Dario Antonio Úsuga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Úsuga and the second or maternal family name is David.
Dairo Antonio Úsuga David
Dario-Antonio-Usuga-David-1.webp
Born (1971-09-15) September 15, 1971 (age 50)
Necoclí
Other namesOtoniel
CitizenshipColombia
Occupationdrug trafficker
Reward amount
$5,000,000
Capture status
captured

Dairo Antonio Úsuga David (born September 15, 1971[1]) is a Colombian drug trafficker. Úsuga is the leader of the drug trafficking group the Gulf Clan (Spanish: Los Urabeños), and is known by his nickname Otoniel.[2][3][4] He is accused of sending dozens of shipments of cocaine to the United States, killing police officers, recruiting minors, and sexually abusing children among other crimes.[5] After being sought by Colombian authorities for a decade, he was captured and arrested in October 2021. At the time of his capture, 132 warrants for his arrest had been issued.[6]

Early affiliations[]

Úsuga was a member of the Popular Liberation Army, a communist guerilla group, until it disbanded in 1991.[7] He then joined the United Self-Defences of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC), a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group.[7]

In 2005 Úsuga began working for Daniel Rendón Herrera, the then leader of the Los Urabeños drug trafficking group.[8] Úsuga and his brother Giovanni, (Juan de Dios Usuga) took control of the Los Urabeños in 2009.[7] After Giovanni was shot and killed during a police raid, Dario Antonio took full leadership of the group.[7]

Search[]

Colombian police have sought the arrest of Úsuga since around 2011.[6] In 2015, the BBC reported that 1,200 Colombian anti-drug police were involved in the search for Úsuga.[9] The same year a Colombian police helicopter searching for Úsuga crashed, killing 18.[10] In 2017 the US Department of State offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.[3][1] Also in 2017, Colombian anti-trafficking police dropped flyers from helicopters offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.[11] In 2017 Úsuga published a video on Facebook in which he offered to submit to a negotiated surrender.[12][13]

In early 2021 Colombian authorities intensified their search efforts for Úsuga, following heightened levels of cocaine production.[6]

Capture[]

Early in October 2021, Colombian intelligence officials identified Úsuga's likely hideout as being in the Urabá, Antioquia region of north-western Colombia, near the Panamanian border.[6][14][15] The detection of his location was facilitated by the tracking of cartel members who were bringing him a specific type of medication to treat his kidney disease.[6] Early on the morning of October 22, a military team codenamed El Blanco surrounded his believed hiding place with hundreds of troops, 20 helicopters, 10 unmanned surveillance drones.[6] The capture involved blocking rivers and roads that could have been used as escape routes.[6] Colombian Navy ships were stationed offshore to prevent any escape by sea.[6] Colombian military forces subsequently captured Úsuga, who was revealed to be hiding in a remote mountainous area.[14][15] Úsuga was captured the afternoon of October 23,[6] and at the time of his arrest, Úsuga was the most wanted drug lord in Colombia, with the Colombian government issuing an $800,000 bounty for his capture.[16] He was also revealed to still be involved in trafficking, though his cartel by this point was severely weakened.[17]

Colombia plans to extradite "Otoniel" to the United States where he is wanted on a number of charges.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Dario Antonio Usuga David (Captured)". United States Department of State.
  2. ^ Comolli, Virginia; et al. (25 May 2020). Armed Conflict Survey 2020. Routledge for The International Institute for Strategic Studies. ISBN 978-1-000-19224-7.
  3. ^ a b "Colombia seizes 11 tonnes of cocaine, its biggest haul ever". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Miembro de la banda 'Los Úsuga' amenazó a la Policía cuando era capturado" (in Spanish). notimérica. Europa Press. 8 September 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021.
  5. ^ Griffin, Oliver; Bocanegra, Nelson; Acosta, Luis Jaime (23 October 2021). "Colombia nabs Otoniel, drug kingpin and gang leader -government". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Colombia's president hails capture of cartel boss Dairo Antonio Úsuga". the Guardian. 24 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d University, © Stanford; Complaints, California 94305 Copyright. "MMP: Bandas Criminales". cisac.fsi.stanford.edu.
  8. ^ "Colombian drug lord Otoniel to be extradited to US". news.yahoo.com.
  9. ^ "Colombia's hunt for elusive drug lord Otoniel". BBC News. 24 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Colombia: 16 policías murieron en accidente en helicóptero". laprensa.peru.com (in Spanish). 4 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Colombian police drop reward leaflets for drug lord". apnews.com.
  12. ^ "Colombia to extradite Otoniel to the US as soon as possible". www.aljazeera.com.
  13. ^ "Colombia's Gulf Clan says it is ready to surrender". BBC News. 6 September 2017.
  14. ^ a b Levenson, Michael; Villamil, Sofía (24 October 2021). "Colombia Announces Capture of Leader of Major Drug Cartel". The New York Times.
  15. ^ a b "Colombia's most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured". bbc.com. BBC News. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Colombia's most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured". BBC News. October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  17. ^ "Colombia authorities capture country's most wanted drug trafficker". Leader Telegram. October 23, 2021. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Colombia prepares to extradite drug lord 'Otoniel' to US". France 24. 25 October 2021.
Retrieved from ""