Colombian drug cartel ready for negotiations

By Sinan Dogan

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo responded positively to the government's call for negotiations as part of its "Total Peace" policy.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro had offered the right-wing narco-paramilitary group Clan del Golfo one last negotiation.

The group responded affirmatively, saying: "We are ready for political negotiations that allow for the social transformation we all desire," local media reported.

Petro, speaking at an event, urged the group to cease drug trafficking, extortion, and immigrant smuggling, warning against any "leniency."

He reiterated the call for negotiation, challenging the group to show courage to negotiate or face confrontation, saying: "If you don't dare, we will fight you and destroy you."

- Clan del Golfo

According to local media reports, Clan del Golfo has between 6,000 and 9,000 armed members.

On Feb.17, Clan del Golfo carried out an armed attack on soldiers conducting an operation in the countryside of the town of Segovia in the Antioquia administrative region, killing four soldiers.

Dairo Antonio Usuga David, nicknamed "Otoniel", the former ringleader of the cartel, was captured in an operation called "Osiris" organized by 650 police and army members using 22 helicopters in the northwestern town Necocli on Oct. 23, 2021.

Otoniel was transferred from the Dijin prison in the capital Bogota, to a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York, with a bomber aircraft in May 2022.

*Writing by Muhammed Yasin Gungor in Istanbul