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"I have many scars. Some of them are physical, but many more are scars on my soul. A bomb sent to kill me while I was in a maximum security prison has made me blind, yet now I see the world more clearly than I have ever seen it before. I have lived an incredible adventure. I watched as my brother, Pablo Escobar, became the most successful criminal in history, but also a hero to many of the people of Colombia. My brother was loved and he was feared. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in his funeral procession, and certainly as many people celebrated his death." These are the words of Roberto Escobar-the top accountant for the notorious and deadly Medellen Cartel, and brother of Pablo Escobar, the most famous drug lord in history. At the height of his reign, Pablo's multibillion-dollar operation smuggled tons of cocaine each week into countries all over the world. Roberto and his ten accountants kept track of all the money. Only Pablo and Roberto knew where it was stashed-and what it bought. And the amounts of money were simply staggering. According to Roberto, it cost $2,500 every month just to purchase the rubber bands needed to wrap the stacks of cash. The biggest problem was finding a place to store it: from secret compartments in walls and beneath swimming pools to banks and warehouses everywhere. There was so much money that Roberto would sometimes write off ten percent as "spoilage," meaning either rats had chewed up the bills or dampness had ruined the cash. Roberto writes about the incredible violence of the cartel, but he also writes of the humanitarian side of his brother. Pablo built entire towns, gave away thousands of houses, paid people's medical expenses, and built schools and hospitals. Yet he was responsible for the horrible deaths of thousands of people. In short, this is the story of a world of riches almost beyond mortal imagination, and in his own words, Roberto Escobar tells all: building a magnificent zoo at Pablo's opulent home, the brothers' many escapes into the jungles of Colombia, devising ingenious methods to smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States, bribing officials with literally millions of dollars-and building a personal army to protect the Escobar family against an array of enemies sworn to kill them. Few men in history have been more beloved-or despised-than Pablo Escobar. Now, for the first time, his story is told by the man who knew him best: his brother, Roberto.… (more)
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Delivered at first by a small airplane wherein the cocaine
Paste made in Peru was used to produce the cocaine cooked and produced in the jungles of Medellin, Columbia. Rich soil, a country of poverty and crime, governmental corruption was not something he invented. Long the bane of the poor, those in power were rich and it was increasingly difficult for the poor to get out of povery.
Pablo Escobar paid well, and from the producers of the cocaine through those in high ranks in both the government and police force, this was an incredible win/win situation for all. All but, those in the United States who became addicted. It is true that Escobar could never have been as successful if he wasn't such a savvy businessman, and if the demand in the United States was ever higher than he could produce.
The wealthiest criminal in history was listed in Time magazine as one of the 7th top wealthiest men. By the 1970's, approximately 80 tons were shipped to the United States Monthly. His problem became that of laundering the money and hiding it. Approximately 10% of the money made was lost to rats who ate it when packed in the ground, or water seepage that destroyed the currency.
He began his career as a small time hood with criminal activities in selling contraband items. Not above kidnapping he all too soon became know not only for his cocaine distribution, but for the way in which he violently meeted death to any who crossed him. He paid well, and he demanded loyalty.
Distributing bundles of money to the poor, building houses, schools, playgrounds, and paying college tuitions, he became a folk hero.
Told from the perspective of his younger brother, who was on the lamb with Pablo many years when it all started to fall apart as a result of other cartels becoming stronger, and the government of Columbia seeking the assistance of the United States to curb the violence and to bring him to his final act, the one he could not escape, death on the rooftop of a building in his home town of Medellin.
There is much to know of this story. It is true that if the United States had not ever increasingly demanded the product, at the time in history, Pablo Escobar perhaps could have remained a small town hood, making a living above the standard of most.
Reaching far heights, he was brought down, only to be replaced to a more deadly Cali Cartel that gladly took his place.