Venezuela says it seized 5.5 tons of cocaine

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Venezuela says it seized 5.5 tons of cocaine
June 25, 2011 9:26 PM

(AP) CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's top security official says authorities have seized more than 5.5 tons of cocaine.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami calls the drug seizure in eastern Venezuela one of the country's hardest blows to drug traffickers in recent years.

A Saturday message on El Aissami's Twitter site says the seizure is "one of the most significant drug confiscations" in recent years. The message does not provide details.

Venezuela is a transshipment point for Colombian cocaine destined for the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.

Officials in Washington have strongly criticized Venezuela's anti-drug efforts. But President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela is seizing more drugs than ever before.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/25/501364/main20074421.shtml

[itsrobert]

1. uh oh, Brietbart is going to go into convulsions

if he doesn't get is fix.

[jberryhill]

2. He smiled because I did not understand...

And I said no, no, no I don't snort it no more,
I'm tired of waking up on the floor,
No thank you please, it only makes me sneeze,
Then it makes it hard to find the door.

[Gman]

3. What is the name of that song

I haven't heard it or even thought of it in years!

[jdadd]

4. I think it's "no no song" by Ringo Star....

[jberryhill]

7. Here's a blast from the past for you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVGerWFYotQ

Ringo Starr with the Smothers Brothers!

[Gman]

16. Wow! Those silhouettes look like Reagan, Ford, Kissinger

and I can't make out the other 3.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford, and someone I don't recognize. n/t

[BadtotheboneBob]

5. Humor aside...

... This is a good thing. 5.5 tons of coke can make a lot of 'crack'. Bad stuff. My cousin, Lynn, died from the physical affects upon his heart due his prolonged addiction to it.

[Marblehead]

6. cia is gonna be pissed..

[Corruption Winz]

8. Let's say that 2/3 of that cocaine was heading to America...

It's value would be at around $100,000,000. Perhaps more, depending on exactly how much was being shipped hear and the purity, etc.

Can you imagine how much money the government/America would have if it were legal and we taxed it? I get it. People don't want to think about people doing hard drugs. Fact is, they'll be doing them anyway.

Another opportunity missed.

[tuckessee]

9. Somebody forgot to make a pay-off. n/t

[valerief]

10. Uh-oh. Someone in the CIA is going to get in trouble for letting it slip by. nt

[Hotler]

12. +100 n/t

[geckosfeet]

11. Wow. Given the level of corruption in their law enforcement community,

my guess is that most of that will be recirculated back into the system - minus a few sniffs from the locals.

[Capn Sunshine]

13. THEIR law enforcement community?

This amount of cocaine- times TEN comes into the US every day while our officials at the highest levels look the other way. The corruption necessary to make this happen is real and involves the law enforcement community at the highest levels.

I'm not saying all of them, but seriously, you need high level cooperation to get the kind of volume this country consumes into the country on a daily basis.

[Kurovski]

14. +1

McGruff seems to be napping just at the point of entry. Gosh darn it McGruff! You sleepy little dog!

[rabs]

15. Smear job on Humala

From the AP story

-------------------
Chavez, in turn, has often criticized America's war on drugs along with a few other South America leaders, like Peru's president Ollanta Humala. Those two are part of the anti-American Alba bloc of nations, and they frequently extol the virtues of the coca leaf, Bloomberg News reports.

------------------

Humala won't become president until July 29.

Nothing like a pre-inuguration smear attempt on Humala. (Either by Bloomberg or the AP.)

I have never heard of Chavez "extolling" the virtues of the coca leaf.

Evo Morales of Bolivia, yes.

[Judi Lynn]

18. It's amazing how little "news" gets into their articles anymore.They're so full of spin, instead.nt