Colombia arrests drug lord sought by US and Venezuela

A Venezuelan drug lord sought on drug trafficking charges in the United States and for murder in Venezuela and Colombia was arrested Friday in Cucuta, near the Venezuelan border, Colombia's top police officer said.

Handout picture released by Colombian National Police showing Walid Makled Garcia (C) aka "El Árabe" (the Arab) while he is scorted by Colombian police officers in Bogota. Makled was arrested in Colombia accused by the US and Venezuela of drug trafficking charges.

Walid Makled, 47, was included in a US extradition list "by direct request of the White House, as one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers," said National Police Chief Oscar Naranjo.

Makled is charged with belonging to a Colombian drug trafficking organization that was sending up to 10 tons of cocaine monthly to the United States and Europe, he said.

He is also charged in Colombia with the 2008 murders of rival drug trafficker Wilber Varela in southeastern Merida state, the police chief said.

In Venezuela, Makled is wanted in connection to the 2008 murders of a journalist and a veterinarian, Venezuela's Attorney General's office said Friday in a statement, adding that an extradition request was making its way through a court in Caracas.

It also said that 400 kilograms of cocaine were found on Makled's ranch in Venezuela's northern Carabobo state in 2008.

Also in 2008, Venezuelan authorities seized the Aeropostal airline and other properties owned by Makled's family.