Colombia’s Supreme Court has agreed to extradite the leader of the country’s largest gang to the United States.
Dairo Antonio suga, also known as Otoniel, was the leader of the Gulf Clan cartel and is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking allegations.
His capture in October, comparable to President Iván Duque’s capture of Pablo Escobar, brought an end to a seven-year quest.
The court’s ruling, which was published on Twitter, puts an end to Otoniel’s lawyers’ attempts to prevent his extradition.
After Otoniel’s capture last year, Colombia’s Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz promised to extradite him to the United States, and Justice Department officials in Washington issued a formal request in November.
“Extradition awaits all those who commit international crimes,” Defence Minister Diego Molano warned at the time.
However, Otoniel’s lawyers argued that he should have been tried in a special tribunal where participants in Colombia’s six-decade internal conflict between government forces and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) rebels can receive alternative sentences for confessing to their involvement.
His legal team said that the 50-year-old was willing to give some details about collaboration between central government officials and illegal armed organisations in exchange for his extradition being avoided.
Prior to his capture, Otoniel was Colombia’s most wanted man, with the government offering a $800,000 (£582,000) reward for information leading to his location, and the US placing a $5 million bounty on his head.
The Gulf Clan is involved in drug and people smuggling, illegal gold mining, and extortion in numerous regions and has substantial international links.
It is estimated that it has roughly 1,800 armed members, the most of whom are recruited from far-right paramilitary groups. Members of the organisation have been apprehended in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Peru, and Spain.
Otoniel was eventually apprehended in October in his rural refuge in Antioquia province in northwestern Colombia, close to the border with Panama, in an operation involving 500 soldiers and 22 helicopters.
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