10 Shocking facts about Colombian drug Lord Pablo Escobar (With Pictures)

Facts about Colombian drug Lord Pablo Escobar - It’s often said that we’re living through a new golden age of TV; The latest series to aim for the zenith occupied by Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Hannibal is the Netflix original series, Narcos. More..

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6. Some Colombians View Him As A ‘Robin Hood’ To this day, residents of the poorer regions of Columbia make pilgrimages to Escobar’s grave to give thanks and pray, as the religious would do with a saint. The reason? Escobar pumped millions of his own dollars into local communities to provide affordable housing for the poorest, as well as building hospitals, schools, churches and parks. He also distributed money freely to the most vulnerable members of society within his local area. To many of these residents, Escobar was seen as a Colombian Robin Hood, avoiding giving taxes to the rich government so he could feed the poor. 5. He Murdered Up To 4,000 People Pablo Escobar may have had a warped generous streak towards his local community, but he remains one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty gangsters the world has ever seen. Opponents were massacred and assassinations plotted; he blew up the headquarters of the DAS, the Colombian version of the FBI, in order to kill their director. Though exact figures are obviously hard to come by, it’s generally accepted as fact that he murdered up to 4,000 people, including 200 judges and over 1,000 government workers, police officers and journalists. SEE ALSO: Top 20 Richest drug dealers of all time - See who's number 1! (With Pictures) 4. He Built His Own Jail Escobar may have feared extradition to the USA, but he generally held the Colombian prison system in contempt. After assassinating a presidential candidate in 1991, the authorities convinced him to surrender in return for a reduced sentence and good treatment in prison. He acquiesced on the condition that he could help to design the prison. He was subsequently incarcerated in the luxury La Catedral private prison, where he could receive visitors and play football and cook barbecues. The authorities weren’t allowed within 3 miles of the compound. However, upon discovering that he was continuing to run his empire from behind bars, an attempt was made to switch him to another prison – Escobar promptly escaped. 3. He Burned $2 Million As Fuel In 1989, Forbes ranked Escobar as the 17th richest person in the world. It’s fair to say that money held no object to the gangster, a fact exemplified by the fact that he allegedly spent 42,500 every month on rubber bands to keep his wads of cash in neat stacks. An anecdote from Escobar’s time in hiding from the authorities speaks volumes of not only his attitude to money, but his love for his family (because murderous gangsters are people too, folks). His daughter became ill from the cold conditions, developing a bad case of pneumonia. Escobar promptly set alight to wads of cash totaling $2 million to ensure that she kept warm enough to get over the illness. 2. Rats Ate Billions Of His Earnings When most people have pest infestations, the most they will lose is the uncovered leftovers that they were saving for breakfast the following morning. As with most things in his life, Escobar’s rodent problems were on the insane side of excessive. It’s estimated that he had to write off 10% of his profit margin every year due to wastage – e.g. rats gnawing away at his buried stacks of cash or water damage ruining the paper money. While 10% doesn’t sound like any great shakes, for Escobar this accounted for between $1-2 billion annually. Just let that sink in for a while. SEE ALSO: 12 Rappers who surprisingly don't do drugs (With Pictures)

1. He Was Making $420 Million Per Week So, just how much was Pablo Escobar worth in total? Though he once claimed to merely be “a decent man who exports flowers”, he was estimated to be making up to $60 million per day at the height of the Medellin cartel’s powers. When the Forbes list was released in 1989, they estimated his wealth at $25 billion, though this may have increased to around $30 billion by the time of his death. As a man who ran a not-exactly-legitimate business, we can only deal in estimates but the fact that Escobar once bought a Learjet solely to transport his cash around speaks volumes. As you sit down to enjoy the life of Pablo Escobar through Narcos, just remember: crime doesn’t pay, kids. by Barry Marshall CLICK HERE to join our BBM Channel for faster updates TOP POSTS YESTERDAY Top 11 Nigerian female celebrities with the most expensive engagement rings (With Pictures) See the craziest cars owned by top Nigerian musicians – See how much they cost! (With Photos) Top 10 most murderous African presidents of all time + See the amount of people they killed (+Pics) 20 celebrities you never knew were gay – The faces you see here, will shock you! (With Pictures) Top 5 Nigerian celebrities with the hottest daughters (With Pictures) 15 celebrities who look exactly like another celebrity – You need to see their pictures! Top 10 most beautiful African first ladies – Number 1 is a princess! (+Photos) 10 beautiful Nigerian celebrities who married men that are not fit (With Pictures) 10 super famous celebs that are poorer than you – This will shock you! (With Pictures) 8 types of guys women avoid – See which side of the fence you fall on now! 5 things every female virgin should know (And no one will tell her) Check out Ini Edo husband’s first wife, she is so beautiful! + See what she sent to Ini (See Photos)