{"id":82249,"date":"2023-11-28T22:45:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T22:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=82249"},"modified":"2023-11-28T22:45:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T22:45:18","slug":"30-crazy-facts-about-pablo-escobar-from-creepy-hidden-cameras-to-200-animal-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/lifestyle\/30-crazy-facts-about-pablo-escobar-from-creepy-hidden-cameras-to-200-animal-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"30 crazy facts about Pablo Escobar from creepy hidden cameras to 200-animal zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"
He was the world\u2019s most notorious narco who lived the high life before dying in a hail of bullets.<\/p>\n
This week marks 30 years since Pablo Escobar was gunned down, aged 44. But how much do you know about Colombia\u2019s cocaine kingpin?<\/p>\n
Here James Moore reveals 30 facts about the drug lord..<\/p>\n
READ MORE: 'Hooters fight landed me in jail where I was recruited into US's most notorious gang' <\/b><\/p>\n
For more dramatic tales of life behind bars check out the Daily Star's dedicated section here <\/b><\/p>\n
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1. Born in 1949, Pablo Escobar\u2019s dad was a farmer and his mum a teacher. He had six siblings.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019d already received a huge ransom. <\/p>\n
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Killer stabs himself to death after plunging 10-inch blade into his own stomach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
5. Escobar used a policy of bribery, intimidation and hits to avoid jail, and in 1976 set up the Medell\u00edn cartel, named after the city where it was based.<\/p>\n
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 \u00a3330million a week.<\/p>\n
7. Meanwhile, at home the \u201cKing of Cocaine\u201d was responsible for killing at least 4,000 people, including 200 judges.<\/p>\n
8. His hit men got bonuses for gunning down policemen, while he had a presidential candidate assassinated. <\/p>\n
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Drug mule linked to 'El Chapo' gunned down in bloody LA 'party' shootout<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
9. They set off scores of car bombs, led a mass shooting at a football match and bombed an airliner in 1989, killing 107.<\/p>\n
10. Escobar once had a servant drowned in his swimming pool \u2013 while his guests watched \u2013 simply for stealing some silverware.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
12. His conquests included TV journalist Virginia Vallejo, inset, three beauty queens and a volleyball player. <\/p>\n
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Inside \u2018Devil\u2019s Island\u2019 abandoned prison where lags had to torture each other to death<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
13. Creepy Escobar had cameras hidden in bedrooms and bathrooms, and had one former lover murdered after finding out she was an informant.<\/p>\n
14. Escobar is reckoned to have been the wealthiest criminal ever, with a fortune worth about \u00a355billion in today\u2019s money.<\/p>\n
15. He splashed out on a fleet of more than 100 planes and choppers, as well as a vast collection of cars and yachts.<\/p>\n
16. Escobar spent \u00a32,000 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. <\/p>\n
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Pablo Escobar's sex-mad 'cocaine hippos' are sterilized to stop population hitting 1,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
17. Among his property portfolio was the 7,000-acre ranch Hacienda N\u00e1poles, boasting a bullring, six swimming pools and an airstrip.<\/p>\n
18. The critter-crazy criminal also established his own zoo of 200 animals including elephants, lions, giraffes and hippos.<\/p>\n
19. Despite his crimes, Escobar was dubbed Robin Hood, spending millions on hospitals and housing for the poor.<\/p>\n
20. By the late 1980s \u201cDon Pablo\u201d was so rich he offered to pay off Colombia\u2019s $10bn debt in return for exemption from extradition to the US. <\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
22. But his custom-built jail was actually a luxury compound called La Catedral with its own football pitch, casino and bar.<\/p>\n
23. Agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, who later searched it, found a stash of lace neglig\u00e9es and sex toys.<\/p>\n
24. In 1993 after Escobar killed cartel members from behind bars, the government tried to move him to a more secure location. <\/p>\n
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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 \u00a31m in cash to keep his sick daughter warm.<\/p>\n
26. On December 2, 1993, the authorities tracked Escobar to a property in Medell\u00edn where a shoot-out followed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
28. A whopping 25,000 people attended his funeral and Escobar\u2019s exploits have since been charted in Netflix series Narcos.<\/p>\n
29. The Hacienda N\u00e1poles was converted into a theme park but the descendants of his resident hippos have become so common the government is planning a cull.<\/p>\n
30. The drug lord\u2019s family were given asylum in Argentina. His wife is still haunted by her past, saying: \u201cPablo\u2019s ghost won\u2019t leave us alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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