Bolivarian National Guard Seizes 3.3 Tons of Cocaine at Venezuelan Port http://venezuela-us.org/2012/04/27/bolivarian-national-guard-seizes-3-3-tons-of-cocaine-at-venezuelan-port/

Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has seized 3.3 tons of cocaine headed for Mexico at the port of La Guaira in Vargas state. The Minister of Interior and Justice, Tareck El Aissami, described the operation as one of the most important carried out by the Venezuelan government in recent years.

“We ratify once again the antidrug policy promoted by our government, it’s a sovereign policy of reference,” said El Aissami on the state-owned channel Venezolana de Televisión.

The Bolivarian National Guard reviewed the profile, documents and activities of a company based in the state of Táchira called Industria Jimena C.A., which began exporting a powder that is used to lay tiles last April 11.

The products that the company was trying to export to Mexico in 11,000 boxes were declared a “high risk” export after it was noticed that the charter fee was higher than what is established for the type of merchandise and its destination.

Tests by the central lab of the Bolivarian National Guard and the Office of the Attorney General showed that the material weighed 22 tons, and inside was hidden 3.3 tons of cocaine.

Arrested during the operation was the president of the company Industrias Jimena, Venezuelan citizen Ángel Edecio Piñero Delgado (age 72). He will appear before the Office of the Attorney General for a full investigation, according to a press release by the National Anti-Drug Office (ONA).

The Ministry of the Interior and Justice indicated that several other companies have been implicated in the crime, including the Mexican firm Yubail Sadecv, the Venezuelan firm Aduanal E.J. Ortega & CIA, and Desarrollo Del Moro B-2A, the company responsible for the exporting process.