Venezuela captures bigger drug haul in 2009

Venezuela reported on Saturday 60 tonnes of drugs were confiscated in 2009, an 11% bigger haul than the previous year, and said anti-narcotics efforts had improved since it ended cooperation with the United States.

The South American nation is a major transit country for Colombian cocaine to Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Cocaine and marijuana accounted for nearly all of Venezuela's drug confiscations in 2009.

Accused by critics of leniency in the drug fight and collusion with Colombian rebels who depend on smuggling for financing, the government of President Hugo Chavez counters that it has stepped up interdiction notably in recent years.

"The 2009 figure shows the government's performance in battling drugs, and makes Venezuela one of the most effective countries in this respect," state news agency ABN said.

Amid deteriorating bilateral relations, Chavez stopped cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 2005.

Venezuela's National Drugs Office head Nestor Reverol said the higher levels of drugs' confiscation and destruction since then "shows the US government had a policy of obstruction, to prevent the reduction of this social ill."

Washington's leading critic in Latin America, Chavez frequently says consumption in the United States and Europe is  the main factor driving the illegal drug trade.

According to the drug office's latest statistical breakdown, between January 1 and December 24 of 2009, cocaine accounted for 27.5 tonnes or 45.9% of the drugs captured, while marijuana was 32.2 tonnes or 53.8%.

In 2008, the cocaine haul was 33.6 tonnes or 61.5% of the total, and marijuana 20.7 tonnes or 37.9%.

In November, a US official said the problem of drug smuggling through Venezuela had grown worse since Chavez ended cooperation with the United States.

Most of the Colombian cocaine smuggled out of South America by air for the US market was moved through Venezuela, said David Johnson, the assistant secretary of state who heads the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.