Colombian drug lord pleads guilty in U.S. court

MIAMI (Reuters) - Colombian drug lord Diego Montoya, the one-time head of Norte del Valle cocaine cartel, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Tuesday to drug and racketeering charges.

He agreed to serve a 45-year prison term and sentencing was scheduled for October 21, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami said.

Known as Don Diego, Montoya became a billionaire as he built the Norte del Valle cartel into an organization that smuggled hundreds of tons of cocaine and supplanted the mighty Cali cartel. He once appeared on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list next to Osama bin Laden,

Montoya, 48, was captured by Colombian police in 2007 hiding in a ditch dressed only in his underwear and was extradited to the United States in December to face charges.

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import more than 5 kg (11 pounds) of cocaine into the United States, one count of obstruction of justice by murder, and one count of racketeering conspiracy.

"This notorious leader of the extremely violent Norte Valley Cartel is where he belongs, behind bars for murder, drug trafficking and racketeering," Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a written statement.

According to FBI estimates, the Norte del Valle cartel at its peak was responsible for 60 percent of the cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States.

Prosecutors alleged the cartel shipped more than 1.2 million pounds (544,300 kg) of cocaine worth more than $10 billion to the United States between 1990 and 2004.

A two-year battle between Montoya and another cartel kingpin, Wilber Varela, from 2003 to 2005 resulted in hundreds of deaths, prosecutors said.

In April, Montoya's brother, Eugenio Montoya Sanchez, was sentenced by a U.S. court in Miami to 30 years in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. Two other family members have also been sentenced to prison in the case.

(Reporting by Jim Loney, editing by Jane Sutton and Cynthia Osterman)