On Tuesday, the Venezuelan government deported two Colombian citizens, Henry Fortich Coneo and Wilmer Villadiego Coneo, to the United States. Both are charged with drug trafficking, reported the director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office (ONA), Néstor Reverol.

Fortich and Villadiego, who were arrested last October in Zulia state (western Venezuela), must arrive in Miami in a few hours, said Reverol during a press conference held at the Caracas airport, AFP reported.

Both alleged drug-traffickers are requested by the United States since 2001 for 16 charges of drug trafficking.

So far this year, the Venezuelan authorities have captured, among others, the alleged Colombian drug lords Marcos José Orozco Wilches and Aldo  Mario Álvarez Durán, Venezuelan-American Heber Antonio Pulgar Chacón and Italian Giovanni Civile.

The Venezuelan authorities arrested 3,467 people linked to drug trafficking operations in the first half of 2008, according to the data provided by the National Anti-Drug Office.