or maybe the king is alive? Or are the legends of his power and incredible wealth greatly exaggerated?..
Forbes
In 1987, Forbes magazine estimated the fortune of 28-year-old Pablo Escobar at $ 47 billion. With an annual income of $ 3 billion, he was included in the list of the richest people on the planet. This was the first criminal mentioned on the pages of the magazine. By 1989, the drug lord rose to 7th place and did not leave the Forbes rating until his death in 1993. In addition to Escobar, all three of his business partners were among the top billionaires.
Army
The cocaine king had everything necessary for organizing trade: thousands of houses and farms, dozens of chemical laboratories, a transshipment base in the Bahamas, and its own fleet. Escobar’s army outnumbered Colombia’s army in terms of people and equipment. Drugs and money transported 810 cars, 727 aircraft, helicopters, boats and several submarines. Each delivery replenished Escobar's pocket with $ 250 million.
Business
For 17 years, Pablo Escobar controlled 80 percent of the global cocaine market, taking 40% of the profits. Each dollar invested brought two hundred. The main income was brought by the cocaine route in the USA. 15 tons of goods were shipped daily to Florida. Escobar and accomplices earned 420 million a week, almost 22 billion a year. Each month they spent 2.5 thousand dollars on gum alone to pack money.
Naples
In Colombia and beyond, Escobar owned 500 thousand hectares of land, 34 villas and a small private island. On 20 hectares of the Naples family estate there was an airport, a gas station, 10 houses, 27 artificial lakes, 2 helipads and three zoos. To fill the menagerie, 120 antelopes, 30 buffaloes, elephants, hippos, zebras and polar bears were brought to the ranch. Not far from the estate was built a separate town for lovers. Shops, beauty salons and 400 luxurious mansions with a unique interior for each of the girls.
Quarter
At his own expense, Escobar erected roads, schools, hospitals, zoos, football fields in Colombia. He scattered money on the streets, invested heavily in the construction of a quarter of 415 houses for the needy, settled the poorest there and exempted them from taxes. Robin Hood, and more! If not a single BUT (!). This area has become a free zone for drug trafficking.
Loss
There was so much money that they did not have time to "launder." It was impossible to spend not legalized millions. Suitcases with dollars could stand in Escobar’s house, but even bread couldn’t be bought on them. Part of the money was stored on farms and buried in the jungle. Rats and dampness made them unusable. Each year, partners wrote off $ 2.1 billion of lost bills.
Buyout
Not wanting to go to an American prison, Escobar offered the Colombian leadership $ 10 million to fully repay the country's foreign debt. The amount equal to the salary of the Colombian president for 200 years. Officials refused the deal, due to a threat from the United States to send troops. A few years later, the government offered the same for information about the location of Escobar.
Jail
“I will build a prison for myself, ” the drug lord set the condition. He bought a picturesque site on a hillside and built houses, courts, pools, a football field there, he chose the guards. The La Cathedral prison looked more like an elite holiday home than a place of detention. Escobar could leave her and return at any time, receive guests and family, continue to conduct "business." Special services were forbidden to approach the "Cathedral" for five kilometers. But even such comfortable conditions he did not last long. 13 months later, prisoner Escobar escaped from prison.
condition
The state of the cocaine king at the time of death was estimated at $ 30 billion. The heirs of the drug lord do not recognize the fact that they received anything from real estate or assets. The state confiscated only a small fraction of the state located in Colombia. The rest of the incredible wealth of Pablo Escobar is still being sought.
