Dairo Úsuga “Otoniel” pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges

This is how “Otoniel”, leader of the Clan del Golfo, declared himself in court in the US. 3:20 (CNN) — Dairo Usuga, also known by the alias “Otoniel”, was extradited to the United States on Wednesday to face charges of drug trafficking, a Colombian National Police source told CNN. This Thursday, “Otoniel” pleaded not guilty to charges of participating in an international conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, among other charges, before the federal court in New York City. Usuga is widely considered to be the head of the “Clan del Golfo,” a powerful drug cartel that controls cocaine routes into Mexico and the United States. He is being held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. The Colombian was charged with three counts: international conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine with the intent that the narcotics would be illegally imported into the US, possession of firearms and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess firearms and destructive devices. . Usuga was captured by Colombian authorities in October in a rural area of ​​the northwestern region of Urabá, in the province of Antioquia, a feat that President Iván Duque hailed as “the largest arrest of a drug trafficker by Colombian police since the days of Pablo Escobar”. At the time of his arrest, the alleged leader of the cartel was facing at least 122 charges for drug trafficking, criminal association, homicide and money laundering, according to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office. His extradition was approved by presidential decree after the Colombian Council of State denied an appeal by several victims of Usuga’s alleged crimes who wanted to see him tried in a Colombian court. The State Department previously offered up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. The so-called Clan del Golfo is made up of former members of terrorist organizations and “uses violence and intimidation to control drug trafficking routes, cocaine processing laboratories, speedboat departure points and clandestine landing strips,” according to the State Department. On Thursday, at least one person died in Cereté, in northwestern Colombia, amid an escalation of violence in several Colombian districts, the country’s Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, said in a statement. The escalation follows the imposition of an armed curfew by a powerful drug cartel in retaliation for the extradition to the US of Dairo Usuga, also known as “Otoniel,” he said. In the early hours of this Thursday, pamphlets allegedly from the Clan del Golfo began to circulate on Colombian social networks calling on citizens of various departments in northwestern Colombia to stay home and suspend any economic activity in the area for four days due to the order. of extradition of Úsuga de Duque. CNN’s Rob Frehse and Maria Santana contributed reporting.