(Prensa Latina) - "Venezuela has decided to no longer cooperate with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), having detected massive drug sending from its territory, Interior and Justice Minister Pedro Carreño denounced.

Interviewed in a press conference on US accusations that Venezuela is poorly cooperating on the issue, Carreño said his country has always been diligent in the anti-drug trafficking fight, and in line with that, has discontinued its joint work with DEA.

That organization took large drug consignments from Venezuela to the US, through controlled handover, but information on arrests of people linked to those operations was never provided, Carreño revealed.

That made Venezuela think it was a front for a new drug cartel, the minister said.

Venezuelan authorities act carefully to avoid the territory being used as a drug trafficking link, but will not allow US planes to enter its national space, he pointed out.

'Instead of using its naval, ground, and air forces to violate other country s sovereignty in an alleged anti-drug fight, Washington should keep an eye on its borders,' the official stated.

He also announced a meeting with owners of air and maritime enterprises, as well as customs, and package sending agencies to announce severe sanctions if drug shipments are detected".