Plane Full of Drugs Seized in Guinea-Bissau Was Not From Venezuela – Govt

Venezuela’s Interior Minister denies 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 a crowd attending a government meeting on Wednesday.

The Bissau-Guinea Judicial Police reported that the seizure of cocaine on Saturday (September 7) was carried out in close cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre–Narcotics, a European organisation.

The five-member crew, including two Mexicans and citizens of Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, were arrested, including the pilot.

According to earlier media reports, a security source claimed the plane came from Mexico.

Venezuela’s interior minister said his country “does not produce drugs” and that the world’s biggest drug consumer is the North American empire, by which he most likely meant the US.

Guinea-Bissau is particularly known as a favorite route for international drug cartels. In March, the son of the country’s former president, Malam Bacai Sanha, was sentenced by a U.S. court to more than six years in prison for running an international heroin trafficking ring.

Two years ago, the leader of Guinea-Bissau accused a convicted drug lord of being behind a failed coup against him.

According to a UN report released this year, West Africa has become a hub for drugs from Latin America and southwest Asia destined for Europe.