CARACAS, Venezuela (AP):
THE UNITED States has not unveiled evidence to support its charges that Venezuelan National Guard officers were involved in drug smuggling, top anti-drug official said yesterday, denouncing the accusation as a "rumour".
Luis Correa said there was no evidence to support a U.S. report stating that National Guardsmen carried unchecked luggage containing 189 kilograms (416 pounds) of cocaine on to a plane at Caracas' international airport in August 2004.
"So far, we have a rumour," Correa told the local Union Radio broadcaster. "There is nothing concrete ... showing that officers were involved."
The U.S. State Department had reported that National Guard officers involved in the alleged smuggling attempt switched tags on the baggage with those from the suitcases of innocent travellers to divert suspicion from themselves. The officers were arrested less than a month later loading cocaine onto a private plane at the same airport, the report said.
Vice-President José Vicente Rangel called the allegations involving National Guard officers "absolutely false," adding that U.S. authorities haven't shown proof of the accusations "because they don't have any."
"About three months ago, the Venezuelan Government asked the U.S. Government for proof regarding the National Guard officers, and so far the American government hasn't presented any evidence," Rangel said.
