Colombia extradites drug lord 'Otoniel' to US

One of Colombia's most notorious drug lords was extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, said President Ivan Duque.

"I want to reveal that we have extradited Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias 'Otoniel'; the most dangerous drug trafficker in the world," Duque said on Twitter.

Usuga, 50, was the most wanted person in Colombia until he was arrested last October in the northwest of the country following a massive military operation.

Duque described Usuga as a "murderer of social leaders and police, an abuser of boys, girls and teenagers. Today legality, the state of law, the security forces and justice triumphed."

In the afternoon, a convoy of five bullet-proof police vehicles took Usuga from his jail in Bogota to a military airport, where he was handed over to US Drug Enforcement Administration officials.

Images shared by local media showed a handcuffed Usuga seated in an aeroplane alongside Colombian police and an Interpol official.

Usuga was the leader of Colombia's largest narco-trafficking gang, known as the Gulf Clan.

He was captured near the border with Panama following a massive military operation involving 500 soldiers backed by 22 helicopters, in which one police officer was killed.

It was one of the biggest blows to Colombia's drug trafficking business since the assassination of Pablo Escobar in 1993.

Following Usuga's arrest and that of another 90 suspected gang members, Duque declared the "end" of the Gulf Clan.