( CNN ) -- Spanish police announced Friday the arrest of one of the most sought-after narcotraffickers in the world , Edgar Guillermo Vallejo Guarin , also known as `` Beto the Gypsy . '' Edgar Guillermo Vallejo Guarin on his wanted posters . Vallejo Guarin was arrested outside a luxury hotel in central Madrid with the collaboration of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration , the Spanish Civil Guard said in a news release . Vallejo Guarin has a long history of violence , involvement in money laundering of drug funds and corruption of high-level government officials , the release said . Among the nations seeking him was the United States , which had offered a $ 5 million reward to anyone who helped bring about his capture . He was also on the U.S. State Department 's Most Wanted list . In June 2001 , he was accused in Florida of being a principal source of cocaine smuggled from Colombia into the United States throughout the 1990s . `` He is responsible for the shipment of a multitude of tons of cocaine via ship to the United States ( especially the west coast of Florida and Miami ) and Europe , '' the release said . In addition , he is suspected of being linked to various assassinations , it said . It said that , when he was arrested near the hotel , Vallejo Guarin was carrying false identification documentation that identified him as Jairo Gomez . Vallejo Guarin 's permanent residence was in a suburb of Barcelona , but he had been moving among a number of hotels in Europe and Venezuela in an apparent attempt to avoid arrest , the release said .
Drug trafficker on U.S. State Department most wanted list is arrested in Spain . Spanish police say he was arrested outside luxury Madrid hotel . U.S. says he heads one of South America 's most violent drugs operations . U.S. State Department had offered a $ 5 million reward for his arrest .