Juan de Dios Úsuga, alias “Giovanni,” headed the Urabeños‘ military wing while the group was under the command of Daniel Rendón Herrera, alias “Don Mario.” After Rendón’s arrest, Úsuga and his brother Dario Antonio took command of an estimated 250 loyal combatants. They began expanding their recruitment and drug trafficking operations in the Urabá region near the Panamanian border, where the Úsugas are originally from. Juan de Dios was killed by security forces on January 1, 2012.
History
Alongside his brother, Dario Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” Juan de Dios was a member of the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación – EPL) before the guerrilla group demobilized in 1991. Juan de Dios later joined the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC), and worked for drug trafficker Daniel Rendón Herrera, alias “Don Mario,” as part of the paramilitary’s Centauros Bloc.
Giovanni FactboxDOB: Unknown Group: Urabeños Criminal Activities: Drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping Status: Killed Area of Operation: Uraba region (northwest Colombia) |
Juan de Dios demoblized once again in 2005 as a member of the AUC, but quickly joined the Urabeños under the leadership of Don Mario. Following the arrest of Don Mario in 2009, the Úsuga brothers became the leaders of the criminal organization based in Colombia’s northwest region of Urabá.
With Úsuga in charge, the Urabeños escalated a violent turf battle with the Paisas and the Rastrojos in southern Cordoba and in the Lower Cauca region, northern Antioquia. In 2009, the towns of Caucasia and Tarazá saw soaring murder rates, as Úsuga tried to take control of these drug distribution centers, both located on a major highway connecting Medellín to the Caribbean coast. The amount of land used for coca cultivation in Córdoba also doubled between 2008 and 2009, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Colombian anti-narcotics police have said this may be related to the expanded Urabeños presence.
Criminal Activities
According to police, Úsuga ran the Urabeños operations in northern Colombia, and oversaw drug routes and distribution points, as well as illicit crops in the region. Authorities have offered 500 million Colombian pesos ($278,000) in return for information leading to the capture of him or his brother. In March 2010, the US Treasury Department added Úsuga to its drug “Kingpin List.”
Geography
Úsuga operated in the Urabeños stronghold of Urabá in northwest Colombia. Úsuga was very security conscious, and reportedly only moved between a small area of land in northern Antioquia that was firmly under the control of his criminal organization.
Allies and Enemies
Úsuga reportedly had contact with all the major drug traffickers in northern Colombia. The Urabeños worked closely with Henry de Jesus López Londoño, alias “Mi Sangre,” who joined the criminal organization in 2009 and expanded the group’s presence into the city of Medellín. At the time of his death, the Urabeños were battling rival criminal group the Rastrojos.
Prospects
Úsuga was taken down in a raid by security forces on his ranch in Choco province, near the border with Panama, in the early hours of January 1, 2012. Following his death, the Urabeños declared an “armed strike” and offered a reward of roughly $1,000 for every police officer killed in Antioquia.
Úsuga’s brother, Otoniel, has become the top leader of the Urabeños as well as Colombia’s most wanted criminal.