Clan del Golfo has connections with 28 countries on 4 continents: Police

Colombian police capture 28 members of the Gulf Clan 0:48

(Reuters) -

After the capture of the top leader of the Gulf Clan, alias "Otoniel", the Colombian authorities are concentrating their efforts on dismantling the drug trafficking organization's networks that extend to 28 countries on four continents, said Wednesday the National Police.

Dairo Antonio Úsuga, the head of what is considered the largest organization dedicated to cocaine trafficking in Colombia, was captured by the Armed Forces at the end of October in a jungle area in the northwest of the country.

The capture was described by the Government of President Iván Duque as the strongest blow to drug trafficking in recent history.

The director of the National Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas, said that the organization led by alias "Otoniel" also has alliances with five mafias and international cartels for the distribution of 20 tons of cocaine per month.

"Five international mafias and cartels are the main traffickers with the Gulf Clan: Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa in Mexico; the Calabrian and Sicilian mafias in Italy, and the Balkan networks," said the director of the National Police of Colombia at a press conference.

• They capture alias "Otoniel", the most wanted drug trafficker in Colombia and head of the Clan del Golfo

The Tentacles of the Gulf Clan

Vargas said that the money laundering and the movement of the finances of the Gulf Clan were being carried out by Úsuga with businessmen of Lebanese and Arab origin and with some from Israel, although he did not reveal more details.

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"Twenty-eight countries we have identified," said Vargas, revealing that in addition to the frequent routes to the United States through Central American nations, the organization sent cocaine shipments to Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, England, Italy, Albania and Ukraine in Europe.

The tentacles of the Gulf Clan spread to Australia and to Asian countries such as Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates, Vargas said.

"It is not common for any and especially Colombian organization to traffic into these countries," said the director of the Colombian National Police.

• Alias ​​'Otoniel', the "most wanted" drug trafficker in Colombia who began committing crimes at age 16

'Otoniel' awaits extradition to the US

Alias ​​"Otoniel" remains under heavy security at a police station awaiting extradition to the United States.

Although the Government of Colombia announced that the priority is to extradite the accused drug trafficker to the United States, Vargas refrained from revealing details of the process and the eventual date.

The agent admitted the possibility that after the capture of its top leader there could be an "atomization" of the Clan del Golfo.

Analysts say that in addition to a division of the organization and an eventual internal war, groups such as the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army or the FARC dissidents could gain prominence in drug trafficking, although it is unlikely that cocaine shipments will be affected. .

Gulf Clan