Venezuela bombs airstrips in anti-drug effort
Venezuela bombs airstrips in anti-drug effort
Updated 04:22 p.m., Thursday, May 31, 2012
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's military bombed 36 clandestine airstrips in the South American country's southern plains during May as part of an effort to shut down air routes used by drug smugglers, a top government official said Thursday.
State television broadcast footage of two explosions at clandestine airstrips that sent dirt flying through the air.
Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami also said drug smuggling flights into Venezuelan airspace had been reduced 50 percent since the beginning of the year as the government of President Hugo Chavez seeks to combat trafficking.
"We are meeting our obligation of fighting and confronting these criminal organizations like never before," El Aissami said on state television from the southern state of Apure, which borders Colombia, the world's biggest producer of cocaine.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Venezuela-bombs-airstrips-in-anti-drug-effort-3599745.php#photo-3009051
