In a letter published in the media and endorsed by his defense team, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known as ‘Otoniel’, sent a message to the Clan del Golfo: “stop activities against the security forces in Colombia.”
Paul Nalven, a drug trafficker’s lawyer, said in an interview with W Radio that the capo “is assuming that after so many years leading the group” his men could still be willing to listen to him despite his arrest in New York.
So far this year, armed groups have killed 36 policemen in a context of renewed violence in Colombia.
According to authorities, 18 of the dead were at the hands of the Otoniel clan in a show of force in the face of a possible negotiation with the elected government of Gustavo Petro, who takes office on August 7.
Made up of remnants of far-right paramilitary groups, the organization offers between $1,000 and $5,000 per cash killed, according to police.
The narco also asked his men to stop the “armed strikes that are harming the civilian population.” The last one occurred in May and left at least eight dead and hundreds of populations paralyzed by threats.
Otoniel, who appears before a New York court judge for drug trafficking, insisted “on the incoming national government to seek a peace agreement.”
Petro has been favorable to a negotiation with the ELN, the last recognized guerrilla in the country, and proposes a submission in exchange for criminal benefits for the drug gangs.
According to independent estimates, Otoniel’s gang has some 3,000 members between combatants and collaborators.
The entrance Narco Otoniel asks his gang to stop police killings in Colombia was first published in diary TODAY.
