BOGOTA: Colombia has captured its most-wanted drug trafficker “Otoniel”, a major victory for the government of the world’s top cocaine exporter.
Colombia’s armed forces captured Dairo Antonio Usuga, known as Otoniel, in the biggest blow to drug trafficking in the Andean country since the death of Pablo Escobar, President Ivan Duque said.
Otoniel, aged 50, was captured during operation Osiris in a rural area of Colombia’s Uraba region, located in Antioquia province. He is accused of sending dozens of shipments of cocaine to the United States. Duque said he is also accused of killing police officers, recruiting minors, and sexually abusing children among other crimes.
Colombia had offered a reward of up to 3 billion pesos (about $800,000) for information concerning Otoniel’s whereabouts, while the United States government had put up a reward of $5 million for help locating him.
He was indicted in the United States in 2009 and faces extradition proceedings to the country, where he would appear in the Southern District of New York federal court.
“This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” Duque said during a broadcast video message. “This blow is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.”
One police officer died during the operation, Duque said. Otoniel rose to become the leader of the drug trafficking group the Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan, following stints as a left-wing guerrilla and later as a paramilitary.
Clan del Golfo has around 1,200 armed men and is present in 10 of Colombia’s 32 provinces. Apart from drug trafficking, Clan del Golfo is involved in illegal mining. The government also accuses the group of threatening and killing community leaders across the country.
Colombian authorities launched Operation Agamemnon in 2016 as they worked to close in on Otoniel, killing and capturing dozens of his lieutenants, going after his finances, and forcing him to be constantly on the move, according to the police. In 2017 a video in which Otoniel announced his intent to submit to justice was released.
In March, Colombian police and the US Drug Enforcement Agency captured Otoniel’s sister, Nini Johana Usuga, who was extradited to the United States to face charges connected to drug trafficking and money laundering. Operation Osiris involved more than 500 members of Colombia’s special forces and 22 helicopters, according to Defense Minister Diego Molano.
He took over the leadership of the Gulf Clan — previously known as the Usuga Clan — from his brother Juan de Dios, who was killed by police in 2012. Born to a poor family, Otoniel joined the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), a Marxist guerrilla group that demobilized in 1991.
After laying down his arms, he later returned to fighting, joining far-right paramilitary groups. Many of these were demobilised in 2006 but Otoniel decided to remain in the fight. Colombia is the world’s top provider of cocaine, with the United States as its principal market, despite half a century of trying to clamp down on the drug trade.
