April 21, 2017
Medellin, Colombia
Escobar's Hitman. Former drug-gang killer, now loved and loathed in Colombia
It is not often that you get to meet a man who has personally taken more than 250 lives and was involved in the torture and murder of thousands more. It is even rarer to see such a man in broad daylight, in a city centre enjoying public adulation. John Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, a.k.a. Popeye, is a local celebrity in Medellin, Colombia. In the 80s, the city was home to Pablo Escobar’s infamous, and extremely powerful, drug cartel. Popeye was the kingpin’s ‘hitman’.
The Medellin Cartel, which operated from the mid-1970s to early 1990s, reached its peak under Pablo Escobar when it became even more powerful than Colombia’s Government. It made tens of billions of dollars trafficking cocaine and committed tens of thousands of murders, many through terrorist attacks in Colombia. Pablo Escobar was named the richest and most powerful drug lord in the world.
Throughout his criminal career and on Escobar’s orders, Popeye kidnapped, tortured, killed and maimed. He planted bombs and terrorised thousands, from law enforcement officials to criminal competitors. Many innocent civilians became victims of the drug war as ‘collateral damage’. There are still people suffering long term consequences after the atrocities he and his accomplices committed; some were disabled, others bereaved. Popeye, however, is unrepentant, adamant that he has paid his debt to society. After spending 23 years behind bars, he is now a free man. His criminal expertise lands him roles in popular television shows and films. Some, who were not personally affected by his crimes, treat him as a film star, others see him very differently.
While in prison, Popeye studied for 14 diplomas and earned a degree in environmental sciences. The coldness with which he described his crimes has always surprised listeners. “If Pablo Escobar were born again, I would go with him without giving it a thought,” he said in an interview. Yet he has also said that he was a “retired criminal” who was in his “winter quarters.” In February 2013, he told El Tiempo newspaper that, once free, he would like to have a chance to redeem himself for the crimes he had committed. “I am a man who is looking for an opportunity in society. A man who is at peace with himself. When I leave, I repeat, I have no intention of hurting anyone. I am not afraid of justice because I’ve realized that even for a man like Popeye there can be justice.”
Source : RT Documentary
Medellin, Colombia
Escobar's Hitman. Former drug-gang killer, now loved and loathed in Colombia
It is not often that you get to meet a man who has personally taken more than 250 lives and was involved in the torture and murder of thousands more. It is even rarer to see such a man in broad daylight, in a city centre enjoying public adulation. John Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, a.k.a. Popeye, is a local celebrity in Medellin, Colombia. In the 80s, the city was home to Pablo Escobar’s infamous, and extremely powerful, drug cartel. Popeye was the kingpin’s ‘hitman’.
The Medellin Cartel, which operated from the mid-1970s to early 1990s, reached its peak under Pablo Escobar when it became even more powerful than Colombia’s Government. It made tens of billions of dollars trafficking cocaine and committed tens of thousands of murders, many through terrorist attacks in Colombia. Pablo Escobar was named the richest and most powerful drug lord in the world.
Throughout his criminal career and on Escobar’s orders, Popeye kidnapped, tortured, killed and maimed. He planted bombs and terrorised thousands, from law enforcement officials to criminal competitors. Many innocent civilians became victims of the drug war as ‘collateral damage’. There are still people suffering long term consequences after the atrocities he and his accomplices committed; some were disabled, others bereaved. Popeye, however, is unrepentant, adamant that he has paid his debt to society. After spending 23 years behind bars, he is now a free man. His criminal expertise lands him roles in popular television shows and films. Some, who were not personally affected by his crimes, treat him as a film star, others see him very differently.
While in prison, Popeye studied for 14 diplomas and earned a degree in environmental sciences. The coldness with which he described his crimes has always surprised listeners. “If Pablo Escobar were born again, I would go with him without giving it a thought,” he said in an interview. Yet he has also said that he was a “retired criminal” who was in his “winter quarters.” In February 2013, he told El Tiempo newspaper that, once free, he would like to have a chance to redeem himself for the crimes he had committed. “I am a man who is looking for an opportunity in society. A man who is at peace with himself. When I leave, I repeat, I have no intention of hurting anyone. I am not afraid of justice because I’ve realized that even for a man like Popeye there can be justice.”
Source : RT Documentary
