Colombia’s President Iván Duque Márquez confirmed the seize of Dairo Antonio Usuga, often known as “Otoniel,” in a televised nationwide tackle Saturday.
“This coup is barely similar to the autumn of Pablo Escobar within the 90s,” Duque mentioned, referring to the Colombian drug lord
who died in 1993 after constructing a multibillion-dollar empire dealing cocaine.
“Otoniel was probably the most feared drug trafficker on the earth, a assassin of policemen, troopers, social leaders, and a recruiter of minors,” he mentioned.
Otoniel, 50, was seized by Colombian authorities throughout an operation in a rural space of Colombia’s Uraba area, situated in Antioquia province, Reuters
reported. One police officer died through the operation, in line with the report.
Otoniel was the chief of the ‘Clan del Golfo’ drug cartel, which the US State Division
describes as “closely armed and intensely violent.” He turned the chief following stints as a left-wing guerrilla and a paramilitary, in line with Reuters.
The cartel is comprised of former members of terrorist organizations, in line with the State Division, and makes use of violence and intimidation to regulate narcotics trafficking routes, cocaine processing laboratories, speedboat departure factors and clandestine touchdown strips.
Otoniel was indicted by the Southern District of New York in 2009. The State Division supplied as much as $5 million for data resulting in his arrest or conviction, whereas Colombia
offered a reward of as much as 3 billion Colombian pesos (about $800,000) for data on his whereabouts, Reuters reported.
Duque ended his televised speech Saturday with a message for different drug traffickers, saying: “To all criminals and narco traffickers: both you give up, or we are going to come and get you.”
Extra reporting from Reuters.
