UPDATE - Major Drug Lord Otoniel Captured In Colombia - Government

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2021) Colombia's authorities say they have captured the most-wanted drug trafficker in the country, Dairo Antonio Usuga, also known as Otoniel, who is the head of the "Gulf Clan" (Clan del Golfo).

"Special recognition to the Public Force and the defense ministry for the capture in Necocli of Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias 'Otoniel', head of the Gulf Clan, a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and responsible for attacks on the civilian population," Presidential Adviser Emilio Archila said on Twitter on Saturday.

Colombian President Ivan Duque said in a public address broadcast on Twitter on Saturday that the capture of Otoniel was a major blow to drug trafficking and was comparable to the fall of drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.

Otoniel was captured in Necocli, Antioquia Department, as part of special operation Osiris conducted jointly by the police and the military with the support of agencies in the US and the United Kingdom, according to Duque.

The drug lord was then transferred by plane to Colombia's capital, Bogota.

The president called on the remaining members of the Gulf Clan to turn themselves in or face the same fate as that of Otoniel.

According to Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano, the capture of the Gulf Clan's leader means that the government has achieved victory over drug trafficking in the country, since the clan had been responsible for most of Colombia's exports and distribution of cocaine.

Last year, Colombia had 143,000 hectares of illegal coca plantations and the country remains the world's top producer of coca, according to the United Nations.