Ecuadorian authorities on Tuesday arrested one of Colombia’s most wanted drug-trafficking kingpins, Ramon Quintero Sanclemente, for whom the U.S. has offered a $5 million reward, reported Colombian media.
Quintero, who is suspected of running one of Colombia’s most notorious narco-trafficking organizations, the “Norte del Valle” cartel, was detained by police in a restaurant in the north of Quito, Ecuador’s capital, after information collected by Colombian and U.S. anti-drug enforcement agencies led them to locate the wanted man.
According to Colombia’s director of national migration, Edwin Baez, “He was detained at 4.30 PM and we immediately handed him over to the Pichincha administration, so that we could begin his deportation.”
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe officially thanked Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and the country’s armed forces for their part in the arrest of the cartel capo.
Quintero is a veteran of Colombia’s illegal drug trade and is wanted in both his native country and the United States.