He began to organize a small militia group of fighters which would eventually grow into an army that fought for the Shan State. When we talk of drug lords, probably the first name to crosses our minds would be of El Chapothe most significant drug lord in history! Murillo has been played by actors like Carlos Velsquez and Mauricio Cujar in TV series. A million dollars is nothing. How does he compare to other drug lords in terms of estimated wealth? Here we are going to take a look at ten of the richest drug lords of all time to show you just how much money these people made. It's also one of the only professions where people are trying to kill or arrest you every single day. Megan Janetsky. Besides his illegal activities, he also maintained several legitimate businesses. However, alongside his criminal activities, he established programs to assist impoverished members of the community. La Madrina, The Godmother of Cocaine was killed in 2012. The statistics show that more people die from alcohol than drugs and where alcohol is sold, no one feels remorse, she said. A notorious Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar was the founder and leader of the infamous Medelln Cartel. 12. The followings are top 10 richest and most famous drug lords of the world: 10. He has escaped from prison twice over the course of his career, which has been dramatized on television programs like "Narcos: Mexico" and the Netflix/Univision co-production "El Chapo." From her neck hung a gold pendant in the form of Tutankhamun with 83 rubies, 228 diamonds and 189 sapphires. He escaped from the kidnappers but spent a 33-year sentence in the U.S., following which he was released. During the height of their operations, the were estimated to have a combined net worth of some $6 billion dollars. Pablo Escobar is the richest drug lord in history. It is estimated that Dawood is worth around $6.7 billion dollars and he is currently one of the most wanted criminals. Consumer Price Index in 2012 was 229.6 and increased to 259.9 in 2020. #19 Nicky Barnes - Net Worth $500 Thousand. Nevertheless, in 2012, the female drug lord was shot in Medellin after spending ten years in prison for drug charges. When you think of the word "notorious" and the phrase "drug kingpin", Pablo Escobar is probably the first name that comes to mind. His life and career have inspired several films and TV series. Meet Mumbai's female drug dealer and who was the Queen of the drug underworld, Shashikala Ramesh Patankar. That's worth $1.47 billion in today's money. That means $1.3 billion in 2012 is equivalent to nearly $1.47 billion in 2020. His name may not be as familiar as some of the others on this list to western readers, but the man known as Khun Sa was at one time known as the "Opium King" of Myanmar. Christopher Cokes attitude in court in 2012 was remarkably unapologetic, with him stating Im pleading guilty because I am, before being given his 23-year sentence. Describing the escape from prison of Guzmn, with whom she partied when he was on the run, she said: I was not surprised, money buys everything in Mexico. If he were alive today he might bristle at being characterized as a drug dealer, but many of his bootlegging activities were the equivalent of underground narcotics traffic today. The followings are top 10 richest and most famous drug lords of the world: 10. Juan David, the eldest, enlisted his two brothers help in contributing to the establishment of the infamous Medellin Cartel. 6. Better known as Otoniel, the leader of the . Thought by many to be a pushover due to his boyish looks and wealthy upbringing, Klaas Bruinsma proves himself a sadistic and sinister drug lord. Ismael Zambada. El Chapo isn't the biggest and the richest drug kingpin of all time by a long shot. He tunneled out of a maximum security prison in Mexico, and is still at large today. Frank Lucas is the drug dealer of USA with the net worth value of $52 billion. Birth Year: 1947. She went on the run and for years lived as a fugitive. First you have to attack poverty. I would listen to the newscasts, then make predictions about the results. Scribbling in notebooks, she avoided the monotony of months without human contact. An astute learner, she rose fast through the ranks and was coveted by men every step of the way. Khun Sa was eventually indicted by the United States for his drug operation, and then surrendered to the Burmese government in hopes that he would not be extradited to the U.S. The government at times has to kill people because it is not convenient to imprison witnesses who could testify against them., The problem, she insisted, is not with those who cant leave the cartels, but those who prefer not to. . She gave me 50 pesos [$3] because I had left everything in the car and I escaped in a taxi.. Her prized anonymity was shattered, and her bad luck continued. #17 Frank Lucas - Net Worth $1.5 Million. We end our interview by watching the trailer for Queen of the South in her living room. There are several claims that Griseda's net worth when she was at the greatest point in her criminal activities was about $2 billion. vila threw herself to the floor and, staring up at the sky, imagined it was her last seconds on Earth. Drug lords are supplying drugs throughout the whole world which is indeed harmful but still used by the people. 2 leader of the same Medellin Cartel that Carlos Lehder helped establish, Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha was one of the most wanted men in Colombia while he was at large. Seven years ago the city of Chicago named Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman its first public enemy number one since Al Capone. He died of liver cancer in 1962. Freeway Rick Ross is the drug lord who belongs to the USA. He's been designated a "global terrorist" by the governments of both the United States and India since 2003, with a bounty of $25 million on his head. vilas son was kidnapped and when she paid the $5m ransom, the police intensified their scrutiny; her name now adorned a most wanted poster. ALICE WALTON NET WORTH: $54.4 BILLION COUNTRY: UNITED STATES SOURCE OF WEALTH: WALMART. Frank Lucas was portrayed by actor Denzel Washington in the 2007 movie American Gangster. All were murdered during Mexico's ongoing cocaine wars. You go to a restaurant and a bar and the owners dont feel guilty., Asked about how cartels will react to the legalization of marijuana and the possible end of a lucrative line of business, she said that it doesnt matter because there will always be the invention of new drugs. The important thing is to continue with the business., At heart, her position is simple: each individual is free to partake in the drug world, or abstain. There are definitely some familiar faces on this list who have been made famous by big budget Hollywood movies, but there are also some people here who you've probably never even heard of. After a 150-kilogram shipment was . At his peak, he was worth some $25 billion. To be able to buy that system? The series is a remake of the Spanish-language version La Reina del Sur, starring Kate del Castillo the actress who eventually teamed up with Sean Penn for a clandestine and highly controversial meeting with El Chapo. Khun Sa grew to prominence during the 1960s when he fled into Burma during the end of the Chinese Civil War. Sandra vila Beltrn, 18 years old and deeply in love with Javier Caro, who would later be murdered. Arturo Beltran Leyva's own downfall was even more unsubtle. He was involved in this bad business from the age of 19 years. Who is the biggest drug lord in history? A notorious Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar was the founder and leader of the infamous Medelln Cartel. You can change your choices at any time by visiting your privacy controls. entered into the criminal world by selling stolen vehicles, while serving a prison sentence for selling stolen cars that Lehder decided, Lehders true dream was to head up a new Colombian Neo-Nazi government, bestowed upon him because of how carefully he considered his every move, joint leader of the Cali Cartel alongside his brother, Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela, he said misrepresented the true facts and tarnished his reputation as a result, one of the most wanted men in Colombia while he was at large, resulted in the death of himself and his 17-year-old son, Freddy, name means Prince Prosperous in the Burmese Shan dialect, turned himself in during 1991 and served only five years, purportedly handling thousands of pounds of cocaine, with a reward of $25 million being offered in return for his capture, involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 1993 and 2008, Pakistan claims no knowledge of his whereabouts and evidence is scarce, smuggled multi-ton loads of methamphetamine and cocaine, continued his reign of terror until 2017 when he was sentenced to life in prison, based on a forgiving estimate of the value of the cocaine that he smuggled, he also laundered money through Colombia to finance his fleets, died in a Mexican hospital in 1997 after getting intensive plastic surgery, the first drug lord to use private planes to traffic cocaine, he established programs to assist impoverished members of the community, a harrowing five-week ordeal with many casualties, gained plenty of popularity by sponsoring charities and sports, excessive and often indiscriminate violence. With Chapo, he not only has the importation of cocaine, but marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine, and he is exporting them not only to the U.S. but to Asia and Europe.". It has to be from up high, not the director of a prison. The people on this list make Tony Montana look like Tony the Tiger. Banev's 10-year-old daughter was kidnapped during his imprisonment and released unharmed two months later. Pablo Escobar is possibly the most widely familiar name on this list, second only to Al Capone (and that's probably debatable). Following in the footsteps of his father Christopher Coke, founder of the notoriously violent Shower Posse, this Jamaican drug lord trafficked huge amounts of cocaine, marijuana, and firearms. 8. This made him one of the richest drug bosses ever with an estimated fortune of over US $25 billion. (The head of Sinaloa, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, was recently listed by Forbes as one of the world's richest people, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion.) She is proud to maintain all her old contacts and relationships, but, at 56, appears more interested in recovering the lost decade with her son who is in his late 20s. Before Boston George, she was the Medellin Cartel's most prolific smuggler, running tons of cocaine into New York, Miami, and Southern California. Blanco is a fascinating figure in drug war history. This was a very popular debate on the CelebrityNetWorth Facebook page so we took it upon ourselves to settle it once and for all with the following list. Above all, succeeding in business like this requires completely different skills to those that were important in the illegal business. Griselda Blanco, also known as La Madrina and the Black Widow, was the first billionaire female drug lord. She became friendly with El Chapo Guzmn, dated a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel, commanded a 30-car flotilla and won shooting competitions with the head bodyguard to Rafael Caro Quintero, founder of the Guadalajara cartel. Her reign was set in the late '70s and early '80s, and she was reportedly the first female drug lord billionaire. Photo from Cocaine Cowboys 2/Rakontur.com. While throwing a Christmas party at his lavish home in 2009, he and his pals came . It is estimated that her operations in the United States at their height brought in some $80 million dollars in revenue each month. She has lived, worked and loved inside the upper echelons of the Mexican drug world since the late 1970s. They were more successful because of their special teams. Escobar, dubbed "The King of Cocaine," is the wealthiest criminal in history, with an estimated net worth of US$30 billion at the time of his death which is equivalent to $64 billion in 2021. Known as the "King of Cocaine", Pablo Escobar was probably the most notorious drug lord of all time with an estimated net worth of around $30 billion dollarsback in the 1990's. But eventually they were enemies of Escobar's. Though not as notorious as El Chapo, drug lord Jorge Alberto Rodrguez, also known as Don Cholito, was also highly dangerous in his own right. 21/21. He is also known for his association with Pablo Escobar and the Galeano family. Drugs are quite bad and harmful thing which can ruin the whole life of a person. Her life became full-time cartel. She was also in prison in 1985 but then was released in 2004. Often referred to as the "World's Greatest Outlaw", he was known for his quirky ways of eluding arrest. Here are the top 10 richest women in the world; Net worths are as of March 18, 2020. Juan died in 2013, while both Jorge and Fabio have kept low profiles after being released from prison in the 1990s. Khun Sa was a Shan military leader and drug lord who is also known as the Opium King. If you do it, the men think you are just another disposable woman, you wont be respected, she said. Billionaire Mexican drug cartel king Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera's time as a free man appears to be short-lived: Mexican police acknowledged Sunday that they nearly caught him in February . All were murdered during Mexicos ongoing cocaine wars. It is around that time that a band called Los Tucanes de Tijuana lionized vila as the Queen of the Pacific with their hit Party in the Mountains. They make their money by smuggling illegal substances and terrorizing just about anyone less powerful than themselves. Earning himself the title of No. German-Colombian Carlos Lehder had a net worth of $2.7 billion at the height of his cocaine empire in the 1980s. Within months she had left town, ending her hopes of a career as an investigative reporter. Top 10 Richest Drug Lords Of All Time.Follow us on other social media channels:https://www.facebook.com/naulofactshttps://www.instagram.com/naulofactsh. His drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States and he became one of the wealthiest criminals ever in history. I remember a suitor who bought me a pickup truck and left it at my friends house with flowers and a note, she said. Griselda Blanco: Griselda Blanco is the drug lord and was born in Colombia. He fought extremely hard and violently against the Columbian government during the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s, and essentially was waging a war. Pablo Escobar is easily the most notorious and richest drug lord that ever lived. He was even played by Robert De Niro in "The Untouchables." The Colombian-Puerto Rican had ordered the numerous murders of informants, witnesses, and law-enforcement officials during his reign as one of the most-wanted drug lords in the world. Her relationship to the world of cocaine for now seems to be that of an insider who is not playing the game. He was then sent to prison for 30 years due to money laundering and drug trafficking in 2006. the Cocaine Godmother) with an estimated net worth of $2 billion. His brother Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela is also serving a prison sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania. He pleaded guilty to helping to launder $2.5 million in exchange for a $250,000 payment. The U.S. Government Cannot Find Any Of El Chapo's Money, #11 Joaqun Loera AKA Chapo Guzman: $1 Billion, #6 Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha: $5 Billion. She is commonly called as the Godmother of Cocaine and is called one of the most dangerous ones. Amado Carrillo Fuentes was the first drug lord to use private planes to traffic cocaine around the world, earning him his nickname El Seor de Los Cielos, or Lord of the Skies. In 2019 federal prosecutors estimated in their court documents that El Chapo handled 600,000 kilograms of cocaine and 420,000 kilograms of marijuana. His children are wealthy businesspeople in Myanmar today. Brothers Gilberto and Miguel Orejuela were two of the co-founders and leaders of the Cali Cartel, a drug cartel from Columbia and one of the major rivals of the Medellin Cartel. She also learned to survive in solitary confinement, where she was dumped for nearly two years. Griselda Blanco Restrepo (February 15, 1943 - September 3, 2012), known as the Black Widow, was a Colombian drug lord of the Medelln Cartel, and in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade and underworld, during the 1970s through the early 2000s. 2 Marllory Chacon Rossell - "Queen Of The South". The only woman on this list, she was murdered in 2012 at the age of 69. He is getting all this publicity . El Chapo isn't the biggest and the richest drug kingpin of all time by a long shot. He eventually moved to Medellin where he would then team up with others to form the Medellin Cartel. 5. Sean "Diddy" Combs portrayed Barnes in the movie Carlito's Way: Rise to Power. He also has developed the largest heroin empire of the world. He was a powerful young man closely tied to the cartels. Pablo Escobars accountant claimed that he spent $2,500 a month on nothing but the rubber bands needed to wrap up his staggering amount of illegal cash. El Chapo has been arrested and locked up a few times, but has escaped each time, most recently in July of this year. While other prisoners had visits in a common room, vilas guests were escorted to her cell where her three maids served food, alcohol and cigarettes. As a child, she lived in opulence. Best known as the wife of notorious drug lord Frank Lucas, Julianna Farrait has been behind bars twice, once in 2010, for selling cocaine. "Ruthless and immensely powerful", several political leaders, such as President Virgilio Barco Vargas, became convinced that the drug . But the real money isn't in the hand to hand drug dealing you see on city corners, if you want to become insanely wealthy you need to either supply or transport wholesale amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or marijuana. Now free, she gave an exclusive interview, her first in nearly a decade, from her home near Guadalajara, in which she lashed out at Mexican politicians corruption, mocked the futility of drug prohibition and celebrated the escape of Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn. 4 Matteo Messina Denaro Cosa Nostra kingpin. Rodriguez Gacha resisted arrest by the Colombian government, throwing grenades in a shootout that resulted in the death of himself and his 17-year-old son, Freddy. vila learned to tweak her beauty routines. He was even once counted amongst the richest men in the world! Disclosure: El Chapo and the 12 Richest Drug Lords of All Time is originally published at Insider Monkey. 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