Argentina extradited alleged Colombian drug boss Henry Jesus Lopez Londono to the United States on Thursday, authorities said.

Londono, 45, was taken by helicopter from a prison on the outskirts of the Argentine capital to a nearby airport, where he was put on a plane bound for the United States, the security ministry and a police source said.

Argentine courts earlier this year cleared his extradition to Florida to face drug smuggling and conspiracy charges.

A court spokeswoman told AFP that Lopez would go before a federal judge in Florida on Friday. She declined to give further details.

Known by the nickname "Mi Sangre" (My Blood), Lopez was the head of the Los Urabenos drug cartel, one of the most feared in Colombia.

The high security operation to extradite him involved Interpol agents as well as US marshals and Argentine law enforcement officers.

At the time of his capture in October 2012, he was living in an upscale suburb of Buenos Aires with his wife and three small children.