Puerto Rico seizes 2,2 tons cocaine consignment from Venezuela
By Aleksander Boyd
London 13.09.06 | US Immigration and Customs Controls seized 2,222 tons of cocaine, on board a ship with Greek flag -called 'Sierra Express'- that was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The seizure was part of a successful operation code-named "Caribbean Corridor" in which FBI, DEA and coastguard operatives were involved. The vessel, whose port of origin was Puerto Cabello in Venezuela, docked in San Juan around mid day last Sunday.
Earlier this month Spanish and French authorities seized 3,5 tons of cocaine in the Canary Islands in a sailing boat coming from Venezuela.
International authorities have seized more than 41 tons of cocaine consignments originated in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez took power, a huge increase on previous years. The Chavez administration forbade DEA flights over Venezuelan air space in 1999. The Venezuelan office of the American anti-drug agency was ordered shut by Chavez in 2005 under spurious and unsubstantiated accusations made against its activities in the country.
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