Notorious Colombian drug trafficker Dairo Antonio Usuga David, known simply as Otoniel, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison by a federal judge in the United States.
Otoniel had previously pleaded guilty to charges of drug distribution and running a criminal enterprise in a court in Brooklyn, New York.
During Tuesday’s sentencing, the 51-year-old admitted his responsibility in running a vast network of criminal operations and cocaine smuggling, as leader of the violent paramilitary group known as the Clan del Golfo or the Gulf Clan cartel.
“I apologise to the governments of the United States and of Colombia and to the victims of the crimes that I have committed,” Usuga said through a court interpreter.
The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn had requested the 45-year sentence, saying Usuga had led a “terrorist and paramilitary organisation” for nearly two decades and opted not to demobilise through a government-led peace process.
“He ordered the killing, kidnapping, and torture of rivals, as well as individuals he believed were cooperating with law enforcement,” the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said in court papers. “The defendant’s desire for control and revenge simply cannot be overstated.”
Source from www.aljazeera.com