One of Colombia’s most notorious drug lords, Dairo Antonio Usuga, was yesterday sentenced to 45 years in prison Tuesday by a US federal judge.
The 51-year-old Usuga who pleaded guilty to cocaine smuggling charges earlier this year, was the leader of Colombia’s largest narco-trafficking gang, the Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that ‘Otoniel,’ Usuga who is known as was extradited to the United States from Colombia last year.
In January, he admitted to being guilty of running a criminal enterprise, participating in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs through the sea, and being part of a conspiracy to import narcotics.
US District Court Judge Dora Irizarry sentenced Usuga to 45 years in prison on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.
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Usuga, who faced a mandatory minimum term of 20 years in prison, agreed as part of his plea deal to pay $216 million in forfeiture.
Prosecutors described Usuga as the “most violent and significant Colombian narcotics trafficker since Pablo Escobar” and accused him and the Gulf Clan of illegally bringing at least 73 tons of cocaine into the United States between 2003 and 2012.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement following the sentencing said; ‘Otoniel led one of the largest cocaine trafficking organizations in the world, where he directed the exportation of massive amounts of cocaine to the United States and ordered the ruthless execution of Colombian law enforcement, military officials, and civilians’.
US Attorney Breon Peace said the lengthy sentence “sends a message to other paramilitary and cartel leaders that the United States will seek their arrest and extradition in order to hold them accountable in our courts of law.”
Usuga was the most wanted person in Colombia until he was arrested in October 2021 in the country’s northwest after a massive military operation.
According to the US Justice Department, the Gulf Clan has as many as 6,000 members and is one of the world’s largest distributors of cocaine.