Talking about the future of nabbed drug lord Otoniel, Colombia's Defence Minister Diego Molano told local El Tiempo newspaper that the next step for officials was to comply with the US extradition order.

Another Colombian newspaper, El Nuevo Siglo, reported that Otoniel had been taken to a military base in the capital, Bogotá, ahead of his extradition.

According to reports, the Colombian government had offered a $800,000 reward for information about the whereabouts of Otoniel, who has been described as the world's most dangerous drug trafficker, while the US had put a bounty of $5m on his head.

Colombia's most-feared drug lord Otoniel was indicted by the Southern District of New York in 2009, and he is accused of multiple charges, including sending a number of shipments of cocaine to the US, killing police officers, illegal mining, recruiting minors, and sexually abusing children.

How was Otoniel nabbed?

Colombian President Iván Duque on Saturday hailed Otoniel's capture in a televised video message and called his arrest the "biggest blow to drug trafficking since the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s."

"This operation is the biggest penetration of the jungle ever seen in the military history of Colombia," President Duque said.

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (dubbed "The King of Cocaine") was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel.

A mug shot of Pablo Escobar taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellín in 1976. Image by Colombian National Police via Wikimedia Creative Commons

Escobar, the wealthiest drug kingpin the world has ever seen, was gunned down by the country's armed forces on Dec 2, 1993 in his hometown, Medellín.

Colombian authorities said Otoniel was captured in a joint army, air force and police operation involving over 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters which was carried out at his rural hideout in Antioquia province in north-western Colombia, close to the border with Panama.

Colombian National Police (Policía Nacional de Colombia) said one police officer was killed in the operation.

Officials having direct knowledge about Otoniel said the drug lord never approached inhabited areas as he was fearful of capture, and he had used a network of rural safe houses to move around and evade the authorities.

According to the officials, the 50-year-old drug kingpin did not use a cell phone, instead relying on couriers for communication, to avoid being traced via mobile tower tracking system.

Colombian Police chief Jorge Vargas said Otoniel's movements were traced this time by more than 50 signal intelligence experts using satellite imagery, while the US and UK agencies were also involved in the search.

But Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper claimed in its report that authorities had managed to pinpoint the location where Otoniel was eventually captured two weeks ago. 

Who is 'Otoniel'?

Born in Antioquia on Sept 15, 1971, Dario Antonio Úsuga David, known by his nickname Otoniel, is the leader of Colombian drug trafficking group the Gulf Clan against whom at least 132 arrest warrants had been issued at the time of his capture on Saturday.

Úsuga alias Otoniel was a member of the Popular Liberation Army, a communist guerilla group, until it disbanded in 1991, and then he joined the United Self-Defences of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC) which was a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group.

After the AUC dissolved in 2005, Otoniel had begun working for the then leader of the Los Urabeños drug trafficking group, Daniel Rendón Herrera alias Don Mario.

Mug shot of Otoniel by Colombian National Police via Twitter

In 2009, Úsuga and his brother Juan de Dios Úsuga David alias Giovanni took control of the Los Urabeños gang, which later became known as the Gulf Clan, and after Giovanni was shot dead during a police raid on a New Year's Eve party almost 10 years ago, Otoniel took full leadership of the group.

Colombian authorities had involved over 1200 anti-drug police personnel to trace and capture the drug lord for the past few years, and since early 2021, the search efforts for Otoniel had been intensified, following heightened levels of cocaine production.

Colombian security forces labelled Otoniel's gang as the country's most powerful criminal organization, which was believed to have about 1800 armed members recruited mainly from far-right paramilitary groups, while the US described the Gulf Clan as "heavily armed and extremely violent".

Otoniel's Gulf Clan was engaged in drug and people smuggling, illegal gold mining and extortion, and it operated in many provinces.

According to local media reports, the gang had extensive international connections and it controlled many of the drug smuggling routes from Colombia to the US, and as far away as Russia.