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New York City - For two decades Diego Murillo was among Colombia's most feared and untouchable drug lords, accused of hundreds of murders as an enforcer for the cocaine cartels and leader of a right-wing paramilitary group.

Now the man known in Colombia as Don Berna is in prison after pleading guilty in Manhattan to drug trafficking charges, brought down by a U.S. probe that began with a New York City cop.

"For a long time, we never knew if we would get this guy," said NYPD detective John Barry, who was in federal court Tuesday to watch Murillo enter his plea. "Five years of work. All that traveling. The long hours ... It's tremendously gratifying."

Murillo's surprise plea came just 35 days after he arrived in handcuffs on U.S. soil. Speaking through an interpreter, the 47-year-old acknowledged he had conspired with military, political and "anti-communist" forces to smuggle tons of cocaine into the U.S.

His plea agreement calls for him to serve between 27 and 33 years in prison; prosecutors, as a condition of his extradition, had assured the Colombian government they would not seek a life sentence.

The plea was a tremendous victory for a New York task force that spent more than five years gathering evidence tying Murillo to narcotics smuggling. The investigation's roots date to late 2002 when Barry first heard Murillo's name from an informant.

Human rights groups claim Murillo is responsible directly or indirectly for hundreds of murders