A suspected leader of Colombia's Cali drug cartel has been arrested, and faces charges of importing cocaine into the Netherlands.

The 45-year-old man is regarded as one of the world's most wanted drug dealers, according to Dutch police.

The man, who has been named as Luis Arnoldo Quiceno Botero, was arrested on Tuesday on the Dutch island of Curacuo. He was flown back to the Netherlands, where he is being held in a high-security detention centre.

"The arrest marks an important success in the fight against the Colombian drugs mafia," said a statement from the Hague.

He is being prosecuted for bringing three shipments of cocaine into the Netherlands in 1991 and 1992. Prosecutor Liesbeth Horstink said the suspect was also one of the most wanted men in the United States in connection with drug-smuggling offences.

The arrest followed three years of investigation by Dutch authorities into the operations of the Cali cartel in the Netherlands.
 

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