Killing Pablo: The Hunt For The World's Greatest Outlaw

The following essay examines the definitions of organized crime from the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and how they relate to or are applicable to Pablo Escobar in his leadership role of his organization, known as the Medellin Cartel. Furthermore, an analysis of Pablo Escobar through Mark Bowden’s book Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw, provides a look at Columbia’s social climate during Escobar’s reign and its contribution to his outlaw sense of social justice, his self-image, and his strength and weaknesses which ultimately resulted in the collapse of his organization and his expiration.

Organized crime generally consists of any assembly of individuals with a principal

There was no control over its country or its population. Columbia remained an incapacitated country through weak government control, plagued by unruliness, violence, corruption and encompassed a war between the classes. Furthermore, Columbia was a crime infested country suffering from an array of social, economic, and political issues that lacked applicable government intervention and the population believed they suffered at the hands of their government. These reasons assisted Escobar’s growth and fame allowing him to escape prosecution and extradition as well. Escobar utilized this to his advantage by enticing the population with gifts and hospitality. He gave abundantly to the poor who felt ostracized and disregarded by their government. Moreover, he nurtured sympathy with the population through money, words, and random acts of giving. The population believed their welfare was not important to the government of Columbia and Escobar saw this as an opportunity to strengthen his organization and obscure his real hidden agendas. Escobar portrayed himself as their hero, a man of the people, one who would bring them out and up to a better position. The people sided with him immediately and protected him. The population was overwhelmingly discontent with officials therefore they looked the other way, turning a blind eye to Escobar’s transgressions. In a sense, Escobar vindicated the oppressed. He

The ultimate weakness for Escobar was that of his family, particularly his son, Juan Pablo (Bowden, 2002). This weakness pressed Escobar to make unsound decisions. While the intelligence collected progressed, it was discovered that Escobar planned to uproot his family and send them to seek asylum in another country. However, his plans were intercepted on more than one occasion which angered him. At this point, he began committing more mistakes and was basing his decision on irrational emotions that evidently were taking a toll on him and later prove to be fatal. In desperation to protect his cherished family, he initiated communication by telephone with his son. Over a period of time as the pressure intensified, Escobar called more frequently and his calls became lengthier. Moreover, these calls were so drawn out on occasions that intelligence gatherers’ were able to pinpoint the vicinity of his location making him accessible real soon. Furthermore, Escobar remained isolated without his customary full scaled protections since they mostly had been eliminated. Escobar was in his most vulnerable position. He was now a failed leader of a crumbling organization, left to stand alone with only one bodyguard and remained over consumed in conversing with his son in an attempt to make plans to ensure their refuge and safety. Escobar, still conversing with his son, was located, surrounded and killed without further incident bringing an