GN seizes 17 kilos of cocaine; CICPC arrests mule at international airport

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

More drugs have been seized at Caracas (Simon Bolivar) international airport at Maiquetia. National Guard (GN) Anti-Drugs Command chief, General Jose Antonio Paez reports that 17 kilos of cocaine were discovered in separate incidents. 

Two persons were caught before they boarded a KLM flight to Amsterdam and one person boarding a flight to Madrid (Spain). Paez says one was Panamanian, allegedly carrying 7.1 kilos hidden inside a suitcase, a Venezuelan citizen with 5.8 kilos and a lady (nationality not revealed) with 4 kilos. 

The Police Detective Branch (CICPC) Anti-Drugs Division has announced the arrest of Maracaibo businessman, Ramon Sanchez Mercado (32) for allegedly swallowing 60 phials of cocaine and attempting to take them to Amsterdam. 

CICPC Anti-Drugs Division chief, Commissioner Rafael Ali Torres says Sanchez Mercado was accompanied to a hospital where he evacuated the phials.