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Venezuela credits US Coast Guard for drug seizure
Much 'analysis' removed.Venezuela gave the US Coast Guard credit on Thursday for cooperation in a large drug seizure. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said in a statement the US Coast Guard discovered 2,030 pounds of cocaine on a fishing boat off Venezuela's Caribbean coast after Venezuelan officials gave them permission to board. He said five Venezuelans were arrested, but did not say when the seizure occurred. El Aissami said the search for drugs on the fishing boat some 1,200 miles from the coastal town of Guiria was carried out "jointly with Venezuelan authorities" and he said it proves that the argument Venezuela "does not cooperate in this fight" is false. US Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Matt Moorlag said the Coast Guard located the Venezuela-flagged fishing boat 500 miles east of Brazil, boarded the vessel Wednesday and discovered approximately 2,500 pounds of cocaine. It was not immediately clear what accounted for the discrepancy in the reported size of the seizure. Moorlag said Venezuela has jurisdiction over the case, but Coast Guard officers conducted the search on their own. Chavez suspended cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005, accusing its agents of espionage -- an accusation the DEA denies. Venezuelan officials have repeatedly expressed anger at US declarations that corruption has helped make their country a growing shipment route for South American cocaine. Two DEA agents still work in Venezuela, but US Embassy officials say their efforts have been severely restricted. Posted by: Pappy 2009-04-10 |
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