Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949–December 2, 1993)

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949–December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord. He is known as one of the "World's Greatest Outlaws". Escobar was the hardest cocaine dealer to catch. He is probably the richest and most successful criminal in world history.

Some sources say that he was the second richest criminal ever, after Amado Carrillo Fuentes. In 1989, Forbes magazine said that Escobar was the seventh richest man in the world. The magazine said that he had about US $25 billion. He owned many luxury residences and automobiles. In 1986, he entered Colombian politics with success. Escobar even offered to give money to pay the nation's US $10 billion national debt. He had to stop his political career because he was charged as criminal.

He lead the largest and most successful criminal enterprise in world history. At times, the Medellín drug cartel was smuggling 15 tons of cocaine a day. This was worth more than half a billion dollars. They sent it to the United States and sold it there. According to Roberto Escobar, Pablo Escobar's accountant, they spent $2,500 a month for buying rubber bands to wrap the stacks of cash. They had more illegal money than they could store in banks. Therefore, they stored the bricks of cash in their warehouses. About 10% were destroyed each year because of rats

There were no drug cartels then and only a few drug barons. There was a lot of business for everyone. They bought the cocaine paste in Peru. They refined it in a laboratory in a two-story house in Medellín. At first, they smuggled the cocaine in old planes. The pilot could earn as much as £500,000 for each flight depending on how much he could smuggle.

Soon the demand for cocaine in the United States increased. Escobar started to organize more smuggling ships and routes. He also improved the sale networks in South Florida, California and other parts of the USA. Escobar and Carlos Lehder worked together to develop a new drug center in the Bahamas, called Norman's Cay. Lehder and Robert Vesco bought most of the land on the island. This included an airstrip, a harbor, hotels, houses and boats. They also built a warehouse to store the cocaine. From 1978 to 1982, this was used as a central smuggling route for the Medellín Cartel. Escobar bought 7.7 square miles (20 km2) of land, which included Hacienda Napoles, for several million dollars. He created a zoo, a lake and other things for his family and organization. At one point, about 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were brought from Colombia to the United States every month. At the peak of Escobar's power in the mid-1980s, he sent about 11 tonnes per flight in planes to the United States. In addition to using the planes, Roberto Escobar said he also used two small submarines to transport the massive loads.