Drugs R Us

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Get rich, stuff up lives and meet a sticky end - all in a day's work for the world's biggest drug lords.

Pablo Escobar
You may know him as:
The ruthless cocaine tsar of Colombia’s feared Medellin cartel and the most powerful drug lord in history.

Got there by:
Intimidation, bribes and annihilating anyone in his way. Escobar was responsible for killing 30 judges, 457 policemen and three presidential candidates, but punters rated him as a top bloke for building sporting facilities, churches and homes for the poor.

How successful?
Forbes magazine named him the world’s seventh-richest man in 1989. His cartel was taking in $32 billion a year and controlled 80 per cent of the global cocaine market at the time.

How it all came unstuck:
Under US pressure in 1992, the Colombian Government cracked down on cartel activities. Escobar turned himself in but continued to run his empire from a luxury prison, though he soon escaped and eluded capture for 16 months before being killed in a gun battle.

News
Prisoner 'runs drugs empire on Facebook'