NEW YORK – U.S. prosecutors have indicted two former Venezuelan officials on drug charges.
Nestor Reverol and Edilberto Molina are named in an indictment unsealed on Monday in federal court in New York City.
American authorities have accused the pair of taking bribes in exchange for tipping off cocaine traffickers to raids and hindering drug investigations in other ways. Neither man is in custody.
Reverol is the former head of Venezuela's anti-drug agency and ally of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez (OO'-goh CHAH'-vez). Molina also once worked for the agency.
Reverol has denied the U.S. accusations, which were first made late last year. Molina hasn't spoken out.
The Venezuelan government has regularly accused the U.S. of using drug indictments against top military officials to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro's (nee-koh-LAHS' mah-DOO'-rohz) rule.
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