Key Colombian drug lord captured in Venezuela

By Jack Kimball

BOGOTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - One of Colombia's most wanted drug traffickers was captured in neighboring Venezuela on Tuesday with the help of Caracas as well as British and U.S. intelligence agencies, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said.

Colombia is one of the world's top producers of cocaine, and criminal gangs composed of former right-wing paramilitary groups and old cartels have become a major emerging threat to the nation of 46 million people.

Daniel Barrera, known as "Crazy Barrera," was captured across the border in San Cristobal, Venezuela, in an operation that was directed from Washington by a Colombian police general, Santos said in a televised speech.

"Crazy Barrera has been, perhaps, the most wanted kingpin in recent times. He has dedicated 20 years to doing bad things to Colombia and the world, all types of crime, perverse alliances with paramilitaries, with the FARC (rebel group)," Santos said.

Barrera had a ${esc.dollar}5 million bounty on his head from the United States and ${esc.dollar}2.7 million from Colombia's government.

Santos thanked U.S. and British intelligence agencies as well as Venezuela's government for their help. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been one of the fiercest critics in Latin America of U.S. and Western foreign policy.

Santos did not give any more details on the operation. Venezuela's government summoned reporters for a press conference early on Wednesday to discuss Barrera's capture.

Santos has forged a friendship with Chavez since the Colombian leader took power in 2010. On Wednesday, Santos is due to meet Chavez's election rival, Henrique Capriles, in Bogota.

While bloodshed from Colombia's long guerrilla and drug wars has dropped since a U.S.-backed offensive began more than a decade ago, bombings, murders and combat continue, mainly in the country's frontier areas.

The decline in violence has attracted billions of dollars in foreign investment mainly to Colombia's mining and oil sectors, which has allowed the country to boost crude and coal output to historic highs. (Additional reporting by Monica Garcia and Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Christopher Wilson)