BOGOTA (Reuters) – A Colombian man accused of exporting tonnes of cocaine to the United States was captured yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s famed Ipanema beach in a multinational police operation, ending a years-long manhunt.

Colombian, Brazilian and US law enforcement officers participated in the arrest of 42-year-old Ramon Caro on the Brazilian beach, where he was posing as a cattle rancher on vacation.

“We had been chasing him for years,” said Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva. It was unclear whether Caro will be extradited straight to the United States, where he is wanted on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, or sent to Colombia first.

Caro is said by authorities to be a 20-year-veteran of Colombia’s violent cocaine trade. His operations were based in the eastern province of Casanare and police say he was linked to right-wing paramilitaries branded terrorists by Washington.

Caro was at the centre of a recent controversy when videotapes of his wedding surfaced, showing two Colombian army colonels among the guests. Both were booted out of the military as a result of the scandal.

Caro’s capture follows the arrest on Tuesday of Ramon Quintero, another suspected Colombian drug lord caught in Ecuador’s capital city Quito. Colombians wanted by the law often cross into neighbouring countries to avoid capture.