Colombia Drug Lord Otoniel To Pay $216 Million to US Government

Dairo Antonio Usuga David, also known as "Otoniel," was the most infamous drug trafficker and paramilitary leader in Colombia. He exported hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and was responsible for igniting a generation of violence across his country.

However, the feared commander of the narco-paramilitary organization known as the Gulf Clan appeared contrite before a federal courtroom Wednesday, according to Vice.

He sat in a blue jail smock and listened nervously as the judge read the counts against him from three federal indictments. He then mumbled the Spanish word for "culpable" or guilty three times.

In his plea agreement, Otoniel, 51, admitted to smuggling a massive 96,856 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia and pledged to forfeit $216 million of drug revenues to the U.S. authorities.

In exchange for his extradition, the United States decided not to keep the notorious drug lord detained for the rest of his days, even though Otoniel would ordinarily face life in prison for his crimes, as Colombia does not permit life imprisonment.

Judge Dora Irizarry, who would decide Dairo Antonio Usuga's sentence, had told him that since he has no legal status in the U.S., he would be deported back to Colombia at some point after his release from prison.

Dairo Antonio Usuga Pleads Guilty

"Tons of cocaine were moved with my permission or at my direction," Dairo Antonio Usuga, better known as Otoniel, told a Brooklyn federal court.

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

Prosecutors have indicated that the Colombian drug lord will receive a sentence of at least 20 years in jail. According to Irizarry, the U.S. government dropped its demand for a life sentence in exchange for the extradition of the defendant from Colombia last year, AP noted.

"With today's guilty plea, the bloody reign of the most violent and significant Colombian narcotics trafficker since Pablo Escobar is over," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

Paul Nalven, Otoniel's defense attorney, described him as "very remorseful" and claimed his client was "a child of the cycle of violence" that had plagued Colombia his whole life.

The attorney claims that Otoniel, who only completed fourth grade, was forced into guerrilla warfare when he was 16.

After his capture, Otoniel asked his gang to stop attacking the police. He hopes the six-month ceasefire between President Gustavo Petro's government and five armed organizations, including the Gulf Clan, will lead to sustainable peace.

"He'd like to see a better Colombia," Nalven said.

Colombia Drug Lord Dairo Antonio Usuga and the Gulf Clan

Formed in the first decade of this century by the heads of paramilitary groups that refused to sign a demobilization deal with other groups, the Gulf Clan also goes by the name Gaitanista Self Defense Forces of Colombia.

The most recent boss of the Gulf Clan, Otoniel, had been on the DEA's most-wanted list for years.

Hundreds of soldiers participated in an operation last year that resulted in his capture from his hiding place. The United States government had put a $5 million price on his head, per CBS News.

The Colombia drug lord was initially prosecuted in 2009 on drug charges and accused of aiding a far-right paramilitary group listed as a terrorist organization by the United States government in Manhattan federal court.

Between 2003 and 2014, he was accused of bringing in at least 73 metric tons of cocaine into the United States, according to indictments filed in federal courts in Brooklyn and Miami.

It was speculated that the Gulf Clan was responsible for 30% of all cocaine shipped out of Colombia, the largest producer and supplier in the world, said Al Jazeera.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Otoniel: Colombia's most wanted drug lord captured - From Al Jazeera English