Just hours before a crucial White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, authorities handed over a high-profile drug trafficker to the United States.

Andrés Felipe Marín Silva, who heads the criminal organisation "La Inmaculada," was seen in handcuffs being escorted by Colombian officials during his extradition. He was moved overnight from a police facility in central Bogotá to the force's counter-narcotics base close to El Dorado International Airport, The Express US reports.

More than 70 officers took part in the operation, supported by drones and the police's "Halcon" helicopter.

Throughout the extradition process, security forces remained vigilant against potential rescue bids or breakout schemes. Bomb disposal teams were positioned at multiple strategic locations throughout the capital.

"The materialization of the extradition of alias Pipe Tuluá leaves in evidence a solid and effective work of cooperation between the United States and Colombia," Colonel Elver Alfonso Sanabria, director of the DIJIN, told El Tiempo.

Marín Silva has an extensive criminal history stretching back over 20 years. When extradited, he was already serving a 30-year sentence in Colombia for murder, extortion, and conspiracy.

Despite being behind bars, authorities suspect he remained in control of La Inmaculada's operations from within prison. In the United States, Marín Silva is wanted in the Eastern District of Texas for orchestrating major cocaine shipments.

Investigators claim that Marín Silva collaborated with multiple cartels, including Mexico's Sinaloa and La Línea organisations and Colombia's Oficina de Envigado, to smuggle narcotics through Central America and Mexico into American cities including Dallas and Denver.

The extradition of Marín Silva arrives at a delicate moment in Colombian-American relations. He had previously attempted to position himself as a "peace manager" under President Petro's "Total Peace" initiative, a designation that has prevented extraditions in other instances.

Nevertheless, negotiations with La Inmaculada stalled. The Colombian Supreme Court finalised the order, delivering a favourable ruling on three drug-trafficking charges, with Petro subsequently signing the final decree.

Upon his arrival in the United States, Marín Silva is anticipated to stand before a federal court in Texas to answer the charges against him.