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Police 'kill Colombian drug lord' Police 'kill Colombian drug lord'
(about 3 hours later)
Police in Colombia say they have killed one of the country's most notorious criminals, Miguel Angel Mejia Munera. Colombian police have killed one of the country's most notorious criminals, Victor Manuel Mejia Munera, media reports say.
The drug lord and leader of a new generation of paramilitary groups was one of the US' most wanted criminals. Officials had said the dead man was Mejia's brother, Miguel Angel, but an autopsy report confirmed him as Victor.
Washington had offered $5m (£2.5m) for information leading to the capture of Mejia and his twin brother, Victor. Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said he was killed in a shoot-out the northern province of Antioquia.
Colombia's Defence Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, said Mejia was killed during a shoot-out in the northern province of Antioquia. The US had offered a reward of $5m (£2.5m) for information leading to the brothers' capture.
"He was perhaps the most wanted of all the criminals in Colombia," said Mr Santos. Two bodyguards were killed with the fugitive, who died wearing American desert-type camouflage.
Two bodyguards were killed with the fugitive, who was wearing a US military uniform when police raided his ranch hide-out after an informant's tip-off, reports say. Colombia media reports say officials thought the dead man was Miguel Angel because of documents found at the scene.
If confirmed, Mejia's death will be a double victory for the Colombian government, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia. In the criminal underworld, the Mejia brothers command fear and respect, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Bogota.
Mejia was not only a prominent drugs trafficker, says our correspondent, but also a leader of the new generation of paramilitary groups that sprang up after the demobilisation of the illegal army, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). They came to public notice in 2001 when $35m in cash of theirs was found in two apartments in Bogota.
The brothers were not only prominent drugs traffickers, but also led part of the new generation of paramilitary groups that sprang up after the demobilisation of the illegal United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, the AUC.