PABLO Escobar was the wealthiest criminal in history, who killed at least 15,000 people while smuggling large amounts of cocaine into the United States.

He was a wanted man, and for years police chased him through Colombia.

The manhunt was led my former US Drug Enforcement Agent Javier Pena, who helped kill the kingpin in 1993. The rise and fall of the cocaine king and Mr Pena’s mission to capture him has since become the plot of Netflix hit series Narcos.

Escobar was to blame for about 80 per cent of America’s cocaine supply in the 80s and by the 90s, Escobar had a net worth of about $40 billion.

According to the book The Accountant’s Story, Escobar started his cocaine operation in 1975, flying planes between Colombia and Panama and on secret smuggling routes to the United States.

He expanded his empire and purchased more planes, helping him sneak more and more cocaine into America.

He was one of the heads of the Medellin Cartel, an organised group of drug suppliers and traffickers.

Mr Pena had only been in the DEA four years when he began his manhunt for Escobar, which ended 23 years ago. On December 2, 1993, Escobar was shot through the ear while he was running across a roof from police.

Ahead of a talk in Melbourne, Mr Pena has revealed his greatest fears while hunting the kingpin and said Escobar was one of the most manipulative criminals he had ever met.

He told 3AW Escobar was the inventor of narcoterrorism, terrorism associated with the trade of illegal drugs.

In 1989, Escobar bombed a Colombian domestic passenger flight and killed 110 people.

He was attempting to assassinate Colombian presidential candidate Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, but he was not on board.

Mr Pena said Escobar wanted to be the president of Colombia himself and despite offering to pay the country’s debt, politicians saw him as nothing but a drug trafficker.

“If he had been a good person he would have been a great president but he was not,” Mr Pena told 3AW.

With 15,000 people killed at the hands and orders of Escobar, Mr Pena revealed he himself was in great danger.

“Fifteen car bombs a day were going off. Officials were being killed left, right and centre,” he said.

“My biggest fear were the car bombs. You never knew where he would put it. Wrong place, wrong time. He would put them outside our base and target police officers.”

Mr Pena said Escobar manipulated Colombians, and many saw him as a hero.

“He started off building homes, helping the church — the Catholic priest was on his side,” he said.

“He bought people, he was a manipulator. He knew what to do and he would turn around and order ‘go and kill that judge or attorney general’.

“It was all part of his mastermind, to try to say that he was a good guy.”

Mr Pena will be coming to Australia with his colleague Steve Murphy next year to talk about the capture of Escobar.

“Capturing Pablo - An Evening with Javier Pena & Steve Murphy”, Sydney Opera House - Tuesday July 11 & Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne - Thursday July 13. Click here for details.