Venezuela Deports Half Dozen Suspected Drug Traffickers
by Venezuela deported six suspected drug traffickers needed in Colombia and the us on Monday, touting the action as proof the govt is creating strides in fighting smuggling.
Those deported included 2 accused of belonging to Colombia’s largest leftist rebel cluster.
They conjointly included a U.S. citizen, Lionel Scott Harris, who is suspected of smuggling medication to the us, Asia and Europe. Harris, 67, was captured in March on Margarita Island, a preferred tourist destination.
Venezuela may be a major hub for gangs that smuggle Colombian cocaine, and U.S. officials have accused President Hugo Chavez’s government of being lax in anti-drug efforts. Last week, President Barack Obama’s administration classified Venezuela as a country that has “failed demonstrably” to effectively fight drug trafficking.
Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami dismissed that accusation, saying the U.S. has been spreading “pure lies” concerning Venezuela’s counter-drug efforts.
“We’re winning this battle and we’re aiming to keep winning,” El Aissami told reporters at a later event Monday.
El Aissami oversaw the deportations at Simon Bolivar International Airport as the handcuffed men were led to a waiting vehicle. He said that in recent years Venezuela has captured and handed over to alternative countries sixty nine drug trafficking suspects, including concerning 15 who are sent to the us.
The U.S. Embassy welcomed the deportation of Harris, saying he has been needed within the us since 1991 for varied felony charges.
“We want and hope to resume a full and cooperative relationship on counter-narcotics, which represents a threat to the U.S. moreover as Venezuela,” the U.S. Embassy said in an emailed statement.
U.S.-Venezuelan counter-drug cooperation has been sharply scaled back since 2005, when Chavez suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and accused it of being a front for espionage.
Besides Harris, Venezuela deported five Colombians needed on drug-related charges: Jose Reyes Galarza, Jorge Santaella Ayala, Rubernei Vergara, Yesid Rios Suarez and Didier Rios Galindo, said El Aissami.
He said Rios Suarez and Rios Galindo are guerrillas who belong to the Revolutionary armed forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Another Colombian needed on murder and extortion charges but not drug charges, Raul Pena Buitriago, was conjointly deported, he said.
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