HomeNewsBriefColombia's Police Tighten Noose Around Gaitanistas Leader
BRIEF

Colombia's Police Tighten Noose Around Gaitanistas Leader

GAITANISTAS / 13 DEC 2013 BY JEREMY MCDERMOTT EN

Police in Colombia appear to be closing in on the country's most wanted criminal, the military leader of the mighty Gaitanistas, Dario Antonio Usuga, alias "Otoniel."

The captures of Arley Usuga Torres, alias "07," and Nini Johanna Usuga, seem to indicate that the police are tightening the noose around Otoniel. The arrests of the nephew and sister of the Gaitanistas, also known as the Gulf Clan, Urabeños, and Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC), chief is evidence that the police are zeroing in on Otoniel's inner circle and support network. "07" was picked up in Turbo, a strategic port in Uraba, the region from which the Urabeños take their name. Nini Johanna Usuga, who is believed to handle part of the AGC finances, was arrested in the nearby city of Medellin. Police estimate she managed up to $4 million a month in illegal earnings.

The US State Department is offering $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Otoniel.

InSight Crime Analysis

Since the death of his brother, Juan de Dios Usuga, alias "Giovanni," in a police operation on New Year's Day 2012, Otoniel has been the most visible head of the BACRIM (from the Spanish "bandas criminales"), Colombia's latest generation of drug trafficking syndicates, and the priority target for Colombian authorities. What is perhaps more notable, is not that the Colombian police are getting close, sweeping up his relatives, but that Otoniel is still directing the ever expanding AGC. He is still believed to remain in the heartland of Colombia's most powerful criminal franchise, in the region of Uraba, a steamy valley in northwestern Colombia known for its banana production.

SEE ALSO: Otoniel Profile

With so many Colombian and US resources dedicated to his killing or capture, it seems inevitable that Otoniel will fall, sooner or later. But if there is one lesson to be learnt from the "decapitation" policy that Colombia, backed by the United States, has employed since the hunt for Pablo Escobar, it is that someone will inevitably rise to replace the fallen criminal leader.

This is evidenced by the fact there are already whispers of a new "capo de capos" emerging on Colombia's eastern plains. Once the haunt of Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, Colombia's most prolific drug trafficker until his capture in September 2012, the eastern plains are one of the most important drug trafficking regions. From here multi-ton shipments of cocaine move into neighboring Venezuela and Brazil. Loco's replacement is known as "Puntilla" Pachon, whose criminal pedigree apparently stretches back to Escobar's Medellin Cartel, and who worked closely with Loco until his arrest in Venezuela. Pachon, it appears, has made an alliance with Otoniel and become part of the AGC franchise.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 1 NOV 2021

Long-time leader, Otoniel, President Iván Duque said the gang's "days were numbered." But is that accurate?…

COCAINE / 27 MAY 2022

Colombia has gone from a peaceful election in 2018 to a violent electoral process in 2022, with the increase in…

COLOMBIA / 27 MAY 2022

The death of Colombian drug trafficker, alias Matamba, threatens to further unsettle the criminal dynamics of Nariño.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…