![]() ![]() He is currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. Carlos Lehder, pictured in 1987, co-founded the Medellin Cartel with Escobar. Escobar’s name hadn’t begun making its way into North American newspapers until almost the mid-1980s (and didn’t reach headline status until the very end of the decade), but in Colombia, he was well known and had earned a reputation. The “Cocaïne Cartel,” as it was first dubbed, experienced alarmingly steady growth, with an estimated 80 percent of its consumer base being the insatiable U.S. Government agencies were well aware of certain individual major players in the Colombian drug game since the mid-1970s, and presumed many were joining forces by the 1980s. That year, 1989, also was a time of amplified violence, bloodshed and accusations. He would end up being on the Forbes list for seven consecutive years. 20 for an estimated $3 billion in profits from the lucrative cocaine business. In July 1989, Escobar made the prestigious magazine’s pages for a third year in a row, ranking No. Nevertheless, the global exposure certainly didn’t help the narco-trafficking underworld in its efforts to remain as anonymous and elusive as possible. ![]() The outside world did not particularly concern him, except, of course, as a source of income. Most accounts suggest that Escobar’s ambitions were predominantly focused on the interior borders of his homeland and becoming some sort of icon or hero within it. This is a look back at that wild era of the 1980s, to explore the myths and the man who will likely be the proverbial poster boy of illicit drug kings for decades to come.Įscobar’s notoriety rocketed to a whole new level when, in 1987, Forbes etched the drug baron’s name onto a docket normally reserved for the top echelon of wealthy international industrialists and investors – the “billionaires.” It’s not clear if Escobar personally reveled in the wide recognition the magazine list gave him. Thirty years ago, Colombia’s Pablo Escobar was the undisputed king of the cocaine cowboys. In the summer of 1989, the world’s most wanted drug lord had narrowly averted assassination, challenged extradition treaties, dared the law to take him to war, and pulled in enough illicit cash to retain his spot on Forbes magazine’s coveted list of the world’s richest people. Pablo Escobar, left, built the most lucrative drug trafficking operation in the world in the 1980s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |