The national government will provide chemical reagents to its security agencies in order to detect drugs. These reagents were produced in a Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) laboratory as a result of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) refusal to authorize the selling of these reagents to Venezuela.
The announcement was made on Monday by Ramón Carrizales, Vice President of the Republic, during a press conference held at the GNB laboratory in Caricuao, Caracas.
Carrizales explained that the kits consist of three parts which contain chemical substances which can detect cocaine, heroin and amphetamines.
Meanwhile, the president of the National Anti-Drug Office (ONA), Colonel Néstor Reverol Torres, told the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) that the government of Venezuela used to acquire these reagents from an American firm, but that the DEA has to authorize the selling of these chemicals to any country, which it did not do for Venezuela.
“Last year [the ONA] met with heads of every security agency in the country to coordinate anti-drug policies. They told us they needed these reagents, so we began negotiating with the American firm which sells them to us. However, they told us we had to get DEA authorization in order to buy the chemicals. When we talked to the DEA, their response was that we could acquire them if we renewed agreements that we had suspended due to the secret operations and controlled delivery tactics which they had here in our country,” explained Reverol.
Due to the DEA’s refusal, the ONA reviewed the U.N.’s standards on the matter and realized that chemical engineers of the GNB could try to produce these reagents.
“We have been working on this for three months. The chemists began with tests and we now have substances that can detect heroin, hydrochloride of cocaine and amphetamines. Next week we will once again meet with the country’s security agencies to begin distributing the kits,” added Reverol.
Another advantage pointed out by Reverol, in addition to no longer being dependent on foreign firms, relates to the price of the product: the reagent that the government bought from the American firm only had one use and cost an average of seven dollars, while the national kit has three parts each of which can be used between 70 and 80 times at a cost of approximately $23.
In the same press conference, the Vice President reiterated, on behalf of the government, his disagreement with accusations made by the Bush Administration against Venezuela, according to with Miralflores has been “complacent, or at least indifferent, to drug trafficking.”
“Neither the biggest consumer (the United States) nor the biggest producer (Colombia) of drugs in the world can accuse us. We are a victim in this system due to our geographical position. We cannot change our location. One would have to ask if, due to being neighbors with Colombia and since part of the drugs they produce pass through here, we are to blame for this problem,” questioned Carrizales.
“The American colony known as Venezuela no longer exits, therefore no official from that country can come and say ‘I am going to visit; I am going to review this or that.’ If someone comes on an official visit then they must follow regular procedures, and we have not received any solicitation from Mr. Walters to prepare an agenda, as is the custom in these cases. If he comes on his own accord he will not receive attention from the State,” he emphasized.
Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) September 1 2008 / Press Department of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela September 2 2008
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