Crime & Court
Colombia to extradite drug lord ‘Otoniel’ to US
Colombia’s government announced Sunday it is working towards extraditing the country’s most-wanted drug trafficker “Otoniel” to the United States, a day after he was captured in a major operation in the jungle.
“There is an extradition order against Otoniel, and this extradition order… remains in progress,” Defense Minister Diego Molano told the daily El Tiempo newspaper in an interview.
“This is the path for all those who commit transnational crimes,” Molano told reporters later, adding that nearly 30 percent of the many tons of cocaine exported from Colombia went through the so-called Gulf Clan, the country’s largest drug trafficking gang, led by Otoniel.
The 50-year-old drug lord, whose real name is Dairo Antonio Usuga, was arrested Saturday in northwest Colombia’s dense jungle in an operation involving some 700 uniformed agents backed by 18 helicopters, according to the army.
The United States had offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Otoniel, one of the most feared men in Colombia.
“This is the hardest strike to drug trafficking in our country this century,” President Ivan Duque said Saturday, adding that the arrest was “only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar,” the notorious Colombian narco-trafficking kingpin.
“We are going for more, we are going for victory against all high-value targets,” Duque vowed from a military base in the country’s northwest.
The government accuses other armed groups such as the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), and rebels who walked away from the peace pact signed with the FARC guerillas in 2016, of financing themselves with drug trafficking revenue.
Born to a poor family, Otoniel joined the EPL, a Marxist guerrilla group that demobilized in 1991. A paramilitary fighter, he ultimately headed the Gulf Clan, with a force of some 1,600 men and a presence in almost 300 municipalities nationwide, according to the independent think tank Indepaz.
In Colombia Otoniel had 128 outstanding arrest warrants for drug trafficking and recruitment of minors, among other crimes.
“He murdered more than 200 members of the security forces… Many soldiers have suffered because of this murderer and his friends,” Duque said.
Otoniel also preyed on minors, “intimidating families and extorting them in order to take their daughters’ virginity,” the president added.
In five decades of a US-backed drug war, Colombia has killed or captured several drug lords, including kingpin Escobar, who was shot by security forces in 1993.
But the country remains the world’s leading cocaine producer, with the United States its biggest buyer.
Justice Maryanne Anenih of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has issued a public summons for former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to appear in court to respond to a fresh 16-count indictment.
The summons requires Bello to attend court on October 24 for his arraignment, alongside co-defendants Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu.
The public summons was ordered following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In her ruling, Justice Anenih directed the EFCC to publish the summons in a widely circulated newspaper to ensure proper notification.
Also, the court instructed the EFCC to post copies of the public summons at Bello’s last known address and in conspicuous locations within the court premises.
The EFCC has reported difficulties in serving the charges, which were filed on September 24, alleging that Bello and the two co-defendants committed a criminal breach of trust involving a staggering ₦110.4 billion.
A Police Inspector, Mohammed Bulama, attached to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) 41 in Yobe State, has been arrested for allegedly killing a 39-year-old civilian, Abdulmalik Dauda, during a confrontation in Damaturu, the state capital.
The incident, which occurred on September 29, 2024, was sparked by a heated argument between Bulama and Dauda over “uncleared transactions” in the Zango area of Damaturu. The argument escalated, leading Bulama to fatally stab Dauda in the chest.
In a statement, the Yobe State Police spokesperson, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed Bulama’s arrest and announced that an investigation into the homicide case had been launched.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Garba Ahmed, has ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident involving Inspector Mohammed Bulama,” Abdulkarim said.
He further disclosed that the officer has been placed in custody, pending internal disciplinary action and prosecution.
CP Ahmed condemned the actions of the officer, extending his condolences to the family of the victim.
He also assured the public that justice would be served swiftly in accordance with the law.
The Lagos State Police Command has summoned three officers accused of extorting N1 million from members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the Surulere area of Lagos.
Footage of the incident, which went viral on social media late Friday, shows the officers confronting the corps members, reportedly over the absence of a physical copy of a driver’s license. The video was shared by social media user Oluyemi Fasipe, who claimed that the officers threatened the corps members with firearms and forcibly took them to the Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu House, the Area C Command of the Lagos State Police, where they allegedly extorted the sum of N1 million.
“Dear @BenHundeyin, Your officers today in Surulere extorted 1 million naira from three corps members,” Fasipe wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They were threatened with firearms, kidnapped, and taken to the KAFARU OLUWOLE TINUBU HOUSE AREA C POLICE COMMAND of the @LagosPoliceNG where they were robbed.”
Fasipe added that the entire incident stemmed from the corps members’ inability to present a physical copy of a driver’s license, a situation he described as “evil.”
In one of the videos, the officers are seen inspecting the vehicle’s documents, with the situation escalating as additional officers arrived. One officer can be seen entering the car and demanding that the corps members stop recording the incident, while also prohibiting them from contacting their families.
In response, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that the officers involved have been summoned, and an investigation is underway.
“The men have been summoned, and their trial has commenced,” Hundeyin wrote on X. “We urge the complainants to visit the Complaint Response Unit at the State Headquarters to testify at the ongoing trial.”
