Venezuelan authorities never disclosed that another cocaine haul was discovered in a jet plane earlier this year, raising new questions about the amount of drugs being moved through the country's main international airport to destinations abroad.
A story published by Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional
revealed that authorities found 168 kilos of cocaine in a small jet on
April 16. Neither Venezuela's Public Ministry nor the top anti-drug
authority disclosed information about this seizure, the newspaper
reported.
The cocaine was packed into four suitcases on board an aircraft that was bound for the Dominican Republic. The plane took off from Venezuela's biggest international airport, the Maiquetia, just outside Caracas, but landed again after just five minutes in the air due to a reported technical problem.
The subsequent investigation saw seven people arrested, including an officer from the Bolivarian National Guard.
InSight Crime Analysis
This recent seizure -- just 168 kilos packed into four suitcases -- pales in comparison to past incidents, like the ton of cocaine found on an Air France jet
that flew from Caracas to Paris last year. But as El Nacional
suggests, the fact that the April seizure was never reported by
Venezuelan authorities raises questions about what other drug hauls the
public isn't hearing about.
Venezuela's anti-drug police haven't handled security at
the Maiquetia international airport since 2006. Instead, it has been in
the hands of the Bolivarian National Guard, elements of which are
believed to be deeply involved in cocaine trafficking as part of a drug
trafficking network known as the Cartel de los Soles. Several National
Guard officials were arrested following last year's Air France bust, as
well as during an investigation involving an Italian woman -- the former
secretary of ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- who was caught trafficking cocaine from Venezuela earlier this year.
Read more: http://insightcrime.com
No comments:
Post a Comment