Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria also known as Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist. His cartel supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States at the height of his career, turning over US$21.9 billion a year in personal income and he was arguably the world’s most powerful drug trafficker in the 1980s and early '90s. Soon after his birth, Escobar’s family moved to moved to Envigado, Colombia, a suburb of Medellín. While still a teenager, he began a life of crime. His early illegal activities included smuggling stereo equipment and stealing tombstones to resell. As the cocaine industry grew in Colombia—thanks in part to its proximity to Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, Major growers of Coca, from which cocaine is derived—Escobar became involved in drug smuggling. In the mid-1970s he helped found the crime organization that later became known as the Medellín cartel. His notable partners included the Ochoa brothers: Juan David, Jor...
