Venezuela detains Sinaloa cartel members in clash at Colombian border
CARACAS - Venezuelan forces detained members of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel during clashes with armed groups near its western border with Colombia, a top Venezuelan military official said on Friday.
Venezuela's military on March 21 launched an offensive
against what officials called irregular Colombian armed groups in the western
state of Apure. About eight Venezuelan soldiers have died during the
operations, which have caused about 5,000 people to flee across the border.
"We even captured some individuals from the Sinaloa
cartel," the chief of Venezuela's strategic operational command, Remigio
Ceballos, said in a telephone call broadcast on state television.
Ceballos did not specify the names of the people detained,
nor how many cartel members were taken into custody. He said some individuals
from Brazil were also detained, and said all would be presented to the
country's courts.
The fighting has occurred near the border town of La
Victoria, about 628 km (390 miles) southwest of the Venezuelan capital of
Caracas.
Venezuela's information ministry did not immediately respond
to a request for further details about the arrests.
Colombia's government has said that the Sinaloa cartel is
active in the South American country and has alliances with local rebel groups,
including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and former members of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who have rejected a 2016 peace
deal.
Venezuela, which this week created a special military unit
for the border region, has not specified which groups it is fighting along the
border. Critics of President Nicolas Maduro say the fighters include dissident
FARC guerrillas who his government had previously accommodated.
Comments
Post a Comment