John Jairo Arias Tascón
John Jairo Arias Tascón (1961 – 13 June 1990), known as Pinina, was a member of the Medellín Cartel. He obtained power in the cartel's military wing and was accused of hundreds of murders. He was considered to be ranked fifth within the cartel structure. He was a hit man, the boss of hit men and leader of a criminal group at the disposal of the Cartel, known as Los Priscos. His high-pitched voice caused him to be nicknamed "Pinina", after the character of the same name played by child actress Andrea del Boca in  the 1974 Argentine film "Papá corazón se quiere casar". He was tall. Few photos of him are available. Career. As a child, Arias lived in the Medellin commune, in the barrio (neighborhood) Lovaina. He was born to a poor family. He became a thief at twelve, then joined a gang and finally became a hit man at age 15. One story holds that one day he went to a park near San Pedro cemetery, where he stole a music player from a car that belonged to Pablo Escobar. One of Pablo's men started asking around and found that Arias  had broken into the car. He informed Pablo Escobar of the feat. Escobar then asked Pinina to be a member of the cartel. Arias had a vast knowledge of the people in the commune, which allowed him to recruit members for murder-for-hire. The first assassination ordered by the Medellín Cartel, i.e., the assassination of Rodrigo Lara, was delegated to him. He then hired Byron de Jesús Velásquez, Iván Darío Guizao Álvarez and others to commit the assassination in 1984. Pinina participated in almost every criminal act ordered by the cartel: the assassinations of Lara and El Espectador director  Guillermo Cano Isaza in 1986, the bombing of the El Espectador building in 1989, the assassination of Police Colonel Jaime Ramírez Gómez in 1986, the kidnap and murder of Carlos Mauro Hoyos in 1988, the murder of the Antioquia governor Antonio Roldán Betancur in 1989, the assassination of the Police Colonel Valdemar Franklin Quintero in 1989, cooperation with the arrangement of the DAS Building bombing in 1989 (leaving 52 dead and at least 600 wounded), involvement in the bombing of an Avianca airplane on 27 November 1989 (110 people killed), participation in the killing of many police officers as well  as the assassination of the magistrate of Colombian Supreme Court Hernando Baquero Borda in 1986, participation in the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán in 1989 and the war between the Medellin Cartel and the Cali Cartel along with other criminal acts such as car bombings. Death. Arias died on 13 June 1990, when the Colombian police raided his apartment in the neighborhood, El Poblado of Medellín. He tried to escape through a window on the third floor, but fell, injuring his ankle, head and right arm. He was able to stand up and tried to walk to his  car, but upon encountering the police, he retreated into the apartment building. On the first floor he engaged in a fight with police officers and was eventually killed. He was 29 years old at the time of his death. After his death, the Medellín Cartel started to fall apart. In retaliation, Escobar ordered his men to drive a car-bomb into the police station of El Poblado, causing severe damage. His body was buried in cemetery in Medellín. Media. In 2012, Caracol Televisión premiered the series "Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord", inspired by the life of the cartel chief. In  it, the character of John Jairo Arias was portrayed as the character Jeison (Jason) Taborda using the alias "El Chili". In 2013, RCN Televisión premiered the series "Tres Caínes" (produced by RTI Producciones), where is mentioned under the alias "Pepino". In 2016, Netflix series "Narcos" used Pinina as the inspiration for Pablo Escobar's sicario lieutenant Poison in the award-winning series. The character was played by well known Mexican actor Jorge A. Jimenez. In the series "Bloque de búsqueda", produced by Teleset for Sony Pictures Television, broadcast in 2016 and inspired by the police force that disbanded the Medellín  Cartel, his character was performed by the actor Sebastián Boscán, under the alias "Pinocho".