Otoniel pictured during his extradition to US in May, 2022. AFP
Columbia: The most sought after drug lord in the world with an empire larger than the infamous Pablo Escobar pleaded guilty to running a multibillion dollar cocaine chain in the US, agencies reported.
In addition to forfeiting $216 million in cash, Dairo Antonio Usuga David, popularly known as “Otoniel,” faces a minimum of 20 years in jail and a maximum of life.
Otoniel, 51, has been compared to Pablo Escobar, a notorious predecessor who oversaw the Medellin Cartel at a time of escalating violence in Colombia in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
However, reports say Otoniel did not possessed a glamourous lifestyle like Ascobar’s. In fact, he frequently rode his dependable donkey through the Colombian jungle rather than posh automobiles, helicopters, or boats.
Between 2012 to 2021, the cocaine group Clan del Golfo was ruled by the drug lord. He often abused his adversaries and also forced his sister and partners to have plastic surgeries so they look like him.
His gang reportedly is the biggest contributors of cocaine in the world and has historically been one of Colombia’s most dangerous and powerful criminal organisations.
Authorities in Colombia claim that he smuggled up to 200 tonnes of cocaine annually for nine years.
“Pablo Escobar couldn’t have imagined this reality,” said an expert on Clan del Golfo. “We have more cocaine being produced in Colombia than in the days of Pablo Escobar.” Governments are at a loss about what to do,” he said.
Otoneil’s image as a criminal increased throughout his reign of terror as a result of horrifying tales of him killing anybody who stood in his way, supposedly sexually abusing groups of young girls.
He is accused of a vast number of crimes, including compelling females as young as 12 to have sex with him in his jungle lair.
Additionally, Otoniel set up campaigns to use military-grade weapons against perceived opponents, offered bounties for killing police and soldiers, and ordered the execution and torture of suspected adversaries.
The most wanted drug kingpin in Colombia, according to President Ivan Duque, is “only similar to Pablo Escobar.
“He added: “He is not only the most dangerous drug trafficker in the world, but he is murderer of social leaders, abuser of boys, girls and adolescents, a murderer of policemen.”
Due to his terror, the US police announced a hefty $5 million bounty on his head and a $800,000 Colombian government reward on his arrest.
It is believed that his business partner, Blanca Senobia Madrid Benjumea, served as the clan’s banker. She was detained back in 2015.
According to Colombian news outlet Semana, the drug lord persuaded Blanca to undergo plastic surgery and also had it done for her three sisters, Mara, Sandra, and Martha, so they would all have the same appearance.
“Tons of cocaine were transferred with my approval or at my command,” Otoniel testified in Brooklyn court. Guerrillas and criminal gangs engaged in a lot of violence.
Otoniel was arrested in a remarkable military operation in Antioquia of Columbia, last October and was extradited to US in May, 2022.
US Attorney Breon Peace informed media about the guilty plea he filed last week.
He will be tried in a US court in the coming months.
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