BOGOTA, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- One of Colombia's last infamous drug crime figures was arrested, the result of a multinational operation, President Juan Manuel Santos said.
Santos said accused drug kingpin Daniel "El Loco" Barrera was captured in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Tuesday, CNN reported.
Barrera is accused of working with paramilitaries and the militant Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, as well as drug trafficking-related crimes spanning more than two decades.
"He is the last of the great [crime] bosses. This is very forceful blow," Santos said in televised remarks. "This is a very important step toward the security that we want to achieve in this country."
The operation, directed from Washington, was a collaborative effort of British, Colombian, U.S. and Venezuelan officials, Santos said. The CIA and the British intelligence agency MI6 also helped.
In October 2010, Colombian authorities said they found more than $29 million and 17 million euros hidden in two homes Barrera owned, CNN said.
The same year, the U.S. Treasury Department said Barrera played a major role in international drug trafficking and was one of Colombia's most wanted drug traffickers.
CNN said an indictment unsealed in a federal court in September 2011 accused Barrera of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and ship cocaine to the United States.
