Plane loaded with drugs seized in Guinea-Bissau did not come from Venezuela - Govt

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Venezuelan politician Diosdado Cabello holds a rules of debate booklet for the National Assembly, during a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 8, 2020.
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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.

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.