CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela, long accused by the United States of being lax in the fight against drugs, deported six “highly dangerous” suspects yesterday and said the move showed its commitment to combatting organized crime.
In a sign of the expanding reach of Mexico’s drug cartels, one of the six suspects is accused of being a member of the brutal “Los Zetas” group.
“These actions demonstrate the commitment of the government, its cooperation and responsibility in the frontal assault on drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime,” the CICPC national investigative police said in a statement.
Facing criticism it has colluded with left-wing rebels based in the jungles of neighbouring Colombia who rely on cocaine smuggling for funds, President Hugo Chavez’s government says it has sharply stepped up arrests in recent years.
Five of those deported yesterday from an airport on the Caribbean coast are Colombians, and one, Merk Anton Herman, is Dutch. Venezuela said all six were on Interpol’s “Red List.”
Herman, a white-haired 61-year-old, was escorted in front of a sign reading “Captured” in Spanish by armed security men wearing balaclavas, before being led to a plane.
The Venezuelan authorities said he was a member of a dangerous criminal organization dedicated to trafficking narcotics by air and sea between Colombia and Europe.
Four of the Colombians — three men and a woman — were deported to their home country where they face charges including drug offences, kidnapping for money and murder.
The fifth, another woman, was sent to the United States, showing some continued cooperation with the United States despite diplomatic tensions between Washington and Caracas.
She is Gloria Rojas Valencia, 53, and is accused of drug trafficking and being a member of Mexico’s “Los Zetas” cartel, a feared gang founded by former army special forces soldiers.
