About Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar, who was born in Colombia, was one of the most infamous cocaine smugglers in criminal history. Pablo was born on the 1st of December, 1949. Many people have questioned whether his role in drug dealing would be remembered. He was the leader of Thompson, one of the leading drug-related groups (Thompson 61). Pablo was able to navigate the rocky cocaine trade because of his intimate friendship with the most influential figures in Colombia's political elite, including two Colombian presidents. The paper attempts to expose and properly respond to the question that demands an answer: what caused Pablo's death. Pablo had a niche in business but unfortunately went into a wrong field. As early as twenty-two years of age, Pablo started the cocaine business learning from his countrymen such as Alvaro Pietro who was a drug smuggler (Stokes 2005). However, Pablo’s death can be traced to his violent nature of operations. Having fathomed the risk involved in the drug industry, Pablo became extremely violent, making as many enemies as friends in the process. Roberto, his brother, did not approve his violent nature, and at one point, Pablo threatened to eliminate him would he be an obstacle in Pablo’s drug business.

Pablo’s help to the community

According to Bagley (79), the drug business was booming and attracted many competitors who would later prove to be Pablo’s cause of death. However, it was extremely difficult for the people of Medellin (Pablo’s native city) to cooperate with the Columbian government if that cooperation would lead to Pablo’s death. The reason for this lied in the fact that Pablo gave back to the community in a big way. Pablo, despite having a family to look after, built schools, churches, hospitals, soccer fields and most critically, strong public relations with the community. The community showed their respect to Pablo by sending fireworks whenever a shipment came from the Pablo cartel located at the United States of America.

Pablo’s death

On the second day of December, just one day after Pablo's forty-fourth birthday, the National Colombian Police shot and killed Pablo (Bowden 2001). The brutal murder of Pablo was a well orchestrated by his closest enemies and competitors only known as the Rodriguez brothers. The brothers were also involved in the cocaine trafficking business and were quite unpleased by the level of success Pablo had achieved in the drug industry. They used legal means and sued Pablo. Consequently, the Colombian police began to collect pieces of evidence and also tracing Pablo’s day to day activities. Having known the affection which the community had with Pablo, the Colombian police used American spies to get information in a way that the local community could not be suspicious. A special taskforce was then formed within the Colombian security force with the task of taking Pablo down. The special task force broke into Pablo's house while he was talking to his sixteen-year-old son and as Pablo tried to run upstairs, the security officers swarmed him with gunfire, and he died on the spot. The news of Pablo's death shocked the world and left the community of Medellin hopeless.

Conclusion

Pablo Escobar was one unique drug lord who built a close relationship with the locals. Despite the fact that Pablo could have brought harm to Medellin, he had a mass amount of murders, and billions racked up in the drug trade but still managed to help the community. In spite of his brutal murder, people around the world are still inspired by his helpful heart and are ready to pay up to 55,000 pesos to have a conversation with Pablo's brother, Roberto.

Works Cited

Bagley, Bruce M. "Colombia and the War on Drugs." Foreign Affairs 67.1 (1988): 70-92.

Bowden, Mark. “Killing. Pablo: The Life and Death of Pablo Escobar." New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001).

Stokes, Doug. America's other war: terrorizing Colombia. Zed Books, 2005.

Thompson, David P. "Pablo Escobar, Drug Baron: his Surrender, Imprisonment, and Escape." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 19, no. 1, 1996, pp.55-91.