One of Colombia's most notorious hired killers has been released from prison after serving 22 years of a 30-year sentence.

John Jairo Velasquez, nicknamed Popeye, was the top hit man of late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.

He confessed to killing 300 people and also claimed a hand in up to 3,000 killings in the 1980s and 1990s.

But he also gave evidence against an ex-justice minister convicted of ordering the killing of a rival.

Velasquez, 52, walked free from the Combita high-security prison on Tuesday to start a probation period of four years.

He left under heavy police escort, a sign of the risks he believes he will face outside jail.

Bakudaily.Az