For years, they have been hunting for the man best known as “Otoniel”. Colombia’s cocaine king has now been captured.
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Since 2012, he has led Colombia’s largest and most powerful drug cartel. Now it’s stop.
More forces than during the hunt for Pablo Escobar were deployed in the search for Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, better known as the drug lord “Otoniel”. The man has for years led the Clan del Golfo cartel (“Golfklanen” in Norwegian).
He is now charged with, among other things, sending cocaine to the United States, killing police officers and recruiting children for the gang activities.
“The arrest of” Otoniel “is a victory for the state and the law over the biggest threat to Colombia, namely drug trafficking, says Minister of Defense Diego Molano according to let the country know.
“This can only be compared to the arrest of Pablo Escobar,” Colombian President Iván Duque said Sunday night, following his arrest. He describes it as the biggest blow of the century against drug trafficking so far.
1 of 3Foto: COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / X80001
“Otoniel” was arrested in rural Antoquia, in the north-west of the country, not far from the border with Panama. One policeman died in the operation, says the president according to the BBC.
According to AFP, Human Rights Watch congratulates Colombia on arresting the cartel boss.
Great organization
The huge cartel Clan del Golfo is said to have around 1,800 armed members who, according to the BBC, are largely recruited from paramilitary groups on the far-right in Colombia.
The drug dynasty is a continuation of the Úsuga cartel, which ended abruptly when “Otoniel’s” brother on New Year’s Day 2012 was shot and killed during a police raid on his New Year’s party.
The cartel engages in illegal gold mining, human trafficking and extortion. But the biggest of the companies is still the drug trade: Clan del Golfo will manage some of the most important smuggling routes from Colombia to the USA and even to Russia.
But “Otoniel” is not the first of the cartel’s leadership to be stopped by the long arm of Colombian law. No later than August, the gang leader’s cousin Alexander Montoya Úsuga was handed over to US authorities.
–The cousin, known by the alias “El Flaco”, was sent north to the United States along with a number of other cartel members.
Even earlier this year, in March, “Otoniel’s” sister was also arrested, according to Reuters.
Thousands chased the boss
For years, Colombian authorities have been trying to crack down on the drug lord. In several large-scale operations, several thousand security forces have contributed to the search for the man. No luck – until now.
In total, bounties of almost six million dollars (50 million kroner) were promised to stop “Otoniel”. The United States had promised a bounty of five million dollars, while Colombia itself offered 800,000 dollars for information leading to his arrest.
In an operation the BBC reported in 2015, 1,200 security constables were involved in the search for the drug lord, but repeatedly came too late to arrest him. In the hunt, they followed the trail of luxury items such as flat screens, satellite TV boxes and perfumes to find out where “Otoniel” had been.
The luxury goods stood out in the reasonably spartan cottages he stayed in in the poor countryside. Due to prolapse, he had also installed with ergonomic comfort mattresses the police forces could easily notice.
Colombian authorities have not yet provided details on what clues this time led to the final arrest of “Otoniel”.
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