Pablo Escobar's Top Hitman Wants The UK To Legalise Cocaine
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If Pablo Escobar's number one hitman started to tell you something, you'd probably sit up and listen - it would be for the best.
John Jairo Velasquez, better known as 'Popeye', was responsible for killing 250 people (including his former girlfriend) during his time working for Escobar.
He was arrested in 1992, aged 30, after being exposed as part of the Medellin Cartel - which Escobar led - a gang he was part of from the age of 17.
In 2014, he was released and he now has his own YouTube channel where he critiques various topics in Colombia.
He's now turned his attentions to the UK, and other governments of the world, asking them to legalise cocaine in an aim to save thousands of drug related deaths.
Credit: Facebook/John Jairo Velasquez
He's argued that coke should be handed out in pharmacies, for two reasons: 1) it can be regulated; 2) it would be clean and not cut with any harmful chemicals.
Velasquez has claimed that the Class A drug - which can currently land you seven years for possession or life for supply and production, not forgetting a hefty fine - is no more harmful than fatty foods or fizzy pop.
Speaking from his place of hiding, Velasquez said: "Look, everything kills. The soft drinks, whiskey, the beer, cigarettes, marijuana, the bread," - perhaps giving an insight into his own life.
"If cocaine is legalised it will be sold only in pharmacies, and people who take it will know it is clean."
Credit: PA
In 2015, 3,674 people died as a result of drug abuse, with 320 as a direct result of taking cocaine. It was a jump of 208 since 2012.
Obesity levels in the UK meanwhile now lead the way in Europe with 24.9 percent of people classified as obese.
Researchers have calculated that, in Europe, 1 in 7 (14%) premature deaths could be prevented if people were a healthy weight with men more likely to die early as a result of excess weight than women.
Velasquez continued to explain his reasoning, he said: "The drug war is an illusion. It is all lies. Every day the illicit trade grows and grows.
"And everywhere the Colombian cocaine goes: Great Britain, United States, South Africa, Ireland, it brings misery and bloodshed.
"In the transit of cocaine, a lot of people die. Thousands die. It destroys everything.
"More people are in danger when it is in the hands of the mafia. In the moment it is legalised it will be sold in pharmacies, so your government should do that."
Credit: PA
The Colombian is to be immortalised in a 60-part TV series on his life 'El Patron del Mal' (Boss of Evil) which will air on Netflix.
His bosses mansion, Pablo Escobar, is now available to rent as a holiday home.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/John Jairo Velasquez
Topics: Pablo Escobar, Cocaine
