Pablo Escobar's Feared Chief Hitman Jhon Jairo 'Popeye' Velásquez Dies Of Cancer Aged 57

The release from INPEC reads: "The National Penitentiary and Prison Institute - INPEC - reports that Mr. Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez ' Popeye', passed away in the early hours of today, at the National Cancer Institute.

"The prisoner had been hospitalized since 31 December 2019, and suffered from stomach cancer."

He has been under arrest since 25 May 2018 on suspicion of extortion and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Velásquez worked as Pablo Escobar's highest-ranking hitman during the 80s and once revealed he was responsible for the mass killing of 110 people with a briefcase bomb in 1989.

The multiple murders were part of a plan to assassinate then presidential candidate César Gaviria who supported extraditing Colombian drug dealers to the US to face prosecution.

The politician was supposed to be travelling onboard a domestic Avianca airlines flight from Bogota to Cali, however, his security prevented him from boarding.

"He told him that the briefcase held a tape recorder and that when he opened it the device would be activated to grab the conversations of certain passengers.

"That there were some Americans aboard, and the mafia needed to know about an extradition case they were carrying out.

"The dupe had already held a briefcase with a complex recorder in his hands and saw how it worked.

"Castano had already given him several examples, to deceive him more easily. When the briefcase opened in the air, the bomb was activated."