Pablo Escobar costumes are quite popular for the 2015 Halloween season. However, images of a toddler, who is dressed as the notorious Colombian drug lord, have become a point of heated controversy. Although the original source is unknown, photos and videos of the unnamed child are going viral across numerous social media platforms.
The young boy, who is not named, has dark curly hair — parted on the left side — and a painted-on mustache. To complete the look, he was dressed in jeans, white sneakers, and a tropical print shirt. His costume also includes two accessories: a tiny leather briefcase and a toy pistol.
Best kid Halloween costume this year already. LiL Pablo Escobar #Narcos @djsourmilk pic.twitter.com/OeRBHMIJRS
— U?-?U?VE-?B?E (@djhomicide) October 25, 2015
The costume bears a striking resemblance to an outfit the drug kingpin wore during one of his first arrests. More recently, the ensemble was worn by Wagner Moura, who portrays Pablo Escobar in the 2015 Netflix original series Narcos .
A native of Antioquia, Colombia, Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria began committing crime for money while he was still attending high school. In his early 20s, he became involved with the notorious Medellin family.
Although he originally served as a bodyguard, Pablo eventually devised a plan to create an incredibly successful, and profitable, cocaine operation.
As reported by Daily Record , “there were no drug cartels and only a few drug barons” in the 1970s, “so there was plenty of business for everyone.” Escobar and his associates began by importing cocoa paste into Colombia, which was refined in a small laboratory inside his home.
As the business continued to grow, Pablo used his resources to bribe airport security, border patrol agents, military personnel, and police officers to facilitate the import of the cocoa and the export of the drugs into the United States.
Pablo Escobar in the cut pic.twitter.com/RnVOG6rbR3
— LM (@lexireneexo) October 24, 2015
As was his goal, Pablo Escobar became a millionaire before the age of 22.
Escobar and his associates eventually formed the infamous Medellin Cartel, which was arguably the first, and most successful, cartel in history.
Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, the cartel amassed vast amounts of property and billions of dollars.
In addition to paying people off to avoid interruption of their business, the Medellin Cartel devised creative ways to hide the drugs in ordinary objects.
“Chemists discovered cocaine could be chemically blended into products made of plastic, metals and liquids… Liquified cocaine was added to Chilean wine, it was mixed with flowers and chemically soaked into Colombian lumber exports. Even jeans were soaked with the liquid and the coke would be washed out at the destination.”
Officials believe Pablo Escobar was, at one time, responsible for 80 percent of all cocaine smuggled into the United States.
In 1989, Escobar was identified as “the seventh richest man in the world” by Forbes magazine. At the time, his annual income was estimated to be nearly $20 million.
Four years later, the notorious Colombian drug lord was shot and killed by agents with the Search Bloc police task force.
Authorities believe Pablo was responsible for the deaths of 457 police officers, hundreds of civilians, and at least 30 judges in the course of his career as Colombia’s “King of Cocaine.”
The Colombian drug lord’s life of crime is currently being featured in the Netflix original Narcos . As a result, Pablo Escobar costumes have become increasingly popular for the 2015 Halloween season.
However, as reported by Huffington Post , the costume may not be an appropriate choice for a toddler. Photos and videos of the little boy, which are being shared via social media, are drawing a barrage of negative comments, criticizing the child’s parents and their choice of costume.
The little boy is clearly too young to realize he is dressed as a Colombian drug lord. As his parents have not commented, it is unclear why they chose to dress the toddler like Pablo Escobar.
[Image via Colombia Reports ]