A Jamaican fugitive who has been implicated in a 'major crime' in Chicago, and who is believed to have been on the run for 20 years, was arrested on Wednesday during a traffic stop, a report in The Grand Rapids News describes.

According to the report, a state police trooper stopped a vehicle around 4 p.m. in Big Rapids because the driver was not using a seat belt.

The trooper determined that the man, who had lived in the area for two decades, did not have a driver's licence.

Police arrested the driver, and, using a Live Scan computerised fingerprint system, determined that the 52-year-old felon from Jamaica was wanted in Chicago.

He had been ordered out of the country in 2001 by a federal judge, police said.

He had previously been arrested in Lake Mecosta and Osceola counties, but his true identity was not discovered until Wednesday.

The suspect was not named but was said to be a key figure in a major crime committed in Chicago.