[citation needed] He joined the Colombian National Army; later he was in the cadet school of the national police, only to leave days later joining the school of apprentices of the Colombian Navy where he earned the nickname "Popeye" because of his physical resemblance to the character.

[4] Velásquez entered the School of NCOs of the Colombian Navy, eventually transferring to the General Santander National Police Academy where he spent one semester there.

He confessed to 257 killings, the kidnapping of then-candidate for mayor of Bogotá, Andrés Pastrana Arango (who would later become the President of the Republic), the kidnapping of Francisco Santos (who would later become vice president), the kidnapping and murder of Colombian politician Carlos Mauro Hoyos, complicity in the murder of the governor of Antioquia, Antonio Roldán Betancur, in a failed mission entrusted to Velásquez and John Jairo Arias Tascón, alias "Pinina", to kill a police colonel, and the killing of politician and Presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento.

[8] From 1992 until 2014, Velásquez served a prison sentence on charges of terrorism, drug trafficking, extortion, conspiracy for terrorist purposes and murder.

[9] He had received a sentence of thirty years, the maximum provided for under Colombian penal law.

[11] Velásquez was once in a relationship with Wendy Chavarriaga Gil, a former lover of his boss Pablo Escobar.

[13] In the video, Velásquez proudly states, "Hello, warriors, I'm here in the streets of my beloved Medellín, testing out my beautiful 9mm Pietro Beretta.

"[14] In December 2016, two men on motorbikes pulled up alongside him as he was driving in his car and robbed him of his glasses, two old bracelets and an old mobile phone, he said.

Then in 2017 Netflix released a drama series called Surviving Escobar, which is based on the book[17] written by Velásquez.