On the 25th anniversary of the cartel chief’s death, his right-hand man reveals the Coke King’s secrets in an exclusive new series for The Daily Beast. Part 1
CALI, Colombia — Jhon
Jairo Velásquez Vásquez served for years as the ranking sicario, or hitman, of
the Medellín Cartel under Pablo Escobar, who was killed 25 years ago this
month. Known by the sobriquet “Popeye” because he had served as an officer in
the Colombian navy, he says he personally murdered hundreds of people and
ordered the deaths of thousands more.
Popeye was released from
prison in 2014 after serving a 23-year sentence. In 2018, he was again arrested
as part of a new investigation, although he maintains he is innocent of the new
charges. A hero to many next-gen sicarios in Colombia, Central America, and
Mexico, Popeye remains unrepentant and defiant.
For this exclusive Daily
Beast series, Popeye agreed to speak from prison about his time as chief
assassin within Escobar’s drug-fueled empire. Told in his own voice, and with
only minor edits for continuity, these anecdotes provide a personal and
penetrating account of what it was like to serve as second-in-command to one of
the most infamous drug lords of all time.
The Bombing of Avianca
203
THE DAILY BEAST: What can
you tell us, please, about your involvement in the bombing of Flight 203?
POPEYE: So in November of
1989, an Avianca airlines plane explodes in mid-flight, killing 107 people in
the air [including two U.S. citizens] and three more on the ground. This
happens in the middle of our war with the government…
Pablo Escobar ordered the
bombing to kill presidential candidate César Gaviria Trujillo. We had killed
Dr. Luis Carlos Galán in August 1989. Dr. César Gaviria was the heir to the
throne of Dr. Galán, and their signature plan was the extradition of Colombians
to the US.
Editor’s Note:
Extradition to the U.S. was a primary concern for Escobar and his cohorts, and
it remains a great fear for cartel leaders today. That’s because powerful drug
lords are able to pull strings for easy treatment or even escape incarceration
within the penal systems of their own countries, but they’re relatively helpless
once on U.S. soil.
“That Bomb Was a Work of
Art”
POPEYE: The person in
charge of dynamiting the plane was Carlos Urquijo, aka “El Arete” [The
Earring]. He worked together with Carlos Castaño Gil, who would later be our
great enemy and a powerful paramilitary in his own right. The bomb was set by
the Medellín cartel explosives expert Cuco Zabala…
Cuco arms a bomb case and
hands it off to El Arete and he passes it to Carlos Castaño Gil. That briefcase
was a work of art. Castaño deceived a young man and told him that he should
open his briefcase in the air when the plane took off and began to climb. 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.
Well, the dupe had
already held a briefcase with a complex recorder in his hands and saw how it
worked. Castaño had already given him several examples, to deceive him more
easily. When the briefcase opened in the air, the bomb was activated. Cuco, an
electronics engineer, had learned that trick from an explosives designer of the
ETA [Basque separatists].
The bomb case was very
complex and only a professional like Cuco could put it together.
Editor’s Note: Escobar
made a habit of importing foreign terrorists and military experts to teach
tactics to his sicarios. In addition to working with the ETA, Escobar also
employed mercenaries from Great Britain and Israel for training purposes.
On Nov. 27, 1989, the fate of 110 people was sealed
Pablo and Popeye in the 90's |
POPEYE: Pablo Escobar
moved [the bomb] to Bogotá with great care when the information came that
presidential candidate César Gaviria Trujillo would be flying in a commercial
aircraft. It was time to hoist the bomb and change 110 lives…
Gaviria was scheduled to
board a flight from Bogotá to Cali. Meanwhile the DAS [Administrative
Department of Security]—a special task force that escorts important persons of
the Colombian state—was responsible for protecting all of the country’s
runways. They controlled the El Dorado airport in the Colombian capital, and
were commanded by a general of the police, the all-powerful Miguel Alfredo Maza
Márquez.
But, using the bribe
money given him by Pablo Escobar, Carlos Castaño was really the one in control.
Carlos knew I’d bought
the ticket for the duped young man and got him just the right seat. We were all
aware that if the bomb exploded in the wrong place it wouldn’t ignite the
plane’s fuel tanks, and the captain could save the plane. So we created a
domino effect with the fuel stored in the wings of the plane, the dynamite in
the briefcase and the pressurization of the aircraft—a lethal composition…
Editor’s Note: For
decades after the bombing of Flight 203, U.S. and Colombian prosecutors would
blame a man who may well have been innocent. A lower-ranking sicario named
Dandenys Muñoz Mosquera, alias “La Quica,” (The Fat Girl) received multiple
life sentences for the bombing, until Popeye’s testimony to the Colombian DA
resulted in La Quica being exonerated.
A “Guardian Angel”
Intervenes
POPEYE: An accomplice in
the DAS force who patrolled El Dorado delivered the briefcase bomb to the
plane. Since the DAS ran the airport, they were able to easily slip the bomb to
the young man we’d tricked after he was in his seat.
However, based on a hunch
by Gaviria’s security chief, the candidate never boards the plane. A mile and a
half from the airport and Dr. César Gaviria’s car turns around. Then the plane
takes off, and after a few minutes it explodes, killing all 107 passengers and
crew. And debris lands on three more people and kills them, too. The plane was
totally destroyed—but the candidate lived. Maybe his guardian angel saved him
that night…
Editor’s Note: The destruction of Flight 203 proved to be a
bridge too far even for Escobar. Formerly considered untouchable, even a kind
of national folk here, the terroristic nature of the bombing would
provoke an unforeseen backlash. The George H.W. Bush administration would soon
deploy the resources of the U.S. intelligence community in Colombia, sparking a
massive manhunt for the Coke King and eventually leading to his downfall and controversial death in
1993.
Can’t believe this guy is still alive
ReplyDeleteI am also surprised. This guy was on Netflix Dark Tourist and from the show he seems like a local celebrity in Colombia. People were coming up to him in the street to share his hand and take a photo.
DeleteI highly recommend Dark Tourist to BB readers.
Dude are you high? i saw the same show and no one was “ coming up to him” he was going up to them and shaking hands like a politician! Most of those folks had a WTF look on thier face!
DeleteIn medellin you would see IDIOTS lining up to take selfies with him before they took him last year. You got to love the DUMMIE generation taking selfies with a mass murderer who was a big part of making their own city a bloody mess.
DeleteThis lame reminds me of that bato lil puppet or chucko from bulevar nays aye. And has one of the most punchable faces as well ese. Simon que si tribilin.
ReplyDeleteEl Santana Montoya
Great flicks carnal.
DeleteArriba el popeye y al que no le parezca que vaya y chingue mucho a su madre como vez ❓😂🤣
DeleteConfession from a psychopath.
ReplyDeleteWhat a scumbag.
ReplyDeleteColumbian government should have electrocuted him long ago.
The Colombian government IS the original scumbag!
DeleteCrime does not pay.
ReplyDeleteTell that to the politicos, chiefs of police, marinas and dons.
Delete@12:21 Crime does not pay unless you are a politico, chief of police, business man, general or lawyer
Delete@12:21 PM
DeleteIt’s a grave error to put the marinas with the rest of others,
El Cabrón De Tamaulipas
This fuckin' guy must be tired from running to every camera and reporter he can find...
ReplyDeleteBro for reals 😂
DeleteNo kidding.
DeletePretending to be a reporter would have been one of the best ways to whack this guy.
DeleteTo lazy to work and nobody would ever trust him for anything . He is just a street beggar . All he is worth is what he can get for a inteveiw
DeleteThis is an interesting story
ReplyDeleteI’ve read about this guy a ton of times and one thing always comes to my mind. How has no one ever ended his pathetic excuse of a life? He must be protected or still have some kind of power because he has one of the most recognizable faces in Columbia if he even lives there anymore.
ReplyDeleteHe does live there, hes in jail right now
DeleteHe really seems to enjoy the attention from media and the nutthugging public.... not sure anyone would care if he was killed off just like Griselda....
ReplyDeleteGC
For many years I have wondered why the Colombian government never took him up in a chopper and tossed him out a few thousand feet up....still wondering why he today is still even breathing. This is a real monstrous piece of shit, raw sewage who deserves no breathe of air on this planet. Maybe soon his death will come slow and torturous and painful in the form of cancer and I hope it eats him alive....fucking scum POS.
ReplyDeleteso tired of this fake ass traitor who call himself Pablo’s GenerL even though he ran like a little bi... and left the man he called a “God” when they were on the run. Not to mention i doubt the law would have accepted his surrender unless he agreed to cooperate. that ol’ “the search bloc just happened on his location” was BS and this wanskter gave it to them!
ReplyDeleteThat's ridiculous.Pablo stayed on the phone to long with his son on his son bday.it cost him.
DeleteWhy is this guy the only one still around and free without the government putting him away for life for killing a popular presidential candidate you ask? Simple, He’s a SNITCH or did you really think the “Colombia Search Bloc” just happen to stumble onto Pablo’s location like they cliam lol
ReplyDeletethis guy has already had his 15 minutes of fame. Next !
ReplyDeleteThe flipsde to your comment is that the last thing anyone should want in the underworld is too much attention. It draws too many challengers your way. Can’t really be looking like a coiled snake 🐍 everywhere you go. So low profile is always best. - Sol Prendido
ReplyDeleteÓscar Osvaldo García Montoya, for one.
ReplyDeleteEl Cabrón De Tamaulipas
Maybe one day when his short life on this earth is over and the creator of this complex reality asks him how he spent his precious time while on the planet, he can brag about how many people he killed for "Money" and how he's the general of the "Mafia"
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the afterlife popeye.
This dudes a total scum piece of shit and i wish people would stop giving him attention- same as that "ex dea agent" mike vigil who seems to have worked every drug conspiracy case, ever
ReplyDeleteScumbag should get death penalty he just a coward not tough at all.
ReplyDeleteThe colombians have crews in mexico that work for colombian cartels and some work for mexican cartels. Mexicans are all balls no brains look at the news on this blog or any with mexican news.
ReplyDeleteI've seen this guy on tv before. Smug, arrogant narcissist. Zero repentance for anything he's done. Human garbage is a good word! Didn't even read the article.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is the true definition of Attention Whore. How people glorify this POS boggles the mind.
ReplyDeletecuando te toca te toca y cuando no te toca ni aun que te pongas.
ReplyDeleteM”
What an illustrious incredible status for a country to uphold to the world: We are number one, and oir killers are the best and biggest-and evidently it makes you stronger i.e., not weak like Columbia killers. SMH
ReplyDeleteExcept for Chapo, he has no balls or brains just a bass mouth from which the snitching flows.
ReplyDeleteSoo you mean tuht colombians smarter than mexicans? They are a low profile?
ReplyDeleteReally? Seems like chapo is keeping his mouth shut n bein snitched on.by Colombians and Mexicans.n its part of the game in Mexico.they all do it
ReplyDelete6:39 . I am with you . Hard to understand why he is allowed to live . Cant they make any murder cases on him . Shit he walks around bragging about it . Probably exaggerated but still a mass murderer .
ReplyDelete