He was the world’s most notorious narco who lived the high life before dying in a hail of bullets.
This week marks 30 years since Pablo Escobar was gunned down, aged 44. But how much do you know about Colombia’s cocaine kingpin?
Here James Moore reveals 30 facts about the drug lord..
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For more dramatic tales of life behind bars check out the Daily Star's dedicated section here
1. Born in 1949, Pablo Escobar’s dad was a farmer and his mum a teacher. He had six siblings.
2. Despite dropping out of school to flog fake diplomas, he later went to college, studying to be a lawyer. He initially dreamt of being a politician, even president.
3. But he quit for a life of crime, starting by stealing stereo equipment and trading looted tombstones. His first arrest, in 1974, was for stealing a car.
4. Soon Escobar was working as a drug dealer and smuggler, involved in kidnappings and murder. He had one snatched businessman killed, even though he’d already received a huge ransom.
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5. Escobar used a policy of bribery, intimidation and hits to avoid jail, and in 1976 set up the Medellín cartel, named after the city where it was based.
6. Using planes and even submarines to smuggle tons of drugs every day, it would eventually account for 80% of the cocaine that reached the US, raking in £330million a week.
7. Meanwhile, at home the “King of Cocaine” was responsible for killing at least 4,000 people, including 200 judges.
8. His hit men got bonuses for gunning down policemen, while he had a presidential candidate assassinated.
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9. They set off scores of car bombs, led a mass shooting at a football match and bombed an airliner in 1989, killing 107.
10. Escobar once had a servant drowned in his swimming pool – while his guests watched – simply for stealing some silverware.
11. At 26 he married 15-year-old Maria Victoria Henao and they would have two children. She stayed loyal until his death, despite his affairs.
12. His conquests included TV journalist Virginia Vallejo, inset, three beauty queens and a volleyball player.
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13. Creepy Escobar had cameras hidden in bedrooms and bathrooms, and had one former lover murdered after finding out she was an informant.
14. Escobar is reckoned to have been the wealthiest criminal ever, with a fortune worth about £55billion in today’s money.
15. He splashed out on a fleet of more than 100 planes and choppers, as well as a vast collection of cars and yachts.
16. Escobar spent £2,000 a month on rubber bands for his money and had trouble finding places to stash it. A lot was said to have been eaten by rats or is still buried in secret locations.
Pablo Escobar's sex-mad 'cocaine hippos' are sterilized to stop population hitting 1,000
17. Among his property portfolio was the 7,000-acre ranch Hacienda Nápoles, boasting a bullring, six swimming pools and an airstrip.
18. The critter-crazy criminal also established his own zoo of 200 animals including elephants, lions, giraffes and hippos.
19. Despite his crimes, Escobar was dubbed Robin Hood, spending millions on hospitals and housing for the poor.
20. By the late 1980s “Don Pablo” was so rich he offered to pay off Colombia’s $10bn debt in return for exemption from extradition to the US.
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21. In 1991 Escobar wangled a special agreement with the government to go to prison for five years, rather than be extradited.
22. But his custom-built jail was actually a luxury compound called La Catedral with its own football pitch, casino and bar.
23. Agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, who later searched it, found a stash of lace negligées and sex toys.
24. In 1993 after Escobar killed cartel members from behind bars, the government tried to move him to a more secure location.
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25. Escobar simply escaped out of a back door and went on the run with his family, at one point burning more than £1m in cash to keep his sick daughter warm.
26. On December 2, 1993, the authorities tracked Escobar to a property in Medellín where a shoot-out followed.
27. The drug baron tried to flee across the rooftops but was hit in the leg and torso, with one bullet entering his head. Some think Escobar shot himself.
28. A whopping 25,000 people attended his funeral and Escobar’s exploits have since been charted in Netflix series Narcos.
29. The Hacienda Nápoles was converted into a theme park but the descendants of his resident hippos have become so common the government is planning a cull.
30. The drug lord’s family were given asylum in Argentina. His wife is still haunted by her past, saying: “Pablo’s ghost won’t leave us alone.”
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