Narcos: Pablo Escobar's son coming to South Yorkshire to talk life, crimes of notorious father

Roberto Sendoya Escobar, Pablo’s first born son, will be at the Gorilla Beer Hall in Mexborough, Doncaster on April 4 to talk about his father’s life – the murders, the hidden millions, the kidnap attempts – and becoming the biggest drug lord the world has ever seen.

Dubbed "The King of Cocaine,” Escobar was the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death – equivalent to $70 billion as of 2023 —while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was shot dead by Colombian police a day after his 44th birthday in 1993.

Born in 1949, Escobar was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. At first engaging in petty criminal activity including selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, by the early 1970s, he had began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom.

In 1976, he founded the Medellín Cartel, which distributed powder cocaine, and established the first smuggling routes from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, through Colombia and eventually into the United States.

Escobar's infiltration into the U.S. created exponential demand for cocaine and by the 1980s it was estimated Escobar led monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the country from Colombia. As a result, he quickly became one of the richest people in the world, but constantly battled rival cartels domestically and abroad, leading to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians, making Colombia the murder capital of the world.

In the 1982 Colombian parliamentary election, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. Through this, he was responsible for community projects such as the construction of houses and football fields, which gained him popularity among the locals of the towns that he frequented. However, Escobar's political ambitions were thwarted by the Colombian and U.S. governments, who routinely pushed for his arrest, with Escobar widely believed to have orchestrated the DAS Building and Avianca Flight 203 bombings in retaliation.

In 1991, Escobar surrendered to authorities, and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on a host of charges, but struck a deal of no extradition with Colombian President César Gaviria, with the ability of being housed in his own, self-built prison, La Catedral. In 1992, Escobar escaped and went into hiding when authorities attempted to move him to a more standard holding facility, leading to a nationwide manhunt.

As a result, the Medellín Cartel crumbled, and in 1993, Escobar was killed in his hometown by Colombian National Police, a day after his 44th birthday. Meanwhile, Roberto Sendoya Escobar was born in a village on the outskirts of Bogota City in August 1965. He was baptised in September 1965 – and the entry into the record books of the Roman Catholic Church confirms the names of Roberto’s birth mother and father as, mother: Maria Luisa Sendoya and father: Pablo Escobar.

A spokesman for the Gorilla Beer Hall said: “This is the Escobar story - the murders, the hidden millions, the kidnap attempts, his adopted fathers MI6 secrets, the real truth about his biological father and how he became the biggest drug lord the world has ever seen.

“Come and join us for a night like you've never seen before.”

Tickets are available HERE