Colombia’s Most-Wanted Drug Kingpin, Otoniel, Captured

Posted by African Examiner Central America, Featured, Latest Headlines Monday, October 25th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Colombia’s most-wanted drug trafficker and the leader of the country’s largest criminal gang has been captured.

Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known as Otoniel, was seized at his jungle hideout by the country’s security forces, Al Jazeera reports.

The Colombian government had offered $800,000 reward for information about his whereabouts, while the United States placed a bounty of $5 million on his head.

President Ivan Duque hailed Mr Otoniel’s capture as a victory, according to Al Jazeera. He likened it to the arrest three decades ago of the notorious Colombian drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar.

“This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” he said. “This hit is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.”

One police officer died during the operation, the president said.

Mr Duque, quoted by AFP news agency, described the operation as “the biggest penetration of the jungle ever seen in the military history of our country.”

He added that Mr Otoniel’s arrest “marks the end of the Gulf Clan,” but Al Jazeera analysts worry the move could result in more violence at a time of worsening clashes between armed groups.

The drug lord was captured in his rural hideout in Antioquia province in north-western Colombia, close to the border with Panama.

BBC reports the operation involved 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters.

Mr Otoniel, 50, had used a network of rural safe houses to move around and evade the authorities, and did not use a phone; instead, relying on couriers for communication, the BBC said.

“But his location at the time of his capture was pinpointed two weeks ago,” it added by quoting El Tiempo newspaper.

Colombia police chief Jorge Vargas said his movements were traced by more than 50 signal intelligence experts using satellite imagery. “The U.S. and UK agencies were involved in the search.”

There have been several huge operations involving thousands of officers to capture the 50-year-old in recent years, but until now none has been successful.

The notorious drug kingpin became the head of the Gulf Clan, previously known as the Usuga Clan, after its previous leader – his brother – was killed by police in a raid on a New Year’s Eve party in 2012.

Since then, Colombia’s security forces labelled the gang as the country’s most powerful criminal organisation, while authorities in the U.S. describe it as “heavily armed [and] extremely violent.”

The gang, BBC said, operates in many provinces and has extensive international connections. It is engaged in drug and people smuggling, illegal gold mining and extortion.

“It is believed to have about 1,800 armed members, who are mainly recruited from far-right paramilitary groups. Members have been arrested in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Peru and Spain.

“The gang controls many of the routes used to smuggle drugs from Colombia to the US, and as far away as Russia.”

The Colombian government, however, believes it has decimated its numbers in recent years, forcing many leading members to hide in remote regions in the jungle.

Mr Otoniel now faces a number of charges, including sending shipments of cocaine to the U.S., killing police officers and recruiting children.