Leader of Colombian criminal gang pleads guilty in U.S. federal courthouse 

The leader of one of Colombia’s most powerful criminal gangs pleaded guilty on Wednesday to drug charges at a Brooklyn Federal court, the United States Department of Justice announced in a statement. 

Dario Antonio Usuga, better known as Otoniel, was the leader of the violent “Clan del Golfo” drug trafficking organization and paramilitary group for more than nine years. He was arrested in his hideout in Colombia in October 2021 and extradited to the U.S. soon after. 

One of the prosecutors in the court described Otoniel as "the most significant Colombian narcotics trafficker since [the leader of the Medellín cartel] Pablo Escobar." Similarly, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said he was "one of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers in the world."

On Wednesday, Otoniel pleaded guilty to "running a continuing criminal enterprise" that smuggled and distributed drugs.   

“Tons of cocaine were moved with my permission or at my direction,” Otoniel, 51, told the court.

“There was a lot of violence with the guerrillas and the criminal gangs,” he added, and acknowledged that “in military work, homicides were committed.”

The former drug lord faces a minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life in prison. Additionally, he agreed to pay $216 million in forfeiture money. 

Otoniel became the leader of the Gulf Clan after its previous boss, Otoniel’s brother Juan de Dios Usuaga, was killed during a police raid in 2012.

“With today’s guilty plea, the bloody reign of the most violent and significant Colombian narcotics trafficker since Pablo Escobar is over. Úsuga David has now been held accountable for his leadership of the Clan del Golfo, which was responsible for trafficking tons of illegal narcotics from Colombia to the United States and incalculable acts of violence against law enforcement, military personnel, and civilians in Colombia and elsewhere,” stated United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace. 

“Today’s guilty plea is the result of the determined work of numerous law enforcement personnel in the United States, Colombia, and elsewhere. It is our hope that bringing Úsuga David to justice can provide a measure of solace to the victims of his narcotics trafficking and violence in Colombia and the United States.”