The elimination of the largest drug dealer Pablo Escobar on the market was supposed to stop the flow of cocaine from Colombia. But, 25 years after his death, Colombia is still the world's top drug supplier. Or maybe the king is alive? Or are the legends about 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 in the pages of the magazine. By 1989, the drug lord had risen 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 in the top billionaires.
Army
To organize the trade, the cocaine king had everything he needed: thousands of homes and farms, dozens of chemical laboratories, a transshipment base in the Bahamas, and his own fleet. Escobar's army in terms of the number of people and equipment surpassed the army of Colombia itself. Drugs and money transported 810 cars, 727 planes, helicopters, boats and several submarines. Each shipment added $ 250 million to Escobar's pocket.
Business
For 17 years, Pablo Escobar controlled 80 percent of the global cocaine market, taking 40 percent of the profits. Each dollar invested brought in two hundred. The main income came from the cocaine route to the United States. Florida was shipped 15 tons of goods daily. Escobar and his accomplices earned 420 million a week, almost 22 billion a year. Every month they spent 2,5 thousand dollars on gum alone for packing money.
Naples
In Colombia and beyond, Escobar owned 500,000 hectares of land, 34 villas and a small private island. An airport, a gas station, 10 houses, 27 artificial lakes, 2 helipads and three zoos were located on 20 hectares of the Naples family estate. To fill the menagerie, 120 antelopes, 30 buffaloes, elephants, hippos, zebras and polar bears were brought to the ranch. A separate town for mistresses was built not far from the estate. Shops, beauty salons and 400 luxurious mansions with a unique interior for each of the girls.
Quarter
At his own expense, Escobar built roads, schools, hospitals, zoos, football fields in Colombia. He threw money on the streets, invested huge sums of money in the construction of a block 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 the drug trade.
Losses
There was so much money that they did not have time to "launder" it. It was impossible to spend millions that were not legalized. In Escobar's house there could be suitcases with dollars, but they could not even buy bread with them. Some of the money was stored on farms and buried in the jungle. Rats and dampness rendered them unusable. Each year, partners wrote off $ 2.1 billion in lost bills.
Ransom
Not wanting to go to an American prison, Escobar offered the Colombian leadership $ 10 million to fully pay off the country's external debt. An amount equal to the salary of a Colombian president for 200 years. Officials backed out of the deal because of a US threat to deploy troops. A few years later, the government offered the same amount for information about Escobar's whereabouts.
Jail
"I will build a prison for myself," the drug lord set the condition. He bought a picturesque plot on a hillside and built houses, courts, swimming pools, a football field there, he chose the guards himself. Prison "La Cathedral" was more like a luxury holiday home than a place of confinement. Escobar could leave her and return at any time, receive guests and family, continue to conduct "business". The special services were forbidden to approach the "Cathedral" for five kilometers. But even such comfortable conditions he did not endure for long. After 13 months, prisoner Escobar escaped from prison.
condition
The fortune of the cocaine king at the time of his 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 Pablo Escobar's incredible wealth is still being sought.
A family
Pablo Escobar's widow and children own all rights to his name. T-shirts with his image are the second most popular in South America after Che Guevara. Photos, books, films, a line of clothes in the style of the cocaine king is a good business, bringing his descendants a completely legal income.
