(Carepa) The Colombian government announced on Sunday that it was preparing the extradition to the United States of “Otoniel”, leader of the most powerful gang of drug traffickers in the country, captured the day before during an operation in the northwest from the country.
“Against ‘Otoniel’, there is an extradition warrant [vers les États-Unis] […] which is still in progress ”, declared the Minister of Defense Diego Molano, in an interview with the newspaper El Tiempo.
Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias “Otoniel”, 50 years old and leader of the Clan del Golfo was arrested during a military and police operation in the jungles of northwestern Colombia, an action in which some 700 men took part supported by 18 helicopters.
The United States and Colombia have offered rewards of more than $ 5 million for information leading to his arrest. The United States had offered a reward of $ 5 million for his capture.
“It is the biggest blow of this century to the drug trade, but we are not going to stop there,” said President Ivan Duque during a tribute to a policeman who died in the operation against ” Otoniel ”.
The government accuses other armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last active guerrilla in the country, and the dissidents of the FARC guerrillas, which laid down their arms after the 2016 peace process, of finance themselves with revenues from drug trafficking and illegal mining.
In five decades of the war on drugs backed by the United States, Colombia has killed or captured several drug lords, including Pablo Escobar, shot dead by law enforcement in 1993. However, the country remains the leading producer. world cocaine and the United States, the largest buyer.