Pablo Escobar’s most-feared hitman ‘Popeye’ is receiving palliative treatment after undergoing treatment to be fed through a tube as he is suffering from terminal oesophagus cancer.
Jhon Jairo Velasquez Vasquez, 54, alias Popeye, is suffering from terminal cancer in the oesophagus as well as metastasis in his lungs and liver, and local media report he only has months to live.
Velazquez Vazquez us currently hospitalised and receiving palliative treatment in the National Institute of Cancer in Bogota, the Colombian capital.
Velazquez Vazquez, who was the head of Pablo Escobar’s hitmen, has reportedly undergone gastrostomy surgery to allow him to be fed through a flexible feeding tube into his stomach. He is receiving medication to slow the spread of the tumour and treat the symptoms.
Local media report he is expected to only have months left to live. He was a key figure in the Medellin Cartel and one of the right-hand men of drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Velazquez Vazquez was in prison between 1993 and 2014 for crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking and murder.
He was allegedly responsible for the deaths of former presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan, former prosecutor Mauro Hoyos and journalist Guillermo Cano.
Popeye was released in 2014 after a controversial decision. Four years later, after being arrested in May 2018, he went back to prison for the crimes of blackmail and criminal association.
He says he was personally responsible for 300 murders and organising the deaths of another 3,000 people.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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