Narration by Pablo Escobar, deep and calm voice
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Inside Pablo Escobar's billion dollar mansions. Pablo Emilio Escobar, Gaviria rose from obscurity to become one of the richest people in history. Thanks to a life of cocaine and cold blooded murder. But how the **** did he hide all that money as it turns out in luxury real estate, how a high school dropout became the king of cocaine. Pablo Escobar was not born into money but instead to farmer and schoolteacher parents in the historically impoverished city of Medellin situated at the humid beating heart of Colombia's mountainous Antioquia province. Somehow though by the time Pablo was in his early thirties, he had become the founder and sole leader of Medellin's biggest cartel and was responsible for shipping an estimated 80 tons of cocaine into the United States every month. A high school dropout, Escobar later known as Don Pablo and El Padrino, meaning the godfather was by no means lacking ambition forging his own high school diploma. He enrolled in college with the goal of becoming a criminal lawyer, politician and eventually president. Yes, you heard me right. The drug kingpin later responsible for the very public assassination of presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galan started out with very similar aspirations. Unfortunately, for all involved, Pablo eventually chose a much different path upon founding the Melin cartel. Pablo Escobar was the first drug runner in history to open a smuggling route from Peru Ecuador and Bolivia through Colombia and into the United States. He single handedly expanded the market demand in the States and subsequently all around the world for the potent powder cocaine of Latin America. And as a result, made more money than anyone had previously thought possible. At the height of Pablo's power, he was pulling in around $420 million a week. And by the time of his death had amassed a personal worth of about 30 billion, which in today's money would equate to an inconceivable $70 billion. And whilst it might seem to you or I that having that much money could never be a problem. The truth is it was according to Pablo's brother, about 10% of his wealth or around $2.2 billion was lost every year, either destroyed by the elements eaten by rats or quite simply lost. One of the ways Pablo spent his pirate's booty was by developing some of Medellin's poorest neighborhoods. He built roads, erected power lines and installed soccer fields as well as social housing for the city's homeless. In the late 1980 S, Pablo even offered to pay off Colombia's $10 billion of national debt in exchange for a non extradition agreement. But even had Colombia's President accepted the offer. Pablo would still have had far more money than he knew what to do with Q five of the most extraordinary houses you will ever hear of starting with La Manuela. Back in 2016, I actually had the pleasure and privilege of visiting Pablo's vacation home. La Manuela nestled cozily in the idyllic garden of Eden. That is the Penal Reservoir Gua. Despite the property being in ruins. By the time I got there, it was clear just how luxurious the place had once been for one, the surroundings were absolutely stunning. Imagine a tropical island surrounded on all sides by the sparkling azure of water and the dense emerald green of exotic plants imported from all around the world. Then there was the mansion itself when Pablo first built La Manuela named for his daughter. It was unlike any other house the province had seen, it had tennis courts and a football pitch which doubled as a helipad and on which I got to kick a ball around at the end of the two driveways, one for motorbikes, one for cars. You found stables, a dock for Pablo's private seaplane and a guest house, drive past all of this and you would emerge onto a sprawling mansion complex with some of the most insanely beautiful views. You could possibly imagine complete with an indoor disco and a courtyard, swimming pool overlooked by a watch tower manned by one of Escobar's 120 on site henchmen all in all for a mansion designed as Pablo's holiday retreat. The place was extravagant beyond comparison or was it Casa Grande? Not content with having a one holiday mansion Pablo elected to go bigger better and grander about an hour's sail northwest of the port city of Cartagena on Colombia's Caribbean coast lies a group of islands called Los Rosario to get there. You have to charter a special boat out of Cartagena at no small expense. But even that boat won't usually go far enough north to find the ruins of what was once the king of cocaine's number one party destination, La Isla Grande populated by around just 800 indigenous people living without electricity or running water. La Isla Grande's natives were not expecting the kind of interruption they received when at the height of his power and fame, Pablo Escobar purchased a chunk of their island and began construction of his Casa Grande. In truth, la casa Grande was less like one big house and more like one huge resort approached by an ornately tiled walkway through a jungle garden of brightly colored flowers and giant exotic trees. Partygoers to Pablo's Island would have emerged into the huge courtyard of a mansion with whitewashed walls, marble floors and an interior painted with the coral blues and pinks of a Miami Beach club. Straight out of the 19 eighties beyond the mansion sprawled the rest of the resort. A giant oversized pool almost big enough for Pablo to sail his 30 ft speed boat in and beyond that enough beachside apartments to house 300 guests at a time. We can only imagine the kind of wild parties La Casa Grande once hosted. But one thing's for sure. I bet the locals are happy the party is over Hacienda Napoles without a doubt. The most exuberant of La Padrino Humble Abodes is his own personal favorite. Hacienda Napoles, a genuinely mind boggling array of mansions, theme park rides, sculptures, exotic animal enclosures, an airport racing track, bullfighting ring and brothels which Pablo Escobar called home tucked away in the mountains of Puerto Triunfo east of Medellin. Pablos Hacienda Napoles cannot fairly be described as a mansion. It is far more than that. Perhaps it might be better to imagine Hacienda Napoles as if Disneyland Florida had been conceived by a megalomaniacal cocaine boss with access to near infinite wealth who was simultaneously a family man keen to make the biggest children's play park imaginable and both an amateur zoologist and adrenaline junkie. Honestly, I've been trying to think of just how to convey the unique extravagance of Hacienda Napoles to you and I'm struggling. The place is just bonkers sat atop the elaborate arched gateway leading onto the 7.7 square mile complex was the first of the giant sculptures, a replica model of a piper pa 18 super cub airplane. Beyond this, a visitor in the Hacienda's heyday would have discovered a sculpture park to beat all sculpture parks. There was a giant water slide resembling the mythical cracking and a hand reaching from the ground to cradle an old decommissioned tank behind which towered two megalithic dinosaur statues clashing heads reportedly made from real dinosaur bones. The sculpture park however comprised but one corner of the Escobar estate, the place was massive with endlessly sprawling lawns punctuated here and there by man made lakes, swimming pools and thatched open air cabins on stilts out over the water. There was a formula one racing track where Pablo and friends could race his garage of vintage sports cars as well as a bullfighting ring for a spot of light entertainment. Then for a dash of more lewd fun, Pablo might pop into his on-site brothel which he presumably kept staffed year round but more impressive or should I say insane than all of this combined was the crowning jewel of Hacienda Napoles, the creme de la creme of cocaine, indulgence Pablo Escobar's private zoo here in a remote corner of Colombia. Pablo owned a chorus of rhinoceros, flamingos, antelope elephants, giraffes, ostriches, and most famously hippopotamuses la Cathedral. Not all of Pablo's mansions were built for luxury. One of them in particular a compound which came to be known as La Cathedral started life as a prison. Well, a prison of sorts in a display of either sheer stupidity, cowardice, corruption or a combination of all three when Pablo turned himself over to the authorities in 1991 in exchange for a reduced sentence. The Colombian government actually allowed him to build his own prison. So desperate were they to have the world's most powerful cocaine dealer responsible for an estimated 80% of the international cocaine market behind bars? They genuinely allowed him to design the bars himself. No points for guessing how Don Pablo escaped this one la Cathedral though was a far cry from a traditional prison. It was a luxury resort which quickly became the new headquarters of the Medellin cartel from which Pablo continued directing his affairs with total impunity. The mansion complex sat atop hills overlooking Escobar's hometown, meaning that he could speak on the phone with his daughters whilst looking across the city to their house. It was also equally as extravagant as his other residences. LA came complete with yet another swimming pool, jacuzzi, another soccer pitch and helipad a bar, a waterfall and most bizarrely a giant dolls house. With the exception of not being able to leave the compound. Pablo continued to live a life far more lavish than any of us will ever know despite technically being in prison. When Colombian authorities eventually got wind that Pablo had tortured and murdered four of his top lieutenants inside the walls of La Cathedral. They finally decided to do something about it. Of course, Pablo had planned for such an eventuality. He simply walked out through the escape route. He designed during the construction of LA Catedral and was not seen again until his eventual capture and execution. Two years later, thank you for watching this video. If you liked it, don't forget to subscribe and check out our other videos on the world's craziest, most powerful and unforgettable criminals.