Pablo Escobar's Ex-Hitman Now a Church Pastor in Spain
Luis Carlos Aguilar Gallego was known as the "most lethal murderer" in the country when he was working for the notorious Pablo Escobar as his hitman.
Gallego, AKA The Dirty, was working in the Medellin Cartel during the narco wars of the 1980s and 1990s.
Police linked him to the death of 110 people during the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 in November 1989. He was also said to have attacked the Administrative Department of Security in Bogota.
Luis Gallego escaped after Escobar was shot and killed in 1993 when he attempted to flee his hideout along with several of his men.
Gallego is still under investigation in Colombia for crimes he committed while working in the Medellin Cartel.
Sources confirmed he lived in Argentina for quite some time after he escaped. It is also believed he returned to his native Colombia on two separate occasions.
Jhon Velasquez "Popeye"
John Jairo Velasquez Vasquez, who was working as Pablo Escobar's hitman under the alias Popeye, described Gallego as a "non-drinker." He also said Luis was the "son of a murdered father and brother of a missing man."
Popeye recently died of cancer, while The Dirty now serves in a church in Spain.
Who Was Pablo Escobar?
Escobar was once ranked as one of Forbes Magazine's 10 Wealthiest People in the World.
Escobar, born Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, was a Colombian drug trafficker who controlled almost 80 percent of all cocaine shipped to the United States.
He was born in Rionego, Antioquia on December 1, 1949. He was the child to a peasant farmer and a schoolteacher.
Escobar reportedly stole tombstones and sold fake diplomas at an early age. He also stole vehicles before moving into the smuggling business. His prominence shown when he played a high-profile role during the Marlboro Wars.
Escobar married his 15-year-old wife Maria Victoria Henao in 1976. The couple had two children together: Juan Pablo, their son, and Manuela, their daughter.
Juan Pablo changed his name to Sebastian Marroquin who now works as a motivational speaker. He published a book titled Pablo Escobar: My Father in 2015 where he asserts that his father's death was a suicide.
Escobar collaborated with other criminals to form the infamous Medellin Cartel in the early 1970s.
It is believed he killed drug trafficker Fabio Restrepo in 1975 in order to seize control over the cocaine trade. Under his leadership, he expanded Restrepo's operation.
Escobar was estimated to be worth at least $30 billion by the mid-1980s. He had even purchased a Learjet for the sole purpose of flying his money.
The Medellin Cartel made as much as $420 million a week smuggling more than 15 tons of cocaine into the US each day.
He was initially well-liked by the public for his philanthropic projects sponsoring charities and soccer clubs. However, public opinion turned against him when his terror campaigns resulted in the murder of thousands.
Escobar was responsible for thousands of deaths, including civilians, politicians, civil servants, and journalists.
His terror campaign killed more than 1,000 police officers, three presidential candidates, an attorney general, and judges. He was also said to be the mastermind in the bombing of a Colombian jetliner that killed more than 100 people.
He was killed by Colombian police in 1993 in a neighborhood in Medellin. He may be known as one of the most violent criminals of all time, but 25,00 people still turned out for his burial.
"He built houses and cared about the poor," one funeral-goer told The New York Times. "In the future, people will go to his tomb to pray, the way they would to a saint."
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