Beijing - Xinhua
Narcotics officers in Venezuela have seized 1400 kilos of cocaine, in a raid on a drug smuggling ring. Two renegade police officers who had helped in the smuggling operation were killed during the seizure. Venezuela's justice minister, Tareck El Aissami, says one narcotics officer was injured in the operation. Colombian cocaine often passes through Venezuela on its way to the US, Europe and the Caribbean. Washington has previously been critical of Venezuela's efforts to tackle drug smuggling, but El Aissami says the country is now seizing more drugs than ever before.