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The leader of the Colombian del Golfo gang, “Otoniel”, extradited to the United States in May 2022, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to international cocaine trafficking in court in New York. He faces life in prison.
At the end of the hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias Otoniel, 51, read a statement in which he admitted to having smuggled more than 96 tons of cocaine into the United States via America Central and Mexico.
After acknowledging that, as part of “military work, murders were committed” by his organization, he also claimed that the clan “provided security for laboratories and drug traffickers and collected taxes” for cocaine passing through. by the territories under their control.
“When convicted, Usuga David will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to life in prison. As part of the plea bargain, he also accepted a $216 million forfeiture judgment,” the Brooklyn federal prosecutor said.
Wave of murders
Otoniel reigned from 2012 to 2021 at the head of the organization, formed by remnants of far-right paramilitary groups and which numbered up to 6,000 men. He pleaded guilty to directing a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, and maritime conspiracy to traffic in drugs, a charge contained in proceedings in federal court in Florida.
His extradition in May 2022, seven months after his arrest in Colombia, was followed by a bloody campaign of assassinations against police officers in his country. But after the election as head of Colombia of leftist President Gustavo Petro, in favor of negotiations with several armed groups, Otoniel had asked his gang in August 2022 to put an end to this wave of murders.
According to the DEA, the US anti-drug agency, the Gulf Cartel collaborated with the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels to smuggle drugs into the United States. 90% of the drugs that hit the US market come from Colombia and are often laced with fentanyl, a powerful and deadly substance added by Mexican cartels.
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