A U.S. court sentenced Colombia’s notorious cartel chief Dairo Antonio Úsuga, commonly known as “Otoniel,” to 45 years in prison yesterday on multiple drug trafficking charges.
The decision came a few months after Mr. Úsuga pleaded guilty to smuggling tons of cocaine, among other related felonies. In addition to offering more than USD 200 million in drug proceeds as part of his plea deal, Otoniel apologized to both the U.S. and Colombia for “the victims and crimes” along the way.
Born into a context of poverty and violence, Otoniel had close proximity to guerrillas and paramilitary groups, and eventually joined the Gulf Clan, a huge criminal organization that controls many of Colombia’s transnational drug routes, shipping cocaine to Mexico where allied cartels resell it to the U.S.
To this day, the Gulf Clan remains an obstacle to President Gustavo Petro’s goal of promoting “total peace” in Colombia.
Otoniel moved up the Clan ladder after years in the organization, and was Colombia’s most-wanted man when arrested in 2021. At the time, then-president Iván Duque said his detention was “only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar,” the infamous boss of the Medellín Cartel.
Mr. Úsuga was extradited in May 2022 after U.S. courts agreed not to seek a life sentence against him. The decision angered fellow combatants, who retaliated with massacres killing at least eight people in guerrilla-dominated zones. The convicted trafficker had to intervene, asking his group to stop the carnage.
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