‘Kingpin strategy’Įxperts say Otoniel’s capture falls in line with a military tactic used in Latin America, known as the “kingpin strategy”, in which security forces seek to take out the leader of an armed group in order to topple its criminal enterprises. The US and the United Kingdom provided the intelligence in the operation to capture Otoniel, according to The Associated Press news agency, while more than 500 members of Colombia’s special forces and 22 helicopters were used in the jungle raid. This means there was a sophisticated operation that led to his capture.” This means there was intelligence, this means there was infiltration. “They didn’t gun him down, they didn’t bombard him. “It’s positive that they’re able to capture one of the most wanted criminals in Colombia,” Guzman said. Still, the takedown of Otoniel was a success, Guzman said, as it comes at a time when the Colombian security forces are slowly losing control of rural areas to armed gangs.
And I have no doubt the same will happen with Otoniel,” said Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis. “When the head of an organisation, a ‘kingpin’, is toppled, there are a dozen underlings ready to take their place. Colombia had offered a reward of up to $800,000 for information leading to his capture, while the US had put a bounty of $5m on his head.ĭuque said Otoniel’s arrest “marks the end of the Gulf Clan”, but analysts and human rights group worry the move could result in more violence at a time of worsening clashes between armed groups. Vivanco added: “The victims deserve justice.”Īuthorities have been after Otoniel for years, killing allies, capturing family members and going after his finances. Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), congratulated the Colombian government on Otoniel’s capture, tweeting that the drug lord “must be held accountable for the hundreds of crimes committed under his command”. The 50 year old also faces criminal charges in Brooklyn and Miami in the US on charges of “operating continuing criminal enterprises, participating in international cocaine trafficking conspiracies and using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes”. The Colombian president said his government was working on extraditing Otoniel, most likely to the United States, where he was first indicted in 2009 in a Manhattan federal court on drug trafficking charges. “This hit is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.” “This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” Duque said during a news conference. 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. Bogota, Colombia – Security forces in Colombia have captured Dairo Antonio Usuga, the country’s most wanted drug trafficker.īetter 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.