Miami: Colombian drug boss Diego Montoya, who allegedly handled 70 percent of the cocaine trade in the United States and Europe, was extradited to Miami to stand trial on drugs and murder charges, officials said.

One of the 10 most wanted men in the United States, Montoya headed the Cartel del Norte del Valle, which replaced the notorious Cali and Medellin cartels in the 1990s.

When he was arrested in 2007,Colombian authorities said he was behind 70 percent of cocaine exports to the United States and Europe and blamed him for more than 1,500 murders.

Montoya will be indicted by a federal court in Miami on Monday on 12 charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and murder, the local attorney general s office said.

"This extradition is perhaps the most important in years," police chief General Oscar Naranjo said after Montoya left Bogota.

"Colombia is closing a chapter in its fight against drug trafficking."

The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation s Miami office Jonathan Solomon said with Montoya s extradition, "We ve taken a big step toward dismantling the cartel del Norte del Valle."

Montoya is the third cartel del Norte boss to be extradited following his brother Eugenio Montoya Sanchez, and cousin, Carlos Felipe Toro, both of whom were brought to Miami in 2005,convicted and sentenced to 21 and 19 years in prison respectively.

In 2004 the US Federal Bureau of Investigation put Montoya on its most wanted list, and estimated he was behind 60 percent of the cocaine exported to the United States.

Source : PTI