Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthiest conventional criminals in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by his death,
while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the US in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Born in Rionegro and raised in Medellín, Escobar studied briefly at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín but left without graduating; he instead began engaging in criminality, selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, as well as participating in motor vehicle theft and more heinous crimes. In the early 1970s, he began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom.