Cocaine flow through Venezuela increases

WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- The amount of cocaine flowing into Venezuela from Columbia increased from 2004 to 2007, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report said.

The United States has long considered Venezuela a major launching pad for the drug heading abroad. The GAO report indicates corruption at high levels of the Venezuelan government contributes to the problem, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., asked for the study to determine whether Venezuela was "in the process of becoming a narco-state, heavily dependent (on) and beholden to the international trade in illegal drugs."

The GAO was scheduled to make the report public Monday July 20, but Spain's El Pais newspaper obtained it Thursday and The Washington Post got it Friday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was angry at the report and said the United States has no right to lecture his country because of the amount of cocaine consumed in America.