- Otoniel’s leadership of the Gulf Clan transforms Colombia’s drug landscape, influencing international narcotics distribution routes.
- Strategic alliances with Mexico’s dominant cartels highlight Otoniel’s expansive reach, reshaping North and South American drug dynamics.
- Tensions escalate in Colombia as external cartels attempt to establish territory, signaling a shift in regional drug power dynamics.
Colombian drug lord Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, commonly known as Otoniel, has been handed a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for “participating in a maritime drug trafficking conspiracy.” Otoniel, who once commanded the Gulf Clan, pleaded guilty to belonging to an ongoing criminal enterprise. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, led by Judge Dora Irizarry, also ordered him to forfeit USD 216 million.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland highlighted the magnitude of Otoniel’s crimes, stating, “Under Otoniel’s leadership, the Gulf Clan shipped massive quantities of cocaine to the United States, terrorized the Colombian people, and murdered civilians, law enforcement officials, and rivals in Colombia.” This sentiment was echoed by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, who detailed the extensive harm caused by the Gulf Clan under Otoniel’s reign.
What were Otoniel’s criminal connections in Mexico?
But Otoniel did not operate solely within Colombian borders. He skillfully formed alliances with major criminal organizations in other nations, notably Mexico. There, he partnered with the country’s two dominant forces: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG). A Colombian police statement from November 2021 clarified, “The criminal organization has five main alliances for trafficking cocaine to different latitudes: in Mexico, the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation, and the Sinaloa Cartel.”
Links between Otoniel and the Sinaloa Cartel reportedly began around 2007, per Colombian anti-drug police sources who spoke to El Universal. These ties ensured that narcotics transiting through Mexico reached their final destination in the U.S. Both the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel were intrinsically linked to Otoniel’s Gulf Clan, with both groups allegedly paying a “tax” to his organization.
Documentation from Otoniel’s conviction revealed a deeper insight: “The CDG [Gulf Clan] also exports cocaine directly and coordinates the production, purchase, and transfer of weekly and biweekly shipments of several tons of cocaine from Colombia to Central America and Mexico for final importation into the United States.”
Mexican outfits, seeking to solidify their operations, often ventured into Colombia’s Uraba region, aiming to liaise with Gulf Clan sub-leaders and secure cocaine shipments.
Evidence sourced from the Colombian Police and shared with Infobae Mexico highlighted the Sinaloa Cartel’s modus operandi. The cartel deployed emissaries to negotiate with various crime syndicates, relying on Go Fast-type boats to transport agreed-upon quantities of illegal substances.
Historically, Otoniel was not new to forging such alliances. More than two decades ago, when he led the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (a moniker later adopted by the Gulf Clan), he collaborated with Los Zetas. El Universal noted that the Gulf Clan once enjoyed strong ties with Joaquin Guzman Loera. However, this association dwindled following Guzman’s 2016 recapture.
A study by AC Consultores shed light on the vast influence of the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The former operates in 28 states, while the latter has a footprint in 24. Interestingly, a report by El Universal earlier this year revealed that both these Mexican cartels hold significant sway in Colombia.
Tensions have escalated recently, with videos surfacing last July of armed individuals warning of the alleged arrival of a group tied to the CJNG. One masked figure emphatically declared, “We are going to defend them with our lives. With blood and fire, we are going to defend them. Here there is no Jalisco. That is in Mexico, we are Buenaventura. No one who is not from here is going to enter our territory!”