- Colombia’s most wanted drug lord and top drug cartel boss, Dario Antonio Úsuga aka Otoniel, was extradited to the United States on Thursday.
- Otoniel was found hiding in the jungle at the end of October 2021. He is considered the head of the drug cartel “Clan del Golfo”.
“Today, legality, the rule of law, public authority and justice triumph,” wrote Colombian President Ivan Duque on Twitter on the occasion of the drug lord’s extradition to the United States. Otoniel is “only comparable to Pablo Escobar”.
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.
organized cocaine smuggling
“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.