Bogota Colombian drug trafficker Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known as Otoniel, admitted his defeat to the police and soldiers who captured him during an operation, the Defense Ministry reported, as the government prepares to immediately process his extradition to the United States.
Otoniel, 50, was captured by the Colombian Armed Forces during an operation in a rural area of the Urabá region, in the department of Antioquia, which involved more than 500 members of the Colombian Special Forces and 22 helicopters, they said. authorities on Saturday.
“They beat me,” Otoniel said when captured, according to the Defense Ministry. Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz announced that the Government will file today with the Supreme Court the request to authorize the extradition of Úsuga to the United States, a process that could take about four weeks.
Once the court authorizes the extradition, the Colombian Government will proceed to make the delivery effective.
“Extradition is the way for all those who commit transnational crimes,” Defense Minister Diego Molano told reporters. “Otoniel is a criminal of the worst kind requested in extradition by the United States.”
Cooperation
On Saturday, President Iván Duque specified that the Government will work with the authorities to guarantee the process, but emphasized that this will not prevent Otoniel from responding in Colombia for the crimes committed.
Colombia had offered a reward of up to 3,000 million pesos (about $ 800,000) for information on Otoniel’s whereabouts, while the United States government had offered $ 5 million.
Otoniel rose as leader of the drug trafficking group Clan del Golfo, after stints as a leftist guerrilla and later as a paramilitary.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx