Bogotá, September 1 (Xinhua-RHC) -- A total of 64 members of "Usaga Clan" and "La Empresa" criminal gangs were captured in different departments of Colombia, authorities said over the weekend.

The top leader of "Usaga Clan," Eber Alegria alias "Liso Negro," was captured together with 47 members of the two gangs by police in Buenaventura city, a southwestern seaport of Valle del Cauca Department, according to Colombia's El Tiempo daily network.

"The 48 captured were responsible for targeted killings and extortion of money from local shopkeepers, in order to fund the illicit gang," a police report said, adding that "they have 22 deaths attributed to them in the past six months in Buenaventura."

Police of neighboring Choco department captured another 16 members from the two gangs, who were accused of 12 murders, gun trafficking and drug sales.

Buenaventura is the main Colombian port on the Pacific coast and its proximity to the sea has turned the area into a center of drugs and arms trafficking by organized criminal groups.