( CNN ) -- John Jairo Velasquez -- the top hit man for notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar in the '80s , known in Colombia as the `` narcoterrorism era '' -- is a free man for the first time in 22 years . The 52-year-old Velasquez , also known as `` Popeye , '' was released Tuesday night from a maximum-security prison in the Colombian province of Boyaca , northeast of Bogota , the capital . He left the prison under heavy police protection . Velasquez surrendered to authorities in 1992 , telling a reporter at the time , `` I do n't owe anything to anybody . I have n't done anything wrong . '' But in jailhouse interviews , he admitted several times to killing about 300 people , including soldiers , police officers , rival cartel members and civilians . He also confessed to masterminding the killings of more than 3,000 other people , most of them civilians . Some of his victims died in car bombings in cities across Colombia including Bogota ; Medellin , his cartel 's home base ; and Cali . Velasquez was also responsible for a number of high-profile kidnappings , among them that of Attorney General Carlos Mauro Hoyos in January 1988 . Velasquez confessed that he killed Hoyos in captivity . Also in January 1988 , Velasquez kidnapped Bogota mayoral candidate Andres Pastrana . Pastrana survived the ordeal and went on to become the 57th president of Colombia , serving from 1998 to 2002 . The victim and his kidnapper met again in 2012 . Still in prison , Velasquez apologized to Pastrana and his family . `` I ask you for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart , '' he told Pastrana , `` for what the Medellin cartel did , for risking your very important life . '' He also told Pastrana he dismembered some of his victims , something he says he deeply regrets as a man who 's turned his life to God . Velasquez spent 22 years in prison , three-quarters of his sentence for the murder of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan in 1989 , the only murder for which he was convicted . The victim 's family has forgiven him . `` He was sentenced for my father 's murder , '' said Juan Manuel Galan , the victim 's son and a liberal senator . `` He gave us the truth and asked for forgiveness . In my case , I forgive him . '' Velasquez told local media that he fears for his life as a free man and that there 's an 80 % chance that his many enemies will kill him , especially those members of the Medellin cartel whose names and crimes he disclosed to authorities . Relatives of many of his victims angrily protested Velasquez 's release , saying that 22 years in prison was not punishment enough for the countless atrocities he committed during the narcoterrorism era and cocaine turf wars of the '80s and '90s . But Colombian Sen. Armando Benedetti said that Velasquez was being freed for good conduct , as any other prisoner would , and that his release complied with the law . `` The debate about his release has to center on the fact that in Colombia , we respect the rule of law , and we abide by the constitution , even in those cases where we are in disagreement with the consequences of some decisions , '' Benedetti said . Medellin reborn : Colombian city moves out of Escobar shadow . Why some travelers seek out the world 's most dangerous locales .
John Jairo Velasquez was the top hit man for Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in the ' 80s . He says he killed about 300 people , masterminded about 3,000 other deaths . Velasquez served 10 years in prison for the assassination of presidential candidate . Some victims ' relatives demanded his release , but others have forgiven him .