Story highlights Tomas Yarrington was governor of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas from 1999-2004

He is accused of accepting bribes from the Gulf cartel in exchange for letting them operate in his state

(CNN) A fugitive Mexican ex-governor wanted by authorities both in his home country and the United States was captured in Italy Sunday, the Mexican attorney general's office said.

At one time, Tomas Yarrington was governor of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas and was a candidate to be his party's nominee for the presidency. That was back in 2004, when his five-year term as governor was coming to a close.

Dogged by allegations of taking bribes from drug cartels and money laundering, however, Yarrington's political ambitions were curtailed and he became a fugitive after a federal grand jury in neighboring Texas indicted him in 2013 for racketeering, money laundering and fraud.

Three years later, the Mexican government filed its own criminal charges against Yarrington, offering a 15-million-peso (about $800,000) reward for information leading to his "whereabouts, detention or arrest."

Read More