Alleged Colombian drug lord captured in Venezuela

A suspected Colombian drug lord wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has been captured in western Venezuela, the country's state news service reported Sunday. Marcos Jose Orozco Wilches was detained Saturday in Zulia state, near Venezuela's border with neighboring Colombia, according to the Bolivarian News Agency. Cooperation between Interpol and Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Agency, coupled with intelligence gathered by Venezuelan security forces, reportedly led to the arrest. Drug agency director Nestor Reverol did not immediately return calls seeking to confirm the report. Orozco Wilches, who was taken to the capital of Caracas for questioning, is the second major Colombian drug suspect arrested in Venezuela this year. Hermagoras Gonzalez Polanco — one of the U.S. government's most-wanted drug trafficking suspects — was captured in Zulia in March. U.S. officials have accused President Hugo Chavez's government of lax anti-drug efforts that let more Colombian cocaine be smuggled through Venezuela to the U.S. and Europe. Chavez accuses Washington of unfairly labeling his country a drug haven for political reasons.