crime
Colombia’s most wanted drug lord extradited to US
Dario Antonio Úsuga (M), also known as “Otoniel”, at a military airport in Colombia’s capital Bogota before his extradition to the United States. Photo: Uncredited/Press Office of the Colombian President via AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder: the list of allegations against Dario Antonio Úsuga is long. Colombia has now extradited the top boss of the drug cartel “Clan del Golfo” to the United States.
Around six months after his arrest, Colombia’s most wanted drug lord and top boss of the Colombian drug cartel “Clan del Golfo” (Golf Clan), Dario Antonio Úsuga aka Otoniel, has been extradited to the United States.
This was announced by Colombian President Ivan Duque. “Today legality, the rule of law, public authority and justice triumph,” Duque wrote on Twitter. Otoniel is “only comparable to Pablo Escobar”.
According to Duque, Otoniel was arrested in his jungle hideout in the Urabá region in the northwest of the South American country at the end of October and taken to the capital, Bogotá. Since then he has been in custody.
In addition to drug trafficking, the 50-year-old is also accused of murder, extortion, kidnapping, conspiracy and the recruitment of minors. He has been charged with drug trafficking by the Southern District of New York and is on the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s Most Wanted List. “Once he has served these sentences, he will return to Colombia to pay for the crimes he committed in our country,” Duque said in a video.
The “Clan del Golfo”, which mainly recruits its members from former right-wing paramilitaries, is considered to be one of the most powerful drug organizations in Colombia, responsible for smuggling tons of cocaine into Central and North America. He is also involved in illegal mining and racketeering and is responsible for numerous murders and expulsions.