October 24, 2021
06:31
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Colombian authorities have managed to capture Dairo Antonio Usuga, known as Otoniel – leader of the Gulf Clan and the most wanted drug trafficker in the country, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Otoniel was captured on Saturday in an operation carried out by the Colombian armed forces, army and police sources confirmed.
The Colombian government has announced a reward of 3 billion pesos (about $ 800,000) for information on Ottoniel’s whereabouts, and the United States has offered $ 5 million to help find him.
After a stay with left-wing guerrillas and a brief career in paramilitary groups, the 50-year-old Usuga rose to the leadership of the Gulf Clan, one of Colombia’s drug cartels. The cartel has about 1,200 armed men, mostly former members of far-right paramilitary groups, and has a presence in 10 of Colombia’s 32 provinces.
In 2016, Colombian authorities launched Operation Agamemnon, in which they killed and captured dozens of Otoniel’s aides and began searching for his assets, as a result of which he was forced to be constantly on the move, police said.
In a video in 2017, Otoniel announced his intention to surrender to justice, but this did not happen.
In March, Colombian police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested Ottoniel’s sister, who had been extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug and money laundering charges.
According to the authorities, in addition to drug trafficking, the Gulf Clan is also involved in the illegal extraction of minerals. The Colombian government has accused the cartel of threatening and assassinating community leaders across the country.
