The Clan del Golfo (English: The Gulf Clan), also known as Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) and formerly called Los Urabeños and Clan Úsuga, is a prominent Colombian neo-paramilitary group and currently the country's largest drug cartel.
Los Urabeños is one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Colombia. The crime syndicate recruits its members mainly from former right-wing paramilitaries and is said to have around 6,000 men under arms. In addition to drug trafficking, the Gulf clan is also involved in illegal mining and racketeering and is responsible for numerous murders and expulsions. It is based in the Urabá region of Antioquia, and is involved in the Colombian armed conflict.
Los Urabeños is one of the organizations that appeared after the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. In late 2011 Los Urabeños declared war on Los Rastrojos over the control of the drug trade in Medellín. Their main source of income is cocaine trafficking as they appear to be the largest distributors of cocaine in all of Colombia. As of late 2021, it is considered the most powerful criminal organization in Colombia, having some 3,000 members in the inner circle of the organization in 2016 with its current numbers unknown. Its rivals include the National Liberation Army. The Gulf Clan has recruited accomplices at the highest level of the military hierarchy, such as generals and colonels.
One of the many groups made up of former mid-level paramilitary leaders, the Clan have caused homicide rates to skyrocket in Colombia's northern departments. It is currently one of the more ambitious and ruthless of Colombia's drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). The group's power base is currently in the Antioquia, Sucre and Córdoba departments, with a presence in various other departments and regions in the country including major cities such as Medellín and Bogotá. Currently, the Clan is likely the single largest distributor of cocaine in the world having formed direct, highly-lucrative partnerships with drug cartels in Mexico as well as European crime groups such as 'Ndrangheta and the Albanian mafia who split their billions made in profit from the illegal cocaine trade with the Clan.
In June 2020, the Colombian National Police revealed that former Los Rastrojos member Marlon Gregorio Celis Caballero, alias 'Loquillo or Felipe', had become the new leader of the Clan del Golfo by April 2020. At the time of this revelation, the Clan del Golfo reduced its drug trafficking route to the Caribbean region and also named a Ciénaga native with the alias "Diana" as the new head trafficker. However, the Clan del Golfo has also been distracted by a direct conflict with FARC dissidents. On October 23, 2021, the group's leader Dario Antonio Úsuga David, better known as Otoniel, was captured. At the time of his arrest, Otoniel was Colombia's most wanted drug lord. Following the arrest of Otoniel, President of Colombia Iván Duque Márquez described the weakened Clan del Golfo as "over" and claimed that "its days are numbered".
Origins
For the "Clan del Golfo," before named "Los Urabeños" from Urabá, the northwestern region near the Panamanian border is highly prized by drug traffickers as it offers access to the Caribbean and Pacific coast, from the departments of Antioquia and Chocó. However, the origins of the group can be traced elsewhere, in Colombia's Eastern Plains, where Daniel Rendón Herrera, better known as ‘Don Mario,’ once handled finances for the paramilitary group Bloque Centauros.
Cocaine traffickers had long competed with the FARC for territory and influence in the Eastern Plains. In 1997, top paramilitary commanders Carlos and Vicente Castaño began sending troops to the area to co-opt the drug business from the guerrillas. In 2001, the Castaños sold one of their armed groups, later known as Bloque Centauros, to another warlord, Miguel Arroyave, allegedly for US$7 million. It was Arroyave who convinced Rendón Herrera to come work for him. Under Rendón's supervision, the Centauros became one of the wealthiest factions within the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombian (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC). The Centauros trafficked cocaine, propped up local politicians, extorted ranchers and farmers, and collected security taxes for products ranging from alcohol to petroleum.