Four soldiers killed in Colombia in two Gulf Clan attacks

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A total of four military personnel were killed, and several injured in two attacks in northwest Colombia attributed to the Gulf Clan, their first armed actions of alleged retaliation since the capture last Saturday of their leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, alias “Otoniel”.

The first attack took place in the municipality of Turbo, in the Gulf of Urabá, when members of this criminal gang, the largest in the country dedicated mainly to drug trafficking, attacked with explosives a patrol carrying out surveillance work.

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“We reject and condemn the cowardly murder of 3 soldiers of the @COL_EJERCITO when they carried out surveillance work in Turbo, Antioquia,” said Colombian President Iván Duque, his Twitter account.

Four other military personnel stationed in the area near where the Gulf Clan leader was hiding until he was detained by a military and police operation were also wounded.

The other attack, also attributed to the Gulf Clan, took place in the Ituango area, Antioquia, in an area further south, where another military member was killed and wounded.

“We reiterate that these criminals and drug traffickers who attack our Public Force will be prosecuted and brought to justice,” the president assured.

Meanwhile, a security council will be held in Antioquia to assess these two attacks and make decisions to reinforce security, especially in those areas where the Clan del Golfo continues to have a lot of influence.

CAPTURE OF “OTONIEL”

“Otoniel” was arrested this Saturday in a joint operation by the Colombian Police and the Armed Forces, baptized “Operation Osiris”, at a point called Cerro Yoki, in the jurisdiction of Necoclí, a municipality in the department of Antioquia, where he had been surrounded for months.

According to President Duque, his capture is “the hardest blow that has been dealt to drug trafficking in this century in our country and is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.”

The director of Colombia’s National Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas, said Monday that Úsuga “will be extradited to the United States.” However, it is not known when or when this will happen, while in Colombia, he has several arrest warrants and six sentences, including two of 40 and 50 years in prison, for aggravated homicide, forced disappearance, and recruitment of minors, among others.