Colombian police kill cocaine-smuggling 'twin'
BOGOTA, April 29 (Reuters) - Police killed a drug lord known as one of the "twins" who controlled Colombia's biggest emerging cocaine gang made up of former right-wing militia fighters, in a shootout on Tuesday.
"He was one of our most wanted," said Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos in announcing that Miguel Mejia Munera had been shot dead along with two of his bodyguards near the northern city of Medellin.
Mejia Munera and his twin brother, who is still at large, gained influence after cocaine-funded paramilitaries demobilized under a government peace deal that was criticized by rights groups for not forcing militia fighters to give up crime.
"The twins were the most powerful leaders of Colombia's new generation criminal bands, which combine paramilitary and drug-cartel structures and pose the biggest threat to Colombia's future," said Pablo Casas, an analyst at Bogota think-tank Security and Democracy.
Mejia Munera was wanted for drug trafficking in the United States and had a $5 million reward on his head offered by the U.S. government, as does his brother, Victor Manuel.
The United States has given Colombia about $5.5 billion in aid over the last seven years aimed at combating the drug trade and bolstering security.
Urban crime rates have plummeted and investment is up in Colombia due to the military push. But cocaine exports from the Andean country remain steady at over 600 tonnes per year, according to the United Nations. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein)
