Colombia kingpin Escobar's hitman freed from jail
Colombia kingpin Escobar's hitman freed from jail
2014-08-27 12:45
Bogota - One of Colombia's most feared drug cartel assassins walked free on Tuesday after serving 22 years in jail for scores of murders ordered by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar during the cocaine trafficking heyday of the 1980s, police said.
Jhon Jairo Velasquez, known by his alias 'Popeye', was released early from the high security Combita prison in central Boyaca after completing about three fifths of his sentence and receiving a reduction for studying and good behaviour. He left the prison heavily guarded by state-provided protection.
Velasquez, aged 52, was Escobar's chief hit man during the bloodiest days of the infamous Medellin Cartel, which shipped billions of dollars of cocaine to the United States and Europe. The prolific assassin, who has admitted to killing hundreds of Escobar's enemies, was on the frontlines of grisly gangland battles for territory and trafficking routes. He was indirectly behind thousands of deaths by killers on Escobar's payroll.
One of Escobar's inner circle, Velasquez was allegedly involved in some of the most famous cartel-related crimes - including the 1989 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan and the bombing of an Avianca commercial flight later that same year that killed all 107 on board.
More:
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Colombia-kingpin-Escobars-hitman-freed-from-jail-20140827
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Colombia paroles druglord’s hitman ignoring protests
August 28, 2014
BOGOTA: A former hit man for Pablo Escobar, who confessed to hundreds of murders as head of the drug kingpin’s army of assassins, has been freed from a maximum security prison under heavy police guard.
John Jairo Velasquez, better known by his nickname “Popeye,” was parolled on Tuesday evening despite protests from the relatives of his many alleged victims.
He had spent 22 years behind bars for plotting the murder of a former presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galan during the campaign for the 1990 presidential election.
In a string of interviews anticipating his early release, Velasquez figured that he had about an 80 per cent chance of being killed by former rivals after he was released.
With the threat of a revenge killing lurking, he said he was considering relocating abroad. He also wants to sell to Hollywood the rights to an autobiography he wrote about his life alongside Escobar.
More:
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/120941d6-bbff-4d08-8503-221f36dcf532.aspx
[center] 
Pablo Escobar
John Jairo "Popeye" Velasquez
Pablo Escobar, first row,
and Colombian agents,
kneeling and standing. [/center]