What Pablo Escobar's Brother Is Doing Now
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is notorious for, among other things, amassing an illicit fortune larger than the gross domestic product of a small nation. And throughout his tenure as the most wanted man in the world, his older brother, Roberto Escobar, stayed by his side, working as his accountant. While Pablo was killed in a 1993 police shootout, according to Biography, Roberto surrendered to law enforcement. He spent over ten years in prison, according to the Greek World Reporter, and during this time was blinded in one eye by a surprise letter bomb.
However, what has Roberto Escobar been up to, since his release? While some might have hid from the spotlight, after a life on the run from both local and international law enforcement, Escobar has instead embraced the fame leftover from his cartel days. In 2014, Karl Hess detailed on Vice that Escobar was giving tourist tours of the house he shared with his brother, for those interested in Medellin, Colombia's narcos history. In recent years, though, Escobar has branched out into the tech world, where he's made some waves: Both for his product line, and the intense approach he's taken to dealing with his perceived competitors.
Flip phones and lawsuits
In 2019, Escobar's company, Escobar Inc., announced that they would be launching a $350 foldable "Cartel-E-Phone" smartphone — an eyebrow-raising price, considering a similar product from Samsung retails for $1,980. According to Insider, Escobar Inc. claims their phone is made from a proprietary material, rendering it "the most durable telephone screen on the market," because it can allegedly only be destroyed by fire. However, an investigation by PC Magazine found that the Escobar Fold is actually just a Samsung Galaxy Fold, repackaged in gold foil, and pre-loaded with a photo of Pablo Escobar as the screensaver.
However, Escobar's claims of groundbreaking cellphone technology aren't the only splash he's made in the tech industry. After publicly accusing Elon Musk of stealing his idea for a flamethrower, as reported by Business Insider, he set his sights on challenging an even larger target. In December of 2019, according to International Business Times, Escobar declared his intention to file a class action lawsuit against Apple, to the tune of $30 billion. His noble reason for the suit, then, is to hold Apple accountable for selling overpriced and under-performing phones to their consumers.
However, as of March 2020, the suit has not yet materialized.