The biggest drug trafficker in Colombia, “Otoniel”, leader of the Gulf Clan cartel, pleaded not guilty this Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn to the charges of international cocaine trafficking which weigh on him, after his extradition to the United States.
Dairo Antonio Usuga David, alias Otoniel, 50, was notably charged with directing a criminal enterprise between June 2003 and October 2021 and with international association of criminals with a view to manufacturing and distributing cocaine with the intention of illegally exporting to the United States, Brooklyn federal prosecutor Breon Peace said earlier.
He appeared before Federal Judge Vera M. Scalon handcuffed and dressed in an orange jumpsuit like inmates wear in US prisons. The judge decided to remand him in custody and the next hearing was set for June 2.
One of the world’s most dangerous and wanted drug kingpins
During a press conference which took place shortly before the hearing, the prosecutor spoke of “one of the most dangerous and most wanted drug kingpins in the world”. “He oversaw an army of minions who murdered, kidnapped and tortured victims, including members of Colombia’s law enforcement and military,” Breon Peace added.
The United States accuses Dario Antonio Usuga and the Gulf Clan of having illegally introduced several tens of tons of cocaine. He was Colombia’s most wanted person until he was arrested last October in the northwest of the country after a massive military operation.
Organization of 1,600 men
Coming from a peasant family in the northwest of Colombia, Dairo Antonio Usuga was a far-left guerrilla, then a far-right paramilitary before becoming the head of a strong drug trafficking organization. about 1,600 men, who exported an average of nearly 300 tonnes of cocaine each year to around 30 countries, according to the authorities.
He succeeded at the head of the Clan del Golfo to his brother, Juan de Dios known as “Giovanni”, killed by the police in 2012.
In five decades of a US-backed war on drugs, Colombia has killed or captured several drug lords, including Pablo Escobar, shot dead by law enforcement in 1993.
But the country remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine and the United States the main market, while violence linked to trafficking continues.