Italy Cocaine Bust Another Case of Venezuela Military Complicity
Authorities in Venezuela have detained three security officials linked to a cocaine haul in Italy involving the former secretary of ex-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in the second recent high-profile European drug trafficking case involving Venezuelan public officials.
The three officials -- a member of the National Guard (GNB), a state policeman and an airport inspector -- were arrested alongside four employees of a cafe located in the departure lounge of the international airport at Maiquetia, which serves the capital Caracas, reported Reuters.
The arrests came little more than a week after Federica Gagliardi, who served as Berlusconi’s secretary at international summits in 2010, was detained at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport with 24 kilos of cocaine in her carry-on luggage, following a flight from Maiquetia. In the wake of her arrest, a prominent Italian author suggested Gagliardi may have connections to Italy's 'Ndrangheta mafia.
According to El Nacional, the Venezuelan police investigation revealed the drugs entered the airport via the western delivery entrance, hidden among cafe supplies. Video footage shows the load passed through security scanners overseen by one of the arrested officials. Gagliardi is later seen giving her hand luggage to the cafe workers, which they return to her visibly heavier.
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/italy-cocaine-bust-another-case-of-venezuela-military-complicity
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