Panama drug seizures in used as evidence in US drug trial
Among the evidence held by the US prosecutor’s office against the recently extradited to the United States, Dario Antonio Usuga-David, alias ‘Otoniel’, leader of the Clan del Golfo of Colombia, are two drug seizures made in the Caribbean waters of Guna Yala , Panama.
On May 5, Otoniel was transferred on a DEA Drug Enforcement Agency plane to Brooklyn, New York, where he pleaded not guilty in the Eastern District to alleged drug trafficking crimes. and for leading the organization of the Colombian Self-Defense Forces (AUC), considered a terrorist group.
In Otoniel’s file that appears in Court, there is a note prepared by the prosecution that advances some evidence collected against the leader of the Clan del Golfo, who maintained a significant interference in Panama, specifically in the AtlanticAmong them, they refer to a seizure of cocaine in Guna Yala on April 13, 2021, of 1,365 kilos of drugs that were transported in two speedboats on the coast of Panama.
The second shipment attributed to the Clan points to the seizure made on April 14, 2021, of 2,609 kilos of drugs that were transported in a speedboat on the Atlantic coast of Panama. Prosecutor Breon Peace provided photographs of other seizures made by the Colombian authorities of ammunition and high-caliber weapons belonging to the Clan, frequently used to impose control of the dominated territory.
The links are known so far of the Clan del Golfo in Panama outline the ‘Fisher’ operation that in December 2021 dismantled an alleged logistical support group of the Clan.
The operation seized $10 million in cash hidden in a house in Colón, farms, properties, and the arrest of 51 people, most of them residents of the Colón coast. The group “coordinated the receipt of large amounts of merchandise from Colombia, stored it and then, under the Clan’s guidelines, delivered it to groups with which they did business.”
Attorney General Javier Caraballo described at the time activities very similar to those compiled by the United States prosecutor’s office, which distinguish the Clan, such as the collection of taxes per kilo of drugs from those who use territory under their domain to traffic, store or send.
US indictment
The indictment includes the background of alias ‘Otoniel’: “He belonged to the paramilitary organization dedicated to trafficking cocaine to the United States known as the Urabeños, based in Urabá, Colombia. The drug passed through Central America and Mexico to its final destination, the United States,”.In addition to drug transportation, the authorities accuse the organization of other crimes such as kidnapping, homicide, and acts of violence that they used to collect drug debts, instill fear and expand their territorial domain, promote and improve their prestige, reputation, and position of the organization.
