Bogota, Colombia ? The head of Colombia’s judicial police – a top crime sleuth crusading against drug cartels – said he was shocked to learn his brother is suspected of involvement in a major European drug trafficking ring.

Gen. Oscar Naranjo broke the news of his brother’s arrest in Germany to a stunned Colombian public this week.

On Friday he said his brother, 29-year-old Juan David Naranjo, is accused of being part of what authorities say appears to be a major European drug smuggling operation.

An official in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said Juan David Naranjo was arrested in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe for having 220 pounds of drugs. The official did not disclose the type of drugs found.

Gen. Naranjo said he had not spoken to his brother and did not know about the amount of drugs found. He said he believed two or three others were arrested.

Naranjo said he “never thought that the curse of drug trafficking, which I’ve fought against tirelessly in 30 years of public service, would reach my own doorstep.”

Naranjo, the son of the former head of Colombia’s national police and the oldest of seven children, played a key role in the sting operation that brought down drug lord Pablo Escobar and later led the effort to dismantle the feared Cali cartel.

He has drawn comparisons to Chicago crimebuster Eliot Ness, a U.S. treasury agent known for taking on mobster Al Capone.