Soon the demand for cocaine in the United States increased. Escobar started to organize more smuggling ships and routes. He also improved the sale networks in South Florida, California and other parts of the USA. Escobar and Carlos Lehder worked together to develop a new drug center in the Bahamas, called Norman's Cay. Lehder and Robert Vesco bought most of the land on the island. This included an airstrip, a harbor, hotels, houses and boats. They also built a warehouse to store the cocaine. From 1978 to 1982, this was used as a central smuggling route for the Medellín Cartel. Escobar bought of land, which included Hacienda Napoles, for several million dollars. He created a zoo, a lake and other things for his family and organization. At one point, about 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were brought from Colombia to the United States every month. At the peak of Escobar's power in the mid-1980s, he sent about 11 tonnes per flight in planes to the United States. In addition to using the planes, Roberto Escobar said he also used two small submarines to transport the massive loads.
In 1982, Escobar was elected as a deputy (alternative) representative to the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia's Congress. He was part of the Colombian Liberal Party. During the 1980s, Escobar became known internationally because his drug network became famous. The Medellín Cartel controlled a large part of the drugs that entered the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The cocaine was mostly from Peru and Bolivia. The Colombian coca was not of best quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the Americas. His network reportedly reached as far as Asia.
Corruption characterized Escobar's dealings with the Colombian system. He had an effective way of dealing with law enforcements and the government. This is often referred to as ""plata o plomo"" (literally "silver or lead"or "accept money or face bullets"). This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This included civilians, policemen and state officials. At the same time, Escobar bribed many government officials, judges and other politicians. Escobar was responsible for the murder of Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán. The "Cartel de Medellín" was also involved in a deadly drug war, their enemy was the Cartel de Cali.
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria once said that the cocaine business was "simple - you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money back." In 1989, his Medellín cartel controlled 80% of the cocaine that was sent to the United States.
The United States and Colombian governments saw Escobar as an enemy. At the same time, Escobar was a hero to many people in Medellín, especially to the poor people as he built houses for them. He was a sports fan, and built football fields and multi-sports courts. He also sponsored children's football teams.
Escobar was responsible for the construction of many hospitals, schools and churches in western Colombia. This made him popular with the local Roman Catholic Church. He worked hard for his "Robin Hood" image. Escobar often gave money to the poor through housing projects and other civic activities. The population of Medellín often helped Escobar by watching the police. They also hid information from the authorities, and did whatever else they could do to protect him.
Despite his popular image among Medellín's community, Escobar was well-known among his business associates to be a calm and sensible partner to deal with. He preferred to use his money before his gun. His brother said that Pablo Escobar knew that money generated more loyalty than fear. Violence was often unnecessary.
The Colombian cartels quickly managed to make Colombia the world’s capital for murder with 25,100 violent deaths in 1991 and 27,100 in 1992. Escobar gave money to his hitmen as a reward for killing police officers. 600 officers died this way. Today, other countries, such as Guatemala, South Africa and Venezuela have more murders than Colombia.
In March 1976 when he was 26, Escobar married Maria Victoria. She was 11 years younger than him. Together they had two children: Juan Pablo and Manuela. Escobar built and lived in a luxurious house with his family. He wanted to construct a Greek-style citadel near it. They began the construction of the citadel but never finished. The ranch, the zoo and the citadel were expropriated by the government. They were given to poor families in the 1990s under a law called "extinción de dominio" (domain extinction).
After the murder of Luis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate, the administration of César Gaviria moved against Escobar and the drug cartels. Eventually, the government talked with Escobar. They wanted him to to capitulate and to stop all criminal activity.
Escobar declared an end to a series of previous violence and terrorism, and turned himself in. He was held in what became his own luxurious private prison, "La Catedral". Before Escobar gave himself up, the government approved the extradition of Colombian citizens. This was controversial. People suspected that Escobar or other drug lords influenced members of the government.
Escobar continued his criminal activities. He began to influence the media. The government discovered that Escobar was continuing his criminal activities within La Catedral. They wanted to move Escobar to another prison on July 22, 1992. Escobar's influence allowed him to discover the plan in advance and escape. He was still worried that he could be sent to the United States.
In 1992, United States Special Forces joined the manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force, called the Search Bloc. It was created to locate Escobar. Later, as the conflict between Escobar and the governments grew, a group known as "Los Pepes" (Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar) formed. His rivals and former associates financed it. They wanted to find Escobar. Los Pepes carried out a bloody campaign and more than 300 of Escobar's associates were killed. Also, a lot of his cartel's property was destroyed.
Rumors said that members of the Search Bloc and of the Colombian and the United States intelligence agencies cooperated with "Los Pepes". One of the leaders of "Los Pepes" was Diego Murillo Bejarano, also known as "Don Berna". Before, he was a Medellín Cartel associate.
The fight against Escobar ended on December 2, 1993. The police used radio triangulation technology to find Escobar. The United States provided this technology to a Colombian electronic surveillance team. The group was led by Brigadier Hugo Martinez. The team found him hiding in a middle-class barrio in Medellín. With the permission from authorities, a firefight with Escobar and his bodyguard, Alvaro de Jesús Agudelo AKA "El Limón", happened. They tried to escape by running across the roofs of nearby houses to reach a back street, but both were shot and killed by Colombian National Police. Escobar suffered gunshots to the leg, torso, and the fatal one in his ear. It is not known who actually fired the final shot into Escobar's head. It is also unknown whether this shot was made during the gunfight or as part of possible execution. There is wide speculation about this. Some of the family members believe that Escobar could have committed suicide. His two brothers, Roberto Escobar and Fernando Sánchez Arellano, believe that he shot himself through the ears. "He committed suicide, he did not get killed. During all the years they went after him, he would say to me every day that if he was really cornered without a way out, he would shoot himself through the ears." The autopsy showed that there was no stippling pattern found around the ear, which suggested that the shot which killed Escobar was fired from further than an arm's length away.