A Colombian national suspected of being the leader of a ruthless criminal organisation linked to 400 murders, international drug trafficking and extortion has been arrested in Spain.

The 40-year-old man, identified as Hernan Alonso Villa and described as one of Colombia's most wanted criminals, was arrested yesterday while driving on a highway on the outskirts of the south-eastern Mediterranean port city of Alicante, police said in a statement.

Alonso Villa is alleged to be the head of a cartel from Medellin, Colombia, which was founded by Diego Murillo Bejarano and has fought bloody turf wars with notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar.

Today's statement said Alonso Villa had 200 people under his command and was responsible for exporting cocaine to Spain, United States and the Netherlands.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.