Bogotá, October 3 (RHC)-- Colombia's security forces killed an alleged drug lord during a joint police and military operation, President Juan Manuel Santos said Friday.

"Air Force intelligence confirms that Megateo was killed. Big hit, congratulations. Criminals either face justice or end in a grave," Santos said on his Twitter account, referring to Victor Ramon Navarro.

Navarro, popularly known as Megateo, was the leader of a breakaway faction of the former leftist guerrilla movement, the Popular Liberation Army, or EPL. The group was officially dismantled in the 1990’s after the signing of a peace accord.

Colombian officials say the remnants of the EPL went on to dominate drug trafficking in the Colombian province of Norte de Santander.

Megateo had been identified by Colombian authorities as a major drug trafficker who helped coordinate the smuggling of cocaine into Venezuela with the assistance of criminal gangs. Reports say Megateo was considered a ‘Robin Hood’ type figure, distributing school supplies to kids, personally delivering food to elderly people in remote villages, giving out Christmas gifts.