{"id":20254,"date":"2021-10-24T09:32:43","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T13:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=20254"},"modified":"2021-10-24T09:32:43","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T13:32:43","slug":"colombias-most-wanted-drug-lord-otoniel-captured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/10\/24\/colombias-most-wanted-drug-lord-otoniel-captured\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombia’s most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colombia’s most wanted drug trafficker and the leader of the country’s largest criminal gang has been captured.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dairo Antonio \u00dasuga, better known as Otoniel, was seized after a joint operation by the army, air force and police on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The government had offered a $800,000 (\u00a3582,000) reward for information about his whereabouts, while the US placed a $5m bounty on his head.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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President Iv\u00e1n Duque hailed Otoniel’s capture in a televised video message.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” he said. “This blow is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How was he caught?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Otoniel was captured in his rural hideout in Antioquia province in north-western Colombia, close to the border with Panama.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The operation involved 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters. One police officer was killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Otoniel had used a network of rural safe houses to move around and evade the authorities, and did not use a phone, instead relying on couriers for communication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But his location at the time of his capture was pinpointed two weeks ago, El Tiempo newspaper said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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