PDVSA touts tanker drug bust

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) is greeted by supporters on his way to the airport to travel to Cuba, in Caracas on February on 24, 2012. Chavez travels to Cuba on Friday for treatment of what he says is likely a malignant tumor as the leftist president faces a renewed cancer scare ahead of a tough reelection battle. AFP PHOTO/ Leo RAMIREZ

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By Tom Darin Liskey

 02 March 2012 16:43 GMT

State-run oil company PDVSA said late Thursday that Venezuelan security forces and inspectors seized an alleged shipment of drugs on the Aframax-class tanker Kareela Spirit while the vessel was loading crude oil in eastern Venezuela.

Inspectors from the Venezuelan National Guard and port authorities found the alleged drugs on the Teekay Tankers-owned tanker during a routine inspection while it was moored at the Jose Antonio Anzoategui facility, PDVSA said.

According to PDVSA, the Bahama-flagged tanker was in the process of taking on about 500,000 barrels of Hamaca crude when the illicit substance was detected.

PDVSA did not specify the type of drug that was found - nor the size of the alleged shipment. The company did say, however, that the substance - in about five parcels - was…

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