Mexican authorities detained Sunday a suspected drug trafficker sought by the United States, the National Security Commission said.

The US State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Tirso Martinez Sanchez.

In an operation in the central state of Guanajuato, authorities "arrested the suspect, wanted on charges that he moved 76 tonnes of cocaine into the United States from 2000-2003," the commission said in a statement.

The United States says Martinez Sanchez received cocaine directly from Colombia and then imported it through Mexico through large urban distribution centers in the lucrative US market.

The US-Mexican border is a porous and violent 3,000-kilometer stretch where trafficking in drugs and people is widespread.

Drug-related and organized crime violence in Mexico has left more than 77,000 people dead since 2006, according to official data.