Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez months later. John Jairo Velásquez ("Popeye"), one of the main paid killers of Pablo Escobar Gaviria, argued in an interview that Jorge Luis Ochoa Vázquez was actually the boss of Pablo Escobar Gaviria. On April 30, 1984, Colombian Minister of Justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, who had crusaded against the Medellín Cartel, was assassinated by a gang of motorcycle thugs. President Belisario Betancur who had previously opposed extradition of drug traffickers to the United States, announces "We will extradite Colombians." Carlos Lehder was the first to be put on the list. The crackdown forced Jorge Ochoa, Escobar and Rodriguez Gacha to
Right-wing paramilitarism in Colombia the Calí Cartel, dissidents within the Medellín Cartel, and the MAS worked together to create a new paramilitary organization known as "Perseguidos Por Pablo Escobar" ("People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar", PEPES) with the purpose of tracking down and killing Pablo Escobar and his associates. The organization was led by Fidel Castaño. The Calí Cartel provided $50 million to pay for weapons, informants, and assassins, with the hopes that they could wipe out their primary rival in the cocaine business. Members of both Colombian and U.S. government agencies (including the DEA, CIA and State Department) provided intelligence to the PEPES. Pablo