At least one dead in the midst of an armed strike in retaliation for the extradition of alias “Otoniel”

Colombia extradites alias “Otoniel” to the US: these are the charges 2:30 (CNN Spanish) — At least one person died this Thursday in northwestern Colombia, amid an escalation of violence in several departments of the country, the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, reported in a statement. The homicide took place in the plaza of a local market in the town of Cereté, where several armed men broke in to ask merchants to close their businesses, the same request they made to schools and transporters, reported the Ombudsman. This wave of violence is presented as a product of the armed strike called by members of a powerful drug cartel in retaliation for the extradition of Dairo Úsuga, alias “Otoniel” to the United States, which occurred on Wednesday. Úsuga is credited with being the leader of the Gulf Cartel. “Otoniel” was extradited by the Colombian government via presidential decree and traveled on a DEA plane to New York, where he faces several criminal charges related to drug trafficking. On the morning of this Thursday, pamphlets allegedly from the Clan del Golfo circulated on social networks. They asked citizens of northwestern Colombia to stay home and suspend all economic activity in the area for four days due to President Iván Duque’s order to extradite Úsuga. The Clan del Golfo is considered one of the most important drug trafficking organizations due to its control of the cocaine routes from Colombia to Mexico and the United States President Duque described the arrest and subsequent extradition of alias Otoniel as the Police’s greatest achievement National since the death of Pablo Escobar.