US probing Venezuelan officials for possible drug trafficking -WSJ

WASHINGTON, May 19: US authorities are investigating Venezuela’s powerful parliamentary head, Diosdado Cabello, and other senior officials for possible cocaine trafficking and money laundering, the Wall Street Journal reported. Citing more than 12 people familiar with the probes, the newspaper said yesterday federal prosecutors in New York and Miami and a US Drug Enforcement Administration unit were gathering evidence from former cocaine traffickers, Venezuelan military defectors and people once close to top Venezuelan government officials. The Journal said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an ideological foe of Washington, was not a target of the US investigation. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. (AGENCIES)