Caracas, July 27 (EFE) Venezuelan authorities have seized 1.2 tonnes of cocaine and arrested 46 people in an anti-drug operation in the northern state of Carabobo, the interior minister said.
“We were actually dealing with intelligence ahead of time … about an organisation with links to Mexican (drug) cartels … and this (Sunday) morning they finally made this important seizure of more than one tonne of cocaine,” Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami told the state-run VTV television.
He said the National Guard conducted the anti-drug operation in Puerto Cabello city in Carabobo state.
“This is a hard blow against the criminal organisations that want to use our territory for drug trafficking,” the interior minister said, adding that “with this seizure, nearly 31,000 kg of different types of drugs have been seized so far this year”.
Last week, El Aissami told the National Assembly that President Hugo Chavez’s administration was committed to fighting the illegal drug trade, noting that 30 tonnes of drugs were seized in 2009.
The interior minister told the legislators that drug seizures had “tripled” in Venezuela since Chavez scrapped an agreement four years ago with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
In July 2005, Chavez ordered the suspension of Venezuela’s cooperation agreement with the DEA after accusing US drug enforcement agents of acting as political spies.
