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Colombia frees drugs lord's hired killer 'Popeye'
27 August 2014
One of Colombia's most notorious hired killers has been released from prison after serving 22 years of a 30-year sentence.
John Jairo Velasquez, nicknamed Popeye, was the top hit man of late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.
He confessed to killing 300 people and also claimed a hand in up to 3,000 killings in the 1980s and 1990s.
But he also gave evidence against an ex-justice minister convicted of ordering the killing of a rival.
Velasquez, 52, walked free from the Combita high-security prison on Tuesday to start a probation period of four years.
He left under heavy police escort, a sign of the risks he believes he will face outside jail.
continued
27 August 2014
One of Colombia's most notorious hired killers has been released from prison after serving 22 years of a 30-year sentence.
John Jairo Velasquez, nicknamed Popeye, was the top hit man of late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.
He confessed to killing 300 people and also claimed a hand in up to 3,000 killings in the 1980s and 1990s.
But he also gave evidence against an ex-justice minister convicted of ordering the killing of a rival.
Velasquez, 52, walked free from the Combita high-security prison on Tuesday to start a probation period of four years.
He left under heavy police escort, a sign of the risks he believes he will face outside jail.
continued
