Bogota  - A man accused of being one of Colombia's biggest drug bosses was killed in a shootout with police, the defence minister said.

Miguel Angel Mejia Munera, who was gunned down Tuesday, was not only one of Colombia's most wanted men, but the United States also had promised a 5-million-dollar reward for the capture of the former paramilitary member who was accused of trafficking cocaine from Colombia into the United States via Mexico.

Authorities were continuing their search for Mejia Munera's brother Victor Manuel, also on drug-trafficking charges, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Tuesday. Together, the siblings were known in trafficking circles as "The Twins."

Mejia Munera, 48, was killed with two accomplices in the north-western department of Antioquia after they drew weapons as officers were trying to arrest them, Santos said. The suspect was wearing US Army desert fatigues at the time of his death, the minister said.

Three people were also arrested in the operation.

An informant who helped lead authorities to Mejia Munera would receive a reward, Santos said, without giving an amount.

Santos said Mejia Munera was a former commander with the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia who led a drug-trafficking ring made up primarily of members of the paramilitary group who did not join its peace process with the government.

Both the Mejia Munera brothers had taken part in the peace talks in 2004, but they abandoned the negotiations two years later, and the government ordered their arrests.

According to the US State Department, the brothers began running drugs to the United States and Europe in the late 1990s. By conservative estimates, it said, they transported 68 tons of cocaine over a two-year period.

A drug bust in 2003 dealt a blow to their organization, resulting in the seizure of 25 tons of cocaine and 43 arrests, the State Department said. (dpa)