More than 25,000 people turned out for Escobar’s burial. Still, many Colombians mourned his killing. Cash was so prevalent that Escobar purchased a Learjet for the sole purpose of flying his money.Īt the time, Escobar controlled more than 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States more than 15 tons were reportedly smuggled each day, netting the Medellin Cartel as much as $420 million a week. Escobar worked with a small group to form the infamous Medellin Cartel.īy the mid-1980s, Escobar had an estimated net worth of $30 billion and was named one of the 10 richest people on Earth by Forbes. Under Escobar’s leadership, large amounts of coca paste were purchased in Bolivia and Peru, processed, and transported to America. His killing, it’s believed, came at the orders of Escobar, who immediately seized power and expanded Restrepo’s operation into something the world had never seen.
In 1975, drug trafficker Fabio Restrepo from the city of Medellin, Colombia, was murdered. Situated at the northern tip of South America between the thriving coca cultivation epicenters of Peru and Bolivia, the country came to dominate the global cocaine trade with the United States, the biggest market for the drug, just a short trip to the north.Įscobar moved quickly to grab control of the cocaine trade. But as the cocaine market flourished, Colombia’s geographical location proved to be its biggest asset.