[imagesource: Reuters]
Dairo Antonio Usuga David, also known as ‘Otoniel’, is Colombia’s most-wanted drug trafficker.
Sorry, was, because he’s now been detained by local security forces after escaping arrest for more than a decade.
Colombian President Ivan Duque could hardly contain his excitement, saying on Saturday that the arrest is the biggest blow to drug trafficking in the country since the death of Pablo Escobar.
Marca reports that he was arrested as part of ‘Operation Osiris’, with the Colombian government and US government offering a combined reward of $5,8 million for information leading to his arrest.
Colombia’s chief of police, General Jorge Vargas, said information leading to Otoniel’s capture came from Clan del Golfo (Gulf Clan) members who had betrayed him.
Sounds like they better have an ironclad witness protection programme.
He had been under siege from the army and police for months in the region of Uraba, where he was finally captured.
Duque has labelled him ‘the most feared drug trafficker in the world’ and also a ‘murderer of police, soldiers and social leaders and a recruiter of children’.
The Daily Mail says that Otoniel was arrested by a military force of more than 500 soldiers, which “descended on his jungle hideout”.
He was presented to the media on Saturday wearing handcuffs and surrounded by armed soldiers:
Otoniel headed the ruthless Gulf Clan, which concentrated its efforts on northern Colombia, gaining control of major smuggling routes which ended in the US.
The Gulf Clan has around 1,200 armed men – the majority former members of far-right paramilitary groups – and is present in 10 of Colombia’s 32 provinces.
As well as drug trafficking, the clan is involved with illegal mining according to authorities, and stands accuses of threatening and killing community leaders across the country.
President Duque said he believed the arrest would deal a crippling blow to the Gulf Clan, but others disagree.
Colombia Risk Analysis director Sergio Guzman said somebody would be waiting in the wings to take over, and the cartel’s operations would likely continue as normal.
It’s believed that he moved to a different safe house each night, usually in rural areas, in order to evade capture.
When forces captured him, he allegedly said “you beat me” and appeared to smile for the cameras as his captors snapped photos:
Following the arrest, Otoniel has been transported to Bogota to await trial.
Will we see another one of those crazy prison break attempts, as we did with El Chapo?
