RunRun.es published an article yesterday in which it added some detail to the developing story of the arrests of Efrain and Francisco Flores – Cilia Flores’ nephews – on charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
In the article, the website claims that “the majority” of the 800 kilograms of cocaine the men were trying to smuggle were held in a yacht anchored in the Dominican Republic, possible at the port of La Romana. Efrain and Francisco were arrested in possession of “at least 5 kilograms” of cocaine, which the men had taken with them in order to prove the purity of their product to their distributor.
The website also claims that a United States Coast Guard airplane that flew into Venezuelan airspace last week was conducting surveillance operations on a Colombian boat heading to Honduras that was suspected of carrying cocaine. The boat’s crew became aware of the aircraft’s presence and halted their trip. The website claims that the boat is currently stationary in Colombian waters.
Airplane Registered to Minister’s Friend
Efrain and Francisco flew to Haiti in a Cessna Citation registered under YV-2030. A man named Marcos Uzcategui bought the airplane in 2004. Uzcategui is a close friend of Minister of Penitentiaries Iris Valera.
According to RunRun.es, Uzcategui flew aboard the airplane alongside Efrain and Francisco. Below, a list of everyone aboard YV-2030 when it landed in Haiti:
Crew: Pablo Urbano, Pedro Rodriguez
Passengers: Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, Marcos Uzcategui, Jesfran Moreno
The website also reported that the airplane left the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia on Sunday, November 8, and that it was not searched prior to departure.
Cilia Refuses to Answer Questions About Arrests
Maduro traveled to Geneva, Switzerland earlier this week, and Cilia Flores accompanied him. Stephanie Nebehay, a reporter with Reuters, asked Flores about her nephews’ arrest, but did not receive an answer:
Egg Farmers Worry Over New Price Regulations
Venezuela’s egg farmers have said that it’s “almost impossible” to sell a carton of eggs at the newly-set regulated price of Bs. 480. The comment comes from the head of the Asociacion de Avicultores de Tachira [Tachira Poulty Farmers’ Association], Rafael Moreno.
Moreno explained:
I don’t know where they’ll find these egg cartons at Bs. 480. This makes production impossible. For us, the price of raw materials and other things we use in poultry farming have gone up 800%. The rice [used in production] costs Bs. 100 million in San Cristobal [Tachira state]. It’s almost impossible to produce at the price the government has set.
Moreno told Union Radio that the government decided the new price unilaterally and without giving any kind of advanced notice to poultry farmers in the country.
Moreno also said:
They’re strangling us. We’re going to run out of chickens and eggs. Farms are closing down.
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