An ex-drug dealer from Colombia has admitted to being in charge of a massive network of illegal enterprises and cocaine smuggling, including the notorious paramilitary Clan del Golfo or Gulf Clan cartel.
On Wednesday, Dairo Antonio Usuga David, also known as Otoniel, entered a guilty plea to charges of directing a continuing criminal enterprise and distributing drugs in front of a federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
He testified in court, “Tons of cocaine were transferred with my permission or at my command.”
He continued, “There was a lot of bloodshed with the rebels and the gangs,” admitting that “homicides were perpetrated in military work.”
After escaping detection for years, Otoniel, who was previously among the most wanted drug traffickers in the world, was finally apprehended by Colombian authorities in October 2021. May 2022 saw his extradition to the US.
The Gulf Clan used violent force to seize control of the main cocaine smuggling routes, bringing violence and exploitation to regions of northern Colombia.
Otoniel is facing a minimum term of 20 years in prison after being charged with smuggling “outrageous” amounts of cocaine into the US, according to the prosecution. US prosecutors agreed they would not seek a life sentence in his case as part of an extradition agreement with Colombia. There is no set time for sentence.
To fight against Colombian law enforcement, paramilitary organizations, and rival gangs, the Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces, has enrolled thousands of members.
Otoniel acknowledged that the organization levied “taxes” on the cocaine that other organizations produced, stored, or moved across its area. He is accused of ordering the murder and torture of those he considered to be adversaries.
According to Brooklyn US Attorney Breon Peace, “with today’s guilty plea, the brutal reign of the most major and violent Colombian drug trafficker since Pablo Escobar is over.”
Paul Nalven, Usuga’s defense attorney, claimed that his client was “extremely sorry” for his part in the “chain of violence” Usuga only completed the fourth grade, according to Nalven, and at the age of 16 he was sucked into “guerrilla” fighting in Colombia.
Millions of Colombians have been affected by a legacy of bloodshed brought on by drug trafficking over the years, and authorities have taken severe measures to pursue criminal organizations like the Gulf Clan.
However, the militarized strategy has had conflicting outcomes and has contributed to claims that the government has violated human rights.
Colombia’s Truth Commission claimed that government drug policies had prolonged the violence in a study outlining the nation’s nearly six-decade-long civil war. In the fight between government forces, paramilitary groups, cartels, and left-wing rebel groups, more than 450,000 people have died.
In order to fight left-wing insurgents and drug cartels, the US poured money and military support into Colombia under a policy known as Plan Colombia, which was introduced in 2000.
Midway through the 2010s, Colombia’s government approach changed, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s biggest rebel group at the time, and other parties signed a peace agreement in 2016.
Colombia, the greatest producer of cocaine in the world, has continued to be a major location for the illegal cocaine trade. According to the United Nations, the coca crop in 2022 covered 204,000 hectares (500,000 acres), the largest area ever recorded. Coca is the primary ingredient in cocaine.
The Truth Commission’s report called for significant adjustments to Colombia’s drug laws, and since his election as president in June 2022, Gustavo Petro, a former fighter for an armed rebel organization, has pushed for talks with armed groups.
As part of its anti-drug strategy for years, Petro earlier this month declared that the government will place less of an emphasis on the forceful destruction of coca plants.
