Via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Colombia nabs reputed drug cartel leader

Police captured a reputed leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel Tuesday, the latest arrest in a U.S.-backed effort to dismantle a gang accused of trafficking half of all cocaine sold in the United States in the 1990s.

Dagoberto Florez, a reputed capo or leader in the cartel, was on a list of most wanted alleged cocaine kingpins sought by U.S. authorities under a court order handed down in New York in May. The U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

Police seized Florez early Tuesday in a rural area outside Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city 250 miles northwest of the capital, the national police chief, Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro, told reporters. He declined to provide details on the capture, and said it hasn’t been decided who, if anyone, would receive the reward money.