Colombia Arrests One Of Pablo Escobar's Top Hitmen 'Popeye'

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bogota, Colombia:  Police in Colombia said Friday they have recaptured one of late drug lord Pablo Escobar's top
hitmen, Jhon Jairo Velasquez -- alias "Popeye" -- who was wanted for extortion.Popeye, 56, who was released from prison in 2014 after 23
years, was already under investigation for allegedly making threats on his Twitter account against Gustavo Petro, leftist candidate in
Sunday's election.But he was arrested for "extortion," a source in the office of the special prosecutor in charge of fighting organized
crime told AFP.Popeye was one of Escobar's chief "sicarios" -- or hitmen -- during the bloodiest period of the Medellin Cartel's reign in
the 1980s.But he parted ways with the Cartel in 1992
Escobar was killed in a rooftop shootout with police in Medellin the following year.Since leaving prison, Popeye has been very active on
social media.A leftist senator, Ivan Cepeda, informed police about the threatening messages sent to Petro and his supporters."We received a
formal complaint in this case" and launched an investigation, said chief prosecutor Nestor Humberto Martinez.Popeye has said that his
Twitter account had been hacked.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published
from a syndicated feed.)