(Bogota) Colombian justice on Wednesday validated the extradition to the United States of the powerful drug baron Otoniel, which must still be approved by the government.
Posted yesterday at 8:05 p.m.
“The Supreme Court of Justice has issued a favorable opinion on the extradition of the leader of the Clan del Golfo, Dairo Usuga, alias Otoniel, to the United States for drug trafficking,” the court announced in a tweet.
It now lacks the final approval of the government of conservative President Ivan Duque for the surrender to American justice that he indicted in 2009 for drug trafficking.
The Head of State has already made known his intention to quickly extradite Otoniel, detained in a prison in Bogota. In particular, he asked the Supreme Court to “show the greatest speed in this procedure”.
Colombia’s most wanted drug trafficker, the 50-year-old former head of the Clan del Golfo, was arrested on October 23 in the northwest of the country, during a vast military operation.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward.
Colombian justice, it accuses in particular the drug trafficker of homicides, terrorism, forced recruitment of minors and kidnappings. The Supreme Court indicated that it reserves the right to prosecute Otoniel in the future “for crimes committed in the country and whose proceedings are continuing before the Colombian courts”.
The fall of “Otoniel” represents the main success of the government of the conservative president in the fight against organized crime.
In five decades of US-backed war on drugs, Colombia has killed or captured several drug lords, including Pablo Escobar, who was shot dead by law enforcement in 1993. However, the country remains the top producer of cocaine and the United States, the largest buyer.