PABLO ESCOBAR

T H E KI N

G OF C

O C A I NE

UPBRINGING FAMILY LIFE• Escobar was born on December 1, 1949, in Antioquia,

Colombia• He was the third of seven children – middle class family• His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a farmerSCHOOLING• Studied at University Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín

CRIMINAL CAREERAs a teenager Escobar would steal gravestones and resell them

to smugglers. Eventually Escobar began stealing cars, selling contraband

cigarettes, and fake lottery tickets. During the 1970’s Escobar entered the drug smuggling

business. Escobar would buy cocaine paste, refine it, and then personally transporting it to the United States.

By 1985, Escobar’s drug empire supplied 80% of the cocaine into the United states.

This all ended on December 2, 1993 when he was killed by Colombian law enforcement.

ARRESTSMay 1976 – arrested for drug possession, charges were later

dropped. November 18, 1986 – arrested for drug smuggling and

racketeering, charges were later dropped after he ordered the murders of the arresting officers.

ANOMIE THEORYThe Anomie Theory was chosen for Escobar’s life of

crime because he had strain between his life goals and a legitimate way to get there. As a child, Escobar had great ambitions of becoming Colombia’s president. He didn’t have enough legal opportunities to achieve his goals quickly so he turned to crime. Escobar saw the took the illegal opportunity to become one the most powerful men of his time. Some could say he had more power than the Colombian president.

CULTURAL REFERENCES• Narcos • Escobar: Paradise Lost• Pablo Escobar, Mi Padre