Name: U.S. says Maduro regime is linked to cocaine seized off Spain's coast
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U.S. says Maduro regime is linked to cocaine seized off Spain's coast

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 Sunday, May 3rd 2020| 969 The United States confirmed that a massive cocaine shipment confiscated last weekend off 's coast is connected to members of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's regime.Working on a tip from the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA] and the Colombian National Police and the United Kingdom's National Agency, Spain's military intercepted the Karar, a vessel that first left Panama and had 4,000 kilos of cocaine loaded on it off Venezuela's coast before sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.The boat, which sailed under the flag of Togo, was headed to the northwest coastal city of Vigo but was intercepted more than 300 miles off the coast of Galicia, an autonomous community in Spain.'I spoke to the Spanish ambassador this afternoon, and it is true that they seized a ship that left Venezuela [carrying] four tons of drugs off the coast of Europe,' said James Story, director of the Venezuela Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, in an interview with Infobae. 'There are people from Maduro's regime involved.' The ship's 15 crew members - mostly nationals from Bangladesh and Nepal - were detained as well as 13 other individuals, dealing a huge blow to a drug trafficking network in Galicia reportedly headed by Juan Carlos Santórum, who evaded capture during last Saturday's 'Operation Donkey' raid. Authorities also confiscated several motorcycles and speedboats from warehouses operated by the group along northern Portugal and the Galicia city of Pontevedra. According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the shipment was backed by a drug trafficking group from Colombia.Intelligence shared by narcotic agencies from Spain, Colombia the DEA discovered that the shipment had been in the works since December 2019.Colombian authorities have been actively investigating the whereabouts of those involved with the network.The United States government has been seeking to arrest Maduro and other members of his regime for helping Colombian drug smuggling organizations and  the FARC rebel group ship at least 250 tons of cocaine to the U.S. for almost two decades.  The U.S. has also offered a $15million bounty for Maduro in a March indictment.Additional rewards of $10million are also being offered for information leading to the arrest of Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly; Hugo Carvajal, former Director of Military Intelligence; and Tareck El Aissmai, former Vice President and the current Minister of Industries and National Production.Former Venezuelan general Cliver Alcalá, who was also named in the indictment, turned himself in. The indictment alleged that Alcalá and top officials received bribes from the FARC in exchange for safe passage for cocaine shipments sent through Venezuela.'The Venezuelan regime, once led by Nicolás Maduro Moros, remains plagued by criminality and corruption,' said Attorney General Bill Barr. 'For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities.'Around 2008, at a meeting with  Cabello and Carvajal, it was decided Alcalá would coordinate drug-trafficking with the FARC, according to the indictment.Share what you thinkThe comments below have not been moderated.The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.Post comment to your Facebook TimelineBy posting your comment you agree to our .Submit CommentClearDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. NoYesDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usualWe will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our .Published by Associated Newspapers LtdPart of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group   

 Sunday, May 3rd 2020| 969 The United States confirmed that a massive cocaine shipment confiscated last weekend off 's coast is connected to members of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's regime.Working on a tip from the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA] and the Colombian National Police and the United Kingdom's National Agency, Spain's military intercepted the Karar, a vessel that first left Panama and had 4,000 kilos of cocaine loaded on it off Venezuela's coast before sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.The boat, which sailed under the flag of Togo, was headed to the northwest coastal city of...

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U.S. says Maduro regime is linked to cocaine seized off Spain's coast

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