But behind the scenes, Gaviria reportedly oversaw the financial side of the empire - at a time when the cartel could pull in $4 billion per year. And Pablo Escobar attracted plenty of attention as the main “boss” of the operation. “He knew all about the labs, where to get the chemicals, the transportation routes, the distribution hubs throughout the United States and Europe.”įrom 1976 to 1993, the Medellín Cartel ruled the cocaine business. “ we really wanted to take alive because he was the true brains,” said Scott Murphy, a former DEA officer who investigated the Medellín Cartel in its final years. But while “El Patrón” was the kingpin of the Medellín Cartel, Pablo Escobar’s cousin Gustavo Gaviria was arguably the real mastermind. Unlike Escobar, Gaviria stayed out of the spotlight.Įver since Pablo Escobar’s death in 1993, the Colombian drug lord has inspired TV shows like Narcos, movies like Paradise Lost, and books like Kings of Cocaine. These events led to his arrest in May 2018.Wikimedia Commons Pablo Escobar’s cousin Gustavo Gaviria (left) in an undated photo. That’s why they released me,” he said on Twitter. The Prosecutor’s Office said Velásquez revoked his probation. Vallejo had been a drug trafficker for 30 years, and had accumulated a fortune almost as large as Pablo Escobar’s. The Colombian Attorney General’s Office had opened an investigation against him after he repeatedly threatened Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro and his followers.Īnd in December 2017, authorities found Velásquez at a luxurious birthday party of drug trafficker Juan Carlos Mesa Vallejo, also known as “Tom.” Velásquez had served 23 years in prison for drug trafficking before authorities released him in August 2014, but he was arrested again in May 2018 and charged with extortion. He has confessed to killing upwards of 300 people in Colombia during his time working for Escobar’s cartel.
“Popeye” was known as one of Escobar’s most dreaded hit men. Velásquez had been hospitalized there since December 31, where he received treatment for stomach cancer.
Jhon Jairo Velásquez, also known as “Popeye,” died on February 6 at the National Institute of Cancer in Bogotá, Colombia, the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) said in a statement. A man who had oversight over a web of assassins working for the infamous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar is dead.
0 kommentar(er)
