3 years ago
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Colombia’s astir wanted cause lord, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, wide known by his alias Otoniel, has been captured by equipped forces successful his jungle hideout.
Úsuga, 50, a erstwhile left-wing guerrilla and aboriginal a paramilitary fighter, is the alleged person of the notorious cause trafficking radical Clan del Golfo, oregon Gulf Clan, which dominates large cocaine smuggling routes done heavy jungles successful the country’s restive north.
President Iván Duque likened his apprehension Saturday to the seizure of Pablo Escobar 3 decades ago. The billionaire cause baron, known arsenic “the Godfather,” once sat connected apical of the cause satellite with tentacles reaching astir the globe.
“Otoniel was the astir feared cause trafficker successful the world, slayer of police, of soldiers, of societal leaders, and recruiter of children,” Duque said during a broadcast video message. “This stroke is lone comparable to the autumn of Pablo Escobar successful the 1990s.”
Úsuga is accused of sending dozens of shipments of cocaine to the United States. He is besides accused of sidesplitting constabulary officers, recruiting minors and sexually abusing children, among different crimes, Duque said. The U.S. authorities had enactment up a reward of $5 cardinal for assistance locating him.
“Otoniel’s seizure is genuinely important,” said Daniel Mejía, a Colombian assemblage professor and adept connected narco-trafficking. “He was the caput of the astir almighty narco-trafficking operation successful Colombia, the Gulf Clan, which holds domain of a wide portion of the territory.”
Analysts are informing of possible convulsive repercussions and interior powerfulness struggles arsenic others jostle to instrumentality Úsuga’s place.
Still, his apprehension is improbable to alteration the fundamentals of cause trafficking successful Colombia, which experts accidental is overmuch much fragmented present than successful the days erstwhile Escobar dominated the trade. Escobar revolutionized cocaine trafficking successful the 1970s and 1980s, pioneering large-scale shipments archetypal to the United States, past to Europe.
“This is not going to determination the needle successful presumption of the warfare connected drugs. … What happens adjacent is antithetic pieces of the puzzle aligning to capable the vacuum of powerfulness near by Otoniel,” said Sergio Guzmán, manager of the consulting steadfast Colombia Risk Analysis. “Soon we’ll person different kingpin and different cause lord who whitethorn beryllium overmuch worse.”
In its reward notice, the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said Úsuga’s transgression web utilized unit and intimidation to power narcotics trafficking routes, cocaine processing laboratories, speedboat departure points and clandestine landing strips. He acceptable up operations successful the strategical Gulf of Uraba portion successful bluish Colombia, a large cause corridor surrounded by the Pacific Ocean connected 1 broadside and the Caribbean oversea connected the other.
Úsuga evaded seizure for years by moving betwixt harmless locations successful the distant jungle region. Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas, manager of Colombia’s nationalist police, said Saturday that Úsuga slept successful unsmooth conditions, hardly ever spending clip successful homes, and dined connected his favourite jungle animals. Years of quality work, with assistance from the United States and United Kingdom, yet led Colombian peculiar forces soldiers to his jungle hideout, Vargas said. He moved astir with 8 rings of bodyguards.
Úsuga’s apprehension is simply a triumph for the blimpish President Duque, whose law-and-order rhetoric has been nary lucifer for soaring accumulation of cocaine. Duque said Saturday that determination are extradition orders against Úsuga, and authorities volition enactment to transportation retired those orders portion “learning each of the information astir the remainder of his crimes successful our country.”
Úsuga was indicted successful Manhattan national tribunal successful 2009 connected narcotics import charges and for allegedly providing assistance to a far-right paramilitary radical designated a violent enactment by the U.S. government. Later indictments successful Brooklyn and Florida accused him of planetary cocaine organisation dating backmost arsenic acold arsenic 2002, conspiracy to execution rival cause traffickers and drug-related firearms offenses.
Pannett reported from Sydney, Durán reported from Bogotá, Colombia, and Schmidt reported from Meta, Colombia.
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