Bogota, Colombia:
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, alleged to be the country's last major drug lord, had been caught in neighbouring Venezuela in an international sting.
"The last of the great capos has fallen," Mr Santos announced on national television and radio, declaring that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service had provided support.
Mr Barrera, whose outfit is estimated to have sent more than 900 tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe, was caught in the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, said Mr Santos, who listed the drug lord as having criminal ties to FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels and paramilitaries.
"This is perhaps the most important capture of recent times," the President said, thanking the Venezuelan government for its help.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami confirmed the arrest on Twitter, calling it a "major coup" for his country and adding that "images" and "details of the operation" would be released today.
Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said Mr Barrera was captured "after an intelligence operation carried out by Venezuelan authorities," without mentioning any foreign involvement.
President Hugo Chavez has long had rocky relations with Washington and regularly accuses the United States of trying to undermine his leftist government.
In the 1980s and early 1990s Colombian cartels dominated the American drug trade, but a US-supported government crackdown has left local gangs in increasing disarray. In 2011, 252 of Bogota's 1,632 registered homicides - 15.4 per cent - were linked to drugs, according to official figures.
The regional cocaine trade, however, is still alive and well: in 2011 Colombia was the world's largest cocaine producer, according to a United Nations report, though neighbouring Peru is expected to soon overtake it.
Colombian criminal gangs as well as leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups sell the cocaine to Mexican criminal syndicates, who then smuggle it into the United States and Europe.
"The last of the great capos has fallen," Mr Santos announced on national television and radio, declaring that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service had provided support.
Mr Barrera, whose outfit is estimated to have sent more than 900 tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe, was caught in the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, said Mr Santos, who listed the drug lord as having criminal ties to FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels and paramilitaries.
"This is perhaps the most important capture of recent times," the President said, thanking the Venezuelan government for its help.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami confirmed the arrest on Twitter, calling it a "major coup" for his country and adding that "images" and "details of the operation" would be released today.
Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said Mr Barrera was captured "after an intelligence operation carried out by Venezuelan authorities," without mentioning any foreign involvement.
President Hugo Chavez has long had rocky relations with Washington and regularly accuses the United States of trying to undermine his leftist government.
In the 1980s and early 1990s Colombian cartels dominated the American drug trade, but a US-supported government crackdown has left local gangs in increasing disarray. In 2011, 252 of Bogota's 1,632 registered homicides - 15.4 per cent - were linked to drugs, according to official figures.
The regional cocaine trade, however, is still alive and well: in 2011 Colombia was the world's largest cocaine producer, according to a United Nations report, though neighbouring Peru is expected to soon overtake it.
Colombian criminal gangs as well as leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups sell the cocaine to Mexican criminal syndicates, who then smuggle it into the United States and Europe.
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