The year was 1984 and Pablo Escobar already had an empire whose inexhaustible source of money was drug production.

Escobar loved animals and decided to bring close to 200 exotic species to his Hacienda Nápoles: rhinoceroses, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos in private planes, of course, illegally.

When authorities raided the ranch, they found all the animals except the hippos that Escobar had released into the Magdalena River basin. The so-called “Escobar’s hippos” multiplied without control and today are an ecological and social problem for the inhabitants of the area. It was an invasive and dangerous species that multiplied in such a way that today there are about 160 free animals. In Africa, these giants were recognized as the wild animals that killed the most people. There were no recorded attacks on humans in Colombia until 2020, when a farmer was saved from death after being attacked by a hippopotamus.

Pablo Escobar’s hippos: another evil legacy that threatens to destroy social and ecological stability in Colombia

Half a ton of drugs camouflaged on the roof of a truck was seized in Esmeraldas

These unusual activities of the drug trafficker, who is credited with nearly 5,000 deaths, speak not only to his eccentricity, but also to his comfort in Colombian territory to commit all kinds of crimes. Their prosperity and power grew, and someone was clearly looking the other way. Namely, the cathedral was built in 1991 with the permission of Colombian President César Gaviria, Escobar’s cousin. The complex was a luxury estate from which Escobar ran his business. Without a doubt, the drug trade was the hippopotamus in the room in Colombia in the 1980s.

When we think about the third attempt to impeach the President of the Republic with increasingly unfounded arguments, let’s not forget that power can be a stone in the shoe or a red carpet for certain jobs. We have already witnessed both cases. What sensitive fibers is this government touching? What kind of business is that on the road?

Not yet Pablo Escobar

It is definitely an invasive and dangerous species that enters every fabric of our society…

What interests are behind these political processes?

Today the authorities are confiscating drugs left and right. Last year, Ecuador seized 201 tons, which is equal to the weight of 71 of Escobar’s kingfishers. The seizure of drugs in the country’s ports has increased: while 54 tons were seized in 2021, in 2022 they managed to detect and ban 77 tons, i.e. an increase of 42 percent compared to 2021.

There are more and more drugs, it’s true. But who allowed this increase? If not with the consent of the authorities, how did the hippos illegally enter our country, seeing the potential in this territory? Who released them, affecting the inhabitants of the area? Who turned a blind eye… Turned a blind eye to an eye Like a hippopotamus? Who allowed them to proliferate uncontrollably and become today a serious social problem from which we find it difficult to get out? It is definitely an invasive and dangerous species that enters all the tissues of our society and today it is the wild animal that kills the most.

Dear Reader, as you must have sensed, I haven’t talked about hippos in a while… (OR)