Drug lord with links to Mexico captured in Venezuela
A high-profile drug trafficker with strong links to the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas has been handed over to US authorities on charges of shipping tons of cocaine into the country.
Columbian dealer Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, known as 'Valenciano', was deported to the US by the powers in Venezuela after the Americans offered a $5 million (£3.2 million) reward for information leading to his arrest, the Associated Press reports.
Valenciano was on Columbia's most-wanted list for his continued supply of large amounts of cocaine to American streets.
He was also known to deal extensively to Mexico's Zetas cartel, who could potentially sell the drugs on and use the money towards violence and blackmail.
When the drug lord was captured, both Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez suggested that this was a huge step to show the improved counter-drug cooperation between the countries.
Earlier this week, Raul Lucio Hernandez Lechuga also known as El Lucky, one of the leaders in the Zetas cartel comma was captured by officials in the city of Cordoba.
