MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombian authorities seize assets from arrested drug traffickers

The Prosecutor's Office imposed precautionary measures on 560 assets belonging to Otoniel and Nicolás

Colombian prosecutors have seized assets worth around US $ 37.2 believed to have been acquired by Gulf Clan leader Dairo Antonio Úsuga, a.k.a. “Otoniel,” with money from illegal deeds.

The decision was taken Sunday by the Specialized Directorate for Extinction of Property Rights of the Prosecutor's Office, which “imposed precautionary measures on 560 assets” belonging to Otoniel and Carlos Antonio Moreno Tuberquia, alias “Nicolás,” it was reported.

The Prosecutor's Office took possession of 543 head of cattle, 25 buildings and commercial establishments in the towns of Mutatá, Apartadó, Necoclí, and Turbo, in the department of Antioquía.

According to investigators, the properties were allegedly bought with “money from transnational cocaine trafficking and other illegal activities directed by aliases 'Otoniel' and 'Nicolás',” the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

The properties were listed in the names of relatives and people close to the two leaders of the Clan. The assets now under precautionary measures will be handled by the State's Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE - Special Assets Society).

According to Colombian Police, the Gulf Clan traffics, on average, 20 tons of cocaine per month.

“Otoniel” was arrested Oct. 23 in a rural area of Necoclí, where he had been hiding for months, and “Nicolás”, said to be the second most important man in the Gulf Clan, was apprehended in 2018 in the town of San Rafael.

Read also: Colombian forces arrest most wanted drug trafficker Otoniel