A man once feared as one of Colombia’s most dangerous drug lords, the elusive boss of a paramilitary group which dominated a swathe of the country, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison in the US after saying he accepted responsibility for his deeds.
“I apologize to the governments of the United States and of Colombia and to the victims of the crimes that I have committed,” Dairo Antonio Úsuga, 51, said through a court interpreter.
He had pleaded guilty in January to high-level drug trafficking charges, admitting he oversaw the smuggling of tons of US-bound cocaine and acknowledging “there was a lot of violence with the guerrillas and the criminal gangs”. The US agreed not to seek a life sentence in order to get him extradited from Colombia. As part of his plea deal, Úsuga agreed to forfeit $216m.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/08/colombia-cartel-drug-lord-otoniel-jailed
