Colombia Sentences ‘Otoniel’ as the Gulf Clan Continues to Expand

Dairo Antonio Úsuga, the longtime leader of the Colombian criminal group the Urabeños, also known as the Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo), was just sentenced to 30 years in prison by Colombia’s government. The trafficker, also known as “Otoniel,” will serve that time at home after he completes the 45-year sentence he’s currently serving in the United States. 

Otoniel, who was one of Colombia’s most powerful and wanted criminal figures before he was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2022, was sentenced for crimes including homicide, forced disappearances, and terrorism. His criminal career spanned more than three decades, evolving from guerrilla insurgent to paramilitary commander and ultimately to the head of the country’s largest criminal organization.

SEE ALSO: Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias ‘Otoniel’ Profile

Otoniel first joined the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación – EPL) as a teenager before demobilizing in 1991. But it wasn’t long before he returned to armed activity alongside his brother, Juan de Dios Úsuga (“Giovanni”), joining the Córdoba and Urabá Peasant Defense Forces (Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá – ACCU), which later became part of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC). 

After the AUC demobilized, Otoniel helped form the Urabeños under the leadership of Daniel Rendón Herrera (“Don Mario”). Following Don Mario’s arrest in 2009 and his brother Giovanni’s death in 2012, Otoniel became the organization’s undisputed leader.

Under his command, the Urabeños expanded nationwide through a combination of violence, alliances, and criminal franchising. The group controlled strategic drug trafficking corridors while also profiting from extortion, illegal mining, contraband, and local drug markets. 

But years of pressure from the Colombian government gradually weakened Otoniel’s position, forcing him into hiding and reducing his direct control over the organization.

Colombian security forces captured Otoniel in October 2021, near the shared border with Panama, after a years-long manhunt. He was extradited to the United States in May 2022 and pleaded guilty in 2023 to drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy charges. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit US$216 million, and was sentenced to 45 years behind bars in August 2023.

SEE ALSO: Clan del Gulfo / Gaitanistas / Urabeños Profile

His capture marked the end of one of Colombia’s most influential criminal careers, but it did not dismantle the organization he built.

Under the leadership of Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo,” the Gaitanistas have only grown stronger. They have evolved into a more structured and hierarchical organization, strengthened their political apparatus, and consolidated their position as Colombia’s most powerful criminal group, with significant connections across multiple illicit economies, particularly international drug trafficking.