Wiz Khalifa shares image of himself appearing to smoke cannabis next to Pablo Escobar's grave

Medellin Mayor demands rapper apologises for 'advocating crime' and labels him 'scoundrel'

Escobar, who was often dubbed the 'The king of cocaine', was accused of being behind up to 80 per cent of all the cocaine shipped to the US at the height of his career (Getty)

Wiz Khalifa has paid tribute to Pablo Escobar by sharing a photo of himself appearing to smoke marijuana near the late Colombian drug lord’s grave.

The US rapper, who is from Pittsburgh, posted a photo of flowers and a marijuana joint next to Escobar’s headstone and a second image of himself smoking what appears to be cannabis near the grave.

Khalifa, who posted the photos during a trip to perform in the Colombian city of Medellin, also shared an image of himself posing in front of the apartment where the cartel lived and which is the site of a bombing and an attempt on Escobar’s life back in the 1980s.

Khalifa, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, is a prolific marijuana smoker and even has a strain of marijuana named after him which he markets with a Colorado company.

The apparent tributes to the druglord, who was killed on a Medellin rooftop in 1993 during a shootout as he attempted to escape police, have caused fury among Colombians.

Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez demanded the rapper apologise for "advocating crime" and labelled Khalifa a “scoundrel”.

"It shows that this guy has never had to suffer from the violence inflicted by these drug traffickers," Mr Gutierrez told the BBC.

The city has spent over two decades endeavouring to rid of its image as the druglord’s former headquarters.

While some on social media argued Khalifa had shown “a lack of respect” for the people of Colombia, others leapt to his defence.

“Colombia fills its pockets making series about the life of Pablo Escobar, but are indignant when Wiz Khalifa take him flowers #hypocrites,” said one.

Escobar, who was often dubbed the “The king of cocaine”, was accused of being behind up to 80 per cent of all the cocaine shipped to the US at the height of his career. His life was documented in Netflix series Narcos.

Khalifa has been contacted for a comment.