Al Jazeera – Security forces in Colombia have captured Dairo Antonio Usuga, the country’s most wanted drug trafficker.
Better known as Otoniel, the leader of the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia or the Gulf Clan, was captured on Saturday in a rural area in the Uraba region.
President Ivan Duque hailed Otoniel’s capture as a victory, likening it to the arrest three decades ago of the notorious Colombian drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar.
“This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” Duque said during a news conference. “This hit is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.”
Photo A handout photo made available by the Colombian Presidency shows the president of Colombia Ivan Duque (2-L), together with the Colombian Minister of Defense, Diego Molano (2-R), and Attorney General Francsico Barbosa (R), among others, during a statement about the capture of Dairo Antonio Usuga David, alias ‘Otoniel’, in Tolemaida, Colombia, 23 October 2021. ‘Otoniel’ was captured in a joint operation by the police and the armed forces in the northwest of the country, local media reported this Saturday. The capture alias ‘Otoniel’ is the biggest blow to drug trafficking since the fall of Pablo Escobar in 1993, assured the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque. EPA-EFE/Colombian Presidency / HANDOUT
