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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 11 May 2022
Colombia cartel shuts down towns over leader's extradition

By ASTRID SUAREZ cer match between local
Associated Press team Jaguares and a club
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) from Medellin was sus-
— The Gulf Clan drug car- pended Sunday because
tel shut down dozens of the visitors refused to travel
towns in northern Colom- to Monteria in fear their bus
bia for four days in reaction would be attacked by car-
to its leader being extra- tel enforcers.
dited to the U.S. for trial. It The Gulf Clan, which also
warned that anyone who calls itself the Gaitanista
disobeyed the stay-at- Self Defense Forces of Co-
home order risked being lombia, was founded in the
shot or having their vehicle first decade of this century
burned. by leaders of paramilitary
Businesses closed, schools groups that refused to join
stayed shut, intercity bus a demobilization agree-
service was suspended ment in which other groups
and a professional soccer took part.
match couldn't be played Otoniel, the Gulf Clan's
after one of the teams re- most recent leader, had
fused to travel to the game. long been a fixture on the
The Gulf Clan's "armed U.S. Drug Enforcement Ad-
stoppage" decree was is- In this photo released by the Colombian Presidential Press Office, police escort Dairo Antonio ministration's most-wanted
sued Thursday in pamphlets Usuga, center, also known as "Otoniel," leader of the violent Clan del Golfo cartel prior to his ex- list.
and What'sApp messages tradition to the U.S., at a military airport in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. He was first indicted in 2009
following the extradition Associated Press in Manhattan federal court
of Dairo Antonio Usuga — on narcotics charges and
also known as Otoniel — to ernment's long fight against than back then." lutionary Armed Forces of for allegedly assisting a far
the United States, where drug trafficking groups. According to Colombia's Colombia rebel group. right paramilitary group
he faces drug trafficking "The security strategy of fo- Ministry of Defense, three The tribunal said 24 civilians designated as a terrorist or-
charges. cusing on high profile tar- civilians and three police were slain in areas covered ganization by the U.S. gov-
The action appeared to gets does not guarantee officers were killed during by the Gulf Clan's stop- ernment. Later indictments
be winding down Mon- security for civilians," said the four days of the shut- page, which it said forced in Brooklyn and Miami fed-
day, according to reports Elizabeth Dickinson, a se- down and more than 180 people to stay home in 138 eral courts accused him
from human rights groups nior analyst at the Interna- cars were burned for ap- municipalities in the north- of smuggling at least 73
and the Roman Catholic tional Crisis Group. parently violating the car- ern provinces of Choco, Su- metric tons of cocaine into
Church, bit o underlined Camilo Gonzalez, the presi- tel's order, mostly on rural cre, Bolivar, Antioquia and the United States between
that the cartel is still a ma- dent of Colombian think highways. Cordoba. 2003 and 2014.
jor security threat despite tank Indepaz, said: "Drug Even worse numbers were In Monteria, a provincial Colombian authorities
Otoniel's highly publicized trafficking will not end with reported by the Special capital of almost 500,000 have sought to play down
arrest last year. the capture of Otoniel. Jurisdiction for Peace, a residents, commerce shut the cartel's stoppage, say-
Analysts said the cartel's When they captured Pablo tribunal created follow- down for four days and ing they deployed 52,000
ability to shut down mul- Escobar they said drug traf- ing the 2016 peace deal the local gas company soldiers to ensure the secu-
tiple towns highlighted ficking would be over, and between the Colombian stopped delivering cyl- rity of civilians in the affect-
shortcomings in the gov- today there is more of it government and the Revo- inders to homes. A soc- ed areas.q

Putin urges stronger action to prevent wildfires

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian "We can't allow a repeat of rules, has caused a grow-
President Vladimir Putin the last year's situation," Pu- ing number of wildfires that
urged authorities on Tues- tin said. "We need to com- authorities say have con-
day to take stronger ac- bat fires in a more efficient, sumed more than 17 million
tion to prevent wildfires systemic and consistent hectares (42 million acres)
and increase coordination way." last year in Russia.
between various official He reaffirmed the impor- Russian experts decried a
agencies in dealing with tance of forests for dealing 2007 decision to disband
them. with global warming, not- a federal aviation network
Speaking in a video call ing that "large-scale wild- tasked to spot and combat
with federal and regional fires undermine our climate fires and turn over its assets
officials, Putin emphasized protection efforts." to regional authorities. The
that wildfires that hit Rus- "This issue is of principal im- much-criticized transfer led
sia last year were the big- portance for our country to the force's rapid decline. In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian
Emergency Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, a
gest in years and asked and the entire world," he The government later re- firefighter works at the scene of a forest fire in Kurgan region,
local governors to report said. In recent years, Rus- versed the move and rees- Russia.
on measures that were tak- sia has recorded high tem- tablished the federal agen- Associated Press
en to increase fire safety peratures that many scien- cy in charge of monitoring
across the country. tists regard as a clear result forests from the air. How- of Siberia and the Far East. and rapid response forces.
He noted that a series of of climate change. The ever, its resources remain The authorities responded The Kremlin has ordered to
wildfires already spread hot weather, coupled with limited, making it hard to to last year's fires by beef- earmark additional funds
across several regions. the neglect of fire safety survey the massive forests ing up monitoring assets for combating the blazes.q