( CNN ) -- It took 14 teams and 45 days of daily intelligence operations to nab one of Colombia 's last great crime bosses in Venezuela , an official in that country said . Venezuelan Justice and Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami on Wednesday gave the first detailed account of the capture of accused drug lord Daniel `` El Loco '' Barrera in San Cristobal , Venezuela . The operation to capture Barrera began when Colombian authorities shared intelligence with Venezuela about his whereabouts on August 6 , El Aissami said . Venezuela then deployed 14 `` intelligence and search '' teams in three states and the Venezuelan capital to try to locate him . Officials tapped 69 pay phones that may have been used by Barrera to manage his alleged drug empire in Colombia and beyond , the minister said . The monitoring operation stretched for weeks , as Barrera rarely made phone calls himself , preferring to have third parties use the public phones to call Colombia to run the business , El Aissami said . Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the arrest in a televised speech Tuesday . He called Barrera the `` last of the great ( crime ) bosses '' and said the operation was directed from Washington , with collaboration between British , Colombian , U.S. and Venezuelan authorities . The British intelligence agency MI-6 and the CIA played a role , he said . More : 'Queen of Cocaine ' killed in Colombia . The Venezuelan minister , however , did not mention either the United States or Britain and described it as a solely Venezuelan-Colombian operation . The United States and Venezuela have butted heads over anti-drug operations . Venezuela kicked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration out from the country in 2005 , and the United States has published reports questioning Venezuela 's anti-drug efforts . This week 's arrest is evidence that Venezuela is tough on drug trafficking , El Aissami said . Barrera was in possession of a fake passport under the name of `` Jose Tomas Lucumi Popo , '' the minister said . The alleged drug lord had also undergone multiple plastic surgeries to change his appearance , in both Colombia and Venezuela , he said . In October 2010 , Colombian authorities said they found more than $ 29 million and 17 million euros in cash stashed in two homes that Barrera owned . At the time , the South American country 's defense minister called it the `` biggest drug-money seizure operation in the country 's history . '' Earlier that year , the U.S. Department of the Treasury said Barrera played a significant role in international drug trafficking and described him as one of Colombia 's most-wanted drug traffickers , noting in a statement that the Colombian government had offered a $ 2.5 million reward for information leading to his capture . The statement said Barrera operated primarily in the eastern plains of Colombia , between the capital of Bogota and the Venezuelan border . An indictment unsealed in a Florida federal court in September 2011 accuses Barrera of conspiring to manufacture , distribute and import cocaine into the United States . If convicted on those charges , he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison , the U.S. Attorney 's Office said at the time . More : Mexico police capture alleged cartel leader . CNN 's Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report .
Venezuelan authorities give new details on capture of Daniel `` El Loco '' Barrera . It took 45 days and 14 intelligence teams to find him . Venezuela 's justice and interior minister makes no mention of U.S. help .