Venezuelan Police Catch Colombian Officer With Drugs http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/may/20/latinamerica10052002.htm

A Colombian officer was caught with about 900 kg of marijuana at a checkpoint in Venezuela, local police said here Wednesday.Jose Armando Echavez Prado, president of Colombia's Santander Port Council, was detained during an operation carried out at a mobile checkpoint along the Trans-Andean highway in Pueblo Hondo, northeast of Tachira, which borders Colombia.

The drugs were stashed in 900 sacks and hidden in the false bottom of his car, regional police chief Franklin Marquez said at a press conference.Marquez said that Echavez had a criminal record. Two other suspects of Venezuelan nationality were also detained in the operation.The car was registered in the state of Marida,100 km northeast from the scene. Moreover, the drugs are believed to have been destined for the state of Barina and the central part of Venezuela, Marquez said.Venezuela and Colombia share a long border of 2,220 km.