Otoniel: Colombian drug lord Dairo Antonio Úsuga face extradition to US

Colombia don announce say dem go extradite di kontri most wanted drug trafficker go United States of America afta dem capture am during one raid.

Authorities capture Dairo Antonio Úsuga, wey also dey known as Otoniel, afta one joint army, air force and police operation on Saturday.

E lead di kontri largest criminal gang and e don dey on di US Drug Enforcement Agency most wanted list for years.

US officials bin place $5m bounty on im head.

Dem accuse am of importing at least 73 metric tonnes of cocaine into di kontri between 2003 and 2014.

Wetin go happun to am?

Colombia Defence Minister Diego Molano tell El Tiempo newspaper say di next step for officials na to comply with di US extradition order.

Authorities now don take Otoniel to one military base inside di capital Bogotá ahead of im extradition, according to newspaper El Nuevo Siglo.

Many Colombian drug traffickers dey fear to dey locked up inside jail wey dey very far from dia home kontri, inside place where dem get few connections and no means to intimidate guards or prison directors dem.

Di late drug lord Pablo Escobar tok say e go prefer to "dey grave inside Colombia than to dey locked up inside one cell for US".

Except for six-year period between 1991 and 1997, wen Colombia constitution ban extraditions of dia citizens, dem don send some top level traffickers wey dey face indictments for US to go stand trial dia.

Among dem na di co-founder of di Medellín cartel, Carlos Lehder, drug lord Daniel "The Madman" Barrera and paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso.

Otoniel, wey dem indict for US for 2009, go faces some charge, including sending shipments of cocaine go US, killing police officers and recruiting children.

Who be Otoniel?

Dem born Otoniel for Antioquia in di early 1970s.

Otoniel jump between several guerrilla and paramilitary groups - including di Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), di major Marxist-Leninist rebel group, and di United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), one far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking gang.

Wen di AUC dissolve for 2005, e begin to work for di drug lord Daniel Rendón Herrera, wey dey known as Don Mario - head of di Urabeños, wey later become known as di Gulf Clan.

Otoniel then take charge of di group afta police kill dia before leader - wey be brother - for one raid on New Year Eve party almost 10 years ago.

Colombia security forces label di gang as di kontri most powerful criminal organisation, while authorities for US describe am as "heavily armed [and] extremely violent".

Di gang, wey dey operate for many provinces and get extensive international connections, dey do drug and pipo smuggling, illegal gold mining and extortion.

Di believe be say di gang get about 1,800 armed members wey dem mainly recruit from far-right paramilitary groups.

Members of di gang don chop arrest for Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Peru and Spain.

Di gang dey control many of di routes wey dem dey use to smuggle drugs from Colombia to di US and as far away as Russia.

Colombian goment, however, believe say dem don take down di numbers of pipo inside di gang in recent years, forcing many leading members to hide for remote regions inside di jungle.

How Authorities take capture Otoniel?

Security operatives catch Otoniel for im rural hideout inside Antioquia province for north-western Colombia, close to di border with Panama.

Di operation involve 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters. One police officer die for di operation.

Otoniel bin dey use network of rural safe houses to move around and dodge authorities, and e no dey use phone, instead e dey rely on letters for communication.

Before, police bin find special orthopaedic mattresses for Otoniel for di sparse homes, as e dey suffer back pain from one herniated disc.

Police chief Jorge Vargas bin tok say di drug lord dey fear make dem no catch am, "e no dey ever go areas wey pipo no dey".

But El Tiempo report say authorities manage to identify di location where dem finally capture am two weeks ago.

Chief Vargas tok say dem trace e movements with more than 50 signal intelligence experts using satellite imagery. US and UK agencies dey involve for di search.

President of Colombia, Iván Duque Duque describe di operation as "di biggest penetration of di jungle wey we don ever see for di military history of our kontri".