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Escobar began his career as a thief in the streets of Medellin, Colombia as a teenager. He started building what many have deemed as a drug empire during the 1970s.
Escobar during the 1980s became known internationally because his drug network, known as El Cartel De Medellin, is said to have controlled a large portion of the drugs that entered into Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Bolivia and many other international places, mostly around the Americas, although it is said that his network reached as far as Asia. He was also suspected of buying off government officials and country presidents, and killing the ones that would not cooperate with him. He was the prime suspect in the killing of three presidential candidates in Colombia, including one aboard an Avianca jet in 1989. He was also suspected of being behind the bombings and crashes of some Avianca jets during the 80's, and the killings of many newspaper reporters who would write against him. His Cartel De Medellin was involved in a deadly drug war with Colombia's other main drug cartel, Cartel De Cali. He was suspected of ordering more than 100 murders
Escobar, according to a television documentary shown in the United States, built an air strip in The Bahamas, from where he could direct delivery into the States.
While an enemy of the United States and Columbian governments he was a hero to many of the people of Medellin. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building Little League baseball stadiums and sponsoring little league baseball teams in the city. He would also buy gifts and distribute money to the poor. Much of the population worked as free look outs for Escobar and helped hide information from the authorities. The poor of the region also provided the recruits to staff his operations.
Escobar was jailed in a jail named La Catedral near Medellin, but he escaped on July 22, 1992 fearing extradition to the United States. It has been rumored that, while hiding, he was working out a deal with the DEA in which he would surrender, but the DEA would have to arrest members of his rival organization too. But that might have been just rumors and not actual facts.
Escobar was killed on December 2, 1993, while trying to run away from the Colombian police, who had found him living in a barrio. Prior to his death, his family had flown to Germany and hoped to get refuge there, but they were denied such a privilege by the German government. Whether Escobar died during an actual shoot out or not has always been debated, but his body lay on the roof of a house when he died.