Pablo Escobar (1949-1994) - The Wealthiest Criminal in World History who Once Supplied 80% of the U.S.A.'s Cocaine

[DonRocks]

I'm currently watching the terrific NetFlix series, "Narcos," which details, as its main subject, the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar.

Escobar merits his own thread in the History forum, but you can get a very good, mostly accurate (but not entirely accurate) history of him through "Narcos" - this is a wonderful series that people will enjoy watching, as well as learning a great deal about Escobar and the Medellí­n Cartel. I recommend it highly, and hope to see your comments both here and there.

(Obviously, this thread in our History forum is factual, and is about Escobar as a historical figure; in "Narcos," it's about the show, as well as about the character in that setting whether the material is true or not. I do hope you watch the series - it's really special.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UohQDYZcqE

[The Hersch]

"Wealthiest criminal", perhaps, but only if you define these terms in narrow and ahistorical ways. How about Caesar Augustus or Caligula? Alexander the allegedly great? Catherine the "Great"? Napoleon, 1st or 3rd? Herr Adolf Hitler? The United States of America, especially in the years 1945 to the present? Or, to take a recently mentioned example, Cecil (let's kill us a passel of black subhuman savages!) Rhodes, or his willing ally Leopold King of the Belgians? The list could be extended from now till Doomsday, and probably will be.

[DonRocks]

"Pablo Escobar's Legacy 25 Years on: Tributes and Disgust" on aljazeera.com