Pablo Escobar

During the 1980s, Escobar became known internationally as his drug network gained notoriety; El Cartel de MedellÐ"­n is said to have controlled a large portion of the drugs that entered into the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic with cocaine brought mostly from Peru and Bolivia, as Colombian coca was initially of substandard quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the Americas, although it is said that his network reached as far as Asia.

Escobar bribed countless government officials, judges and other politicians, and he often personally executed uncooperative subordinates and had anyone he viewed as a threat assassinated, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. Corruption and intimidation characterized the Colombian system during Escobar's heyday. He had an effective, inescapable strategy that was referred to as plata o plomo; Spanish for silver or lead, intended to mean "accept a bribe or face assassination." He was responsible for the killing of three Colombian presidential candidates who were all competing in the same election, as well as the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 and a BogotÐ"ÐŽ security building in 1989. The Cartel de MedellÐ"­n was also involved in a deadly drug war with its main rival, the Cartel De Cali, for most of its existence.

It has been claimed that Escobar was behind the 1985 storming of the Colombian Supreme Court by left-wing guerrillas from the19th of April Movement (M-19), which resulted in the murder of half the judges on the court. These claims were present in late 2006 report by a Truth Commission integrated by three judges of the current Supreme Court. One of the included claims was made by 'Popeye', a former Escobar hitman. At the time of the siege, the Supreme Court was studying the constitutionality of Colombia's extradition treaty with the U.S.[1] Former M-19 leaders that did not participate