‘World’s Most Dangerous’ Otoniel Gets 45 Years in US Prison

For many years, the man known as Otoniel was regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous drug barons in the entire world. He was the mysterious leader of a cartel and paramilitary organization that controlled parts of northern Colombia with a bloody grip.

Dairo Antonio Suga was given a 45-year prison sentence on Tuesday in the US after claiming to accept responsibility for his actions. Iván Duque, the president of Colombia, said suga was only equivalent to the late Pablo Escobar, the former leader of the Medellin narcotics cartel, last year.

In addition to being the world’s most deadly drug dealer, he also abuses children, including boys, girls, and teenagers, and murders police officers. 

Suga admitted he controlled the shipment of tons of cocaine heading for the US and that there was a lot of fighting with the guerillas and the criminal gangs when he entered his guilty plea to high-level drug trafficking charges in January. In order to secure his extradition from Colombia, the US decided to refrain from seeking a life sentence.

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Judge Rejects Surroundings as Excuse in Drug Lord’s Case

As a result of his upbringing in a distant rural area where guerilla warfare was prevalent, his recruitment into it at the age of 16 and the years he spent losing friends, fellow soldiers, and loved ones to violence made him a hardened combatant, according to suga and his attorneys.

He testified in court, telling the jury not to follow in his footsteps, “I was born into a region of great conflict, I grew up within this conflict.”

However, US District Judge Dora Irizarry warned the drug lord that surroundings were no defense, recalling her own upbringing in a South Bronx housing complex she claimed was plagued by drug trade and violence

The multifaceted violence in Colombia has affected almost every Colombian’s life for decades. Right-wing paramilitary organizations, left-wing guerrillas, drug traffickers, and other criminal organizations have all fought for control of the country’s mountainous regions.

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Source: www.cbsnews.com