He was born on December 1, 1949 in Colombia. As a young boy, he told friends and family that he wanted to become president of Colombia and take over. Yet, according to him, his path to wealth and legitimacy lay through crime. He started out young as a petty street thief, stealing cars before moving into the drug trade. He was smuggling cigarettes. Escobar moved quickly to take control of the cocaine trade. Escobar was deeply involved in the cocaine trade, if anyone who worked for Escobar did not do their job properly, he had orders to kill that person. Well, his fame grew. Escobar did not realize his dream of being considered a leader. If you messed with Pablo Escobar, he was going to kill you or your family. Then he would blow up your house. Escobar tried to convince Colombian politicians not to grant extradition so he could run for president. Pablo Escobar wanted to become president of Colombia to have even more influence and power. People called Escobar a Narco. In Spanish, the term "narco" is an abbreviation of the word "narcotraficante" (drug trafficker). Prior to this usage, in the United States, the term "narc" (or "narco") referred to a specialized officer of a narcotics police force, such as a DEA agent.