CARACAS, Venezuela
The Venezuelan interior minister has denied that a plane seized in Guinea-Bissau with 2.6 tons of cocaine on board came from Venezuela.
"That plane never touched
Venezuelan soil, Diosdado Cabello told an audience attending a government event
Wednesday.
The Bissau-Guinean judicial
police said that the cocaine seizure on Saturday (Sep. 07) was carried out in
close cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the
Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre–Narcotics, a European organization.
The crew of five, which
included two Mexican nationals as well as citizens of Colombia, Ecuador and
Brazil, were arrested, including the pilot.
Early media reports cited a
security source saying the plane was from Mexico.Diosdado Cabello
Venezuela's interior minister
said his country "does not produce drugs" and that the world's
biggest drugs consumer was the North American empire, most probably referencing
the US.
Guinea-Bissau in particular is
known as a preferred route for international drug cartels. In March, the son of
the country's former president, Malam Bacai Sanha, was sentenced to more than
six years in prison by a U.S. court for leading an international heroin
trafficking ring.
Two years ago, Guinea-Bissau
leader accused a convicted drug baron of being behind a failed coup against
him.
West Africa has become a hub
for drugs from Latin America and Southwest Asia destined for Europe, according
to a U.N. report released this year.
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