BOGOTA , Colombia ( CNN ) -- An alleged drug kingpin was captured in his underwear Monday , hiding in a bush outside a house in western Colombia , government officials said in Bogota . Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez was captured in his underwear , hiding in bushes , Gen. Mario Montoya Uribe said . Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez , now 47 the FBI says , was taken into custody early Monday , Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos told reporters . `` He was considered the most sought-after narcotrafficker in the world , '' Santos said . The FBI had been seeking Montoya , known as `` Don Diego , '' for seven years and had him on the Most Wanted list . The FBI accused him of being responsible for shipping `` multiple tons of cocaine '' into the United States and called him `` one of the principal leaders of the Colombian North Valley drug cartel , '' which it said is `` the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organization in Colombia . '' The cartel reportedly relies on right-wing paramilitary and left-wing rebel groups , the FBI said on its Web site , which had not been updated Monday evening . Montoya was responsible for as much as 70 percent of the cocaine sold in the United States and Europe and his organization ordered 1,500 assassinations , Santos said . Watch Montoya being escorted under heavy guard » . The capture was the culmination of a plan months in the making , Santos said . Plans revved up three days ago , when informants told authorities that Montoya was in the town of Salsa in the department of El Valle , he said . On Sunday , intelligence narrowed his whereabouts to the Hacienda Pital , said Gen. Mario Montoya Uribe . `` With this information , we mounted the operation , '' he said . `` This morning , at 4:30 a.m. , we got the green light . '' Forty members of the army 's special forces were flown past Montoya Sanchez 's phalanx of security guards , and other soldiers were moved to other locations to distract them , he said . By 6:20 a.m. a commando team had surrounded the house as other troops stayed about 400 meters away . Inside they found three women , including Montoya Sanchez 's mother , and two men , one of them his uncle . They also found his wallet and cell phone , but Montoya Sanchez was nowhere to be found , the general said . But a soldier searching outside the house saw leaves of a bush move and found the suspect hiding , clad in his underwear , Montoya Uribe said . The heavy-set man was taken to a helicopter and ferried to the capital , where authorities paraded him -- now wearing a black T-shirt and khaki pants , his hands bound before him -- before reporters . Asked if he wanted to make a statement , he said he did not . Montoya Sanchez 's two brothers are also in custody on drug charges . Juan Carlos has been extradited to the United States and Eugenio is awaiting extradition . The U.S. State Department was offering a $ 5 million reward for Montoya Sanchez 's capture . It was not immediately clear who , if anyone , would get it . Since taking office in 2002 , President Alvaro Uribe , a key U.S. ally in Latin America , has approved the extradition of nearly 500 Colombians to the United States , the majority on drug-trafficking charges , according to The Associated Press . For his aggressive stance , the United States has awarded Colombia with more than $ 700 million in annual anti-narcotic aid . E-mail to a friend .
Reputed drug lord on Montoya Sanchez 's 's top three most-wanted list captured in Bogota . Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez `` the most sought-after narcotrafficker in the world '' FBI offered reward of more than $ 700 million for information leading to his arrest .