COLOMBIA: President Juan Manuel Santos praises police after arrest of top suspected Venezuelan drug trafficker

Record ID: 317847

  • Title: COLOMBIA: President Juan Manuel Santos praises police after arrest of top suspected Venezuelan drug trafficker
  • Date: 21st August 2010
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. (AUGUST 20, 2010) (REUTERS) POLICE OFFICERS ESCORTING ALLEGED VENEZUELAN DRUG DEALER WALID MAKLED ALIAS THE ARAB, TO BE SHOWN TO MEDIA CLOSE-UP OF DRUG DEALER SHOUTING THAT HE IS BEING JUDGED BASED ON WHAT IS ON THE INTERNET POLICE MEN ESCORTING PRISONER OUT OF THE ROOM AS HE SHOUTS "IF I HAVE TO PAY I WILL PAY" COLOMBIAN POLICE COMMANDER GENERAL OSC
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVARIDW5F53HLMBSVEI87SI5DUP
  • Story Text: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos praised Colombian police on Thursday (August 20) after they captured a Venezuelan businessman accused by U.S. officials of being a major global drug trafficker, just as the two Andean countries were mending broken diplomatic and trade ties.
    Colombian police arrested Walid Makled, who last year was included in a U.S. list of accused major drug barons, in Norte de Santender, close to the Venezuelan border, a police official said.
    The police paraded their prisoner in front of reporters in Bogota Friday (August 20), where Makled shouted that he was being judged solely based on what is on the internet.
    As he was being led away he yelled out: "If I have to pay I will pay."
    Walid Makled last year said Venezuela's justice system was too politically biased to guarantee him a fair trial.
    In his comments, Santos praised Police Commander General Oscar Naranjo for the operation that led to Makled's arrest.
    "General Naranjo today presented this big fish of drug trafficking, who is Venezuelan. He is being sought for extradition by the United States, and, I've been led to understand, by Venezuela. It was a big capture. Keep it up, keep it up General," he said, Until 2008, Makled and his brothers ran an airline and part of the country's port, Puerto Cabello, from where U.S. prosecutors charge he exported 10 tonnes of cocaine each month.
    In 2008, police arrested Makled's three brothers after finding 300 kilograms of cocaine on a family ranch. The Makleds say the arrest was politically motivated and the Venezuelan government wanted revenge against one of the brothers who was planning to run for mayor in a local election.
    In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama placed Makled on a list of significant foreign narcotics traffickers under the Kingpin Act, denying him access to the U.S. financial system.
    U.S. officials described the arrests as a rare high-level blow against trafficking organisations in Venezuela.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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