The U.S. State Department has described the cartel as “heavily armed and extremely violent,” consisting of “former members of terrorist organizations that did not demobilize” after a 2016 peace accord ended a half-century of deadly conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group. The department had offered up to $5 million for information leading to Mr. Úsuga’s capture or conviction.
The Clan del Golfo has often seen migrants in parts of Colombia’s countryside as it does drugs — as goods to tax and control, according to stories from people in the region. Mr. Úsuga has also been accused of recruiting minors and sexually abusing local women and girls.
Some of Mr. Úsuga’s accusers had sought to block his extradition, calling for him to be held accountable in Colombia and to reveal his knowledge of war crimes and violence. The Colombian Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, denied the request.
Angela María Escobar, a leader in the Network of Women Victims and Professionals in Bogotá, said she worries that Mr. Úsuga’s flight out of the country Wednesday will hamstring efforts to find justice. “They aren’t letting him pay for the crimes here in Colombia,” she said. “They’ve extradited the truth.”
Paramilitary groups in Colombia have long been tied to the country’s political class, experts say.
Some residents believed the significance of Mr. Úsuga’s arrest lay not in its immediate consequences for the cartel — which has continued to exert control over parts of the country — but rather in his “power to reveal about the state complicity in these violent movements,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst on Colombia for International Crisis Group.
Mr. Úsuga had been testifying through the country’s so-called transitional justice process, set up as part of the 2016 peace deal to address systemic violations of human rights. But the hearings were interrupted several times, including by the extradition, according to local news reports.
“It looks bad in terms of what sort of justice, truth and reconciliation can be offered to victims, if someone like this isn’t even able to have several months to spend testifying before extradition,” Ms. Dickinson said. “We’re not talking about a few people here. We’re talking about thousands of victims.”
