US sanctions Venezuelan officials tied to FARC

BBC:

The US Treasury has frozen the assets of two senior Venezuelan officials it accuses of aiding Colombian rebels, in an escalating diplomatic row.

The US said Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva were "materially assisting the [Farc rebels'] narcotics trafficking".

The move came as the US revealed plans to throw out Venezuela's envoy, after Caracas expelled the US ambassador.

...

The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on a third official, former Venezuelan justice minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin. Analysts say the trio are members of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inner circle.

All three had "armed, abetted and funded the Farc, even as it terrorized and kidnapped innocents," according to a statement from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Mr Carvajal Barrios is a Venezuelan military intelligence director who has protected Farc drug shipments from seizure, according to the Treasury.

Mr Rangel Silva is another intelligence chief who had pushed for greater co-operation between Venezuela and the Farc, the US Treasury alleged.

And Mr Rodriguez Chacin is Caracas' "main weapons contact for the Farc," the statement charged.

...

I suspect that they are involved in facilitating the shipping of drugs from Colombia to West Africa for redistribution to Europe. It would be interesting to see if a criminal case is made against these people.

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