From a “repentant Popeye”, he went on to “Popeye imprisoned”, Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, the self-proclaimed former sicario (hitman) for Pablo Escobar, was arrested in Medellin on Friday, May 25, on charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy.
Velásquez, aka “Popeye” was arrested after appearing with his lawyer at the organized crime prosectors’ office in Medellín, seeking to find out if he was being investigated.
Medellin Mayor Federico Gutiérrez confirmed the arrest in a tweet.
❗️Capturado alias Popeye. En minutos más información…
Felicitaciones @FiscaliaCol Fiscalía Crimen Organizado @PoliciaColombia @PoliciaMedellin— Federico Gutiérrez (@FicoGutierrez) May 25, 2018
The arrest came after Popeye appeared with his lawyer at the Medellin prosecutor’s office for organized crime, to find out if he was being investigated. Apparently, Popeye was under investigation for allegedly making threats on his Twitter account against Gustavo Petro, leftist candidate in Sunday’s election.
A leftist senator, Ivan Cepeda, informed police about the threatening messages sent to Petro and his supporters. “We received a formal complaint in this case” and launched an investigation, said chief prosecutor Nestor Humberto Martinez.
Popeye has said that his Twitter account had been hacked.
According to a source speaking to El Tiempo, Popeye was trying to recover property and money left in the hand of narcos.
“I have really asked for forgiveness of heart, but today I say it’s my fault, that I get up and sweat at night … no. I was a professional killer, I was in a war, they killed more than 3,000 of my friends, family members, they killed my boss. It was a state of war.”
The same source told El Tiempo that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency participated in the investigation.
Momentos en el que alias ‘Popeye’ es trasladado a un calabozo en el José Félix de Restrepo en Medellín https://t.co/Ce6OsmPwrk pic.twitter.com/joYTu3qwEu
— Noticias Caracol (@NCAntioquia) May 25, 2018
