rities also participated on several money-laundering investigations with the U.S. Customs Service and DEA. In July 1998, at the request of the U.S. Customs Service, the National Guard located and arrested Jesus Parra, a Colombian national, residing in Venezuela, who was wanted in the U.S. for the illegal exportation of $11 million in cash hidden in a shipment of auto parts. His extradition to the U.S. is pending. The U.S. Customs Service's Operation "Casablanca" included investigations targeting Colombian narco-traffickers laundering drug proceeds through Venezuelan banks. Following the arrests in May of Venezuelan bankers implicated in this case, the Venezuelan government expressed concern over the vulnerability of its financial sector and cooperated with the U.S. on follow-up investigations. The Venezuelan authorities froze several bank accounts identified by the USG and, in addition, froze other accounts as a result of their own investigations. However, some in the Venezuelan Congress and media protested the means by which this operation was conducted and delivered a formal diplomatic protest. This case remains a politically sensitive issue in Venezuela. The Venezuelan military continued to enhance its capabilities to combat drug trafficking in 1998. In addition to enforcement work by the National Guard in the areas of drug interdiction, money-laundering investigations, and precursor chemical control, the armed forces participated in 19 counterdrug training exercises and mounted two major combined counterdrug operations with U.S. assistance, in the Delta Amacuro region and the Gulf of Venezuela. Under section 506(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act, the Venezuelan military received two 82-foot patrol craft and six riverine patrol boats this year to support counternarcotics programs. The military plans to use these vessels for drug interdiction operations off the coast of Venezuela and in the Orinoco Delta area. The Venezuelan militar...
