Talking of Colombia and crime, then “the drug cartel” quickly comes to mind. (No offense Colombia). And also talking about the drug cartel of Colombia, then one name surely comes to mind. The King of Cocaine, the Head Honcho, El Diablo, the one (but not only) lord of the drug cartel. Dear friends, we’re sure you’re pretty much aware of Pablo Escobar — the wealthiest criminal in all of history.
Related media: How Pablo Escobar Spent His Billions
The King Of Cocaine
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, also known as the “King Of Cocaine,” was undoubtedly the wealthiest criminal in history. Its believed that he allegedly made an estimated net worth of US$30 billion, for successfully heading the infamous Colombian drug cartel, Medellín Cartel. The cartel supplied a whooping 90 percent of all the cocaine in the United States, and supplied as much as 80 percent of cocaine globally. No wonder cocaine was nicknamed “Colombia powder.”
Escobar made a mind blowing profits from the cartel: at their peak, the cartel made US$60 million a day just smuggling cocaine into the United States from Colombia. In fact, Escobar had so much money that he could not know what to do with, and was making it so rapidly that he could not hoard it all. Its alleged that he would bundled up the money as it came in, which required US$25,000 worth of rubber bands a month. This wasn’t a problem if you thought, where to stash all those bundles was.
To hide his fortune, Escobar stored his money in dilapidated warehouses, fields, walls of houses, and who knows where the heck else. He estimated that he lost US$2 billion each year due to water damage, rodents, and simply not knowing where the heck he stashed his money. He was filthy rich!
The ‘Bill Gates’ Of The Drug Cartel
Escobar had so much money that he could virtually buy anything he thought of — he built for himself a private zoo that housed elephants, giraffes, hippos, and all sorts of wild creatures. He even purchased two private submarines to assist with the trafficking of cocaine. And, out of influence of his wealth, he managed to get himself elected to the Colombian Congress. (We’re wondering the sort of policies he brought forth to the house!)
Escobar became so notorious that he had to flee into hiding. Its alleged that while the Escobar family was hiding, his daughter caught a cold, to keep her warm, Escobar allegedly burned about two million dollars just to keep her warm. A million dollar chimney, literally.
So crime does pay, right? Certainly not! At long last, his days were finally numbered. In 1993, the Colombian police caught up with Escobar where he was shot down in a shootout. The drug kingpin died at 44. This was not his first brush with violence. Escobar reportedly killed hundreds of people, including innocent bystanders; his cartel killed thousands. His ruthlessness was at least as striking as his fortune.
So Where On Earth Is Escobar’s Wealth?
That’s the multi-billion-dollar question. The answer? No one knows. To this day, Escobar remains largely an iconic figure among drug lords, several decades after his death. For instance, Netflix’s TV series, “Narcos,” is exclusively based on misadventures of Escobar. The Colombian government has already found roughly US$100 million of his assets — including a literal gold bullion — in nooks and crannies throughout the country.
However, some estimate that more than a billion of Escobar’s wealth might still be at large. This has ever since led to the search for Escobar’s wealth. In 2017, The Discovery Channel hosted an investigative series dubbed “Finding Escobar’s Millions.” In the documentary, two ex-intelligence officers where on search-and-rescue route throughout Colombia looking for Escobar’s hidden fortune.
There’s a huge chance that most of his wealth is buried or stashed in nooks and crannies scattered throughout Colombia. Its alleged that Escobar often buried his money together with the people he killed. One of the cartel accountants recounted in a book titled The Accountant’s Story:
“The biggest headache was hiding the money … I created the system of caletas, small hiding places in the walls of houses and apartments … there could be as much as $5 million in cash hidden in a single caleta.”
Spoilers: The book does not specify where these caletas are, though. The hunt is still on in search for Escobar’s millions.
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Written by: Nana Kwadwo, Sun, Jun 02, 2019.