Colombia has received a US extradition request for the accused drug lord Crime News

He was captured by Colombian forces last month after Gulf Clan leader Dairo Antonio Usuga, called Otoniel, after a 7-year search.

Colombia has said it has received a formal request from the US to extradite the accused of the drug known as Dairo Antonio Usuga. Otoniel.

The 50-year-old alleged leader of the Gulf clans was captured by Colombian armed forces at the end of last month, ending a seven-year search.

Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Thursday that “administrative procedures” related to extradition “have already been carried out by the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Ministry and that the request was sent to the Supreme Court yesterday.”

Duque said he has spoken to Supreme Court President Luis Antonio Hernandez to ask him to address the issue quickly.

Otoniel is accused of exporting hundreds of tons of cocaine each year and has been on the U.S. Drug Observatory’s wish list for years.

U.S. authorities offered $ 5 million for information to capture, in addition to the $ 3 billion (about $ 800,000) provided by Colombia for information.

The Gulf Clan is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 members of the Colombian security forces, according to local authorities.

The Colombian Supreme Court has already approved the extradition of the second commander of the Gulf Clan, Antonio Moreno Tuberquia, better known as Nicolas.

Otoniel has seven convictions in Colombia and has ordered 128 arrests for drug trafficking, arms trafficking, homicide, sexual violence, conspiracy to commit a crime and forced relocation crimes.

The Gulf Clan, or Clan del Golfo, has more than 1,200 fighters and is linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining, as well as the killings of community leaders.

It operates in 12 of Colombia’s 32 provinces, according to Colombian national police data.

“Extradition awaits all those who commit international crimes,” Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said last month after Otoniel was captured.

Colombian authorities launched in 2016 that they were working to close Operation Agamemnon to Otoniel, killing and capturing dozens of his lieutenants, forcing him to keep his finances behind and constantly moving, according to police.

Despite fighting drug trafficking for decades, Colombia continues to do so the world’s leading producer of cocaine and the U.S. is under constant pressure to reduce the coca crop, the main ingredient in the drug, and cocaine production.

Drug trafficking helps fund Colombia’s illegal armed groups long-standing internal conflict which has left more than 260,000 dead.

So far this year, from Colombia they have apprehended the armed forces A record 595 tons of cocaine, Duque said, breaking the previous record of 505 tons in 2020.