Venezuelan weightlifter accused of drug trafficking
Published:Friday | March 16, 2012 | 9:13 AM
Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan prosecutors have accused weightlifter Leonel Albarran of involvement in drug trafficking.
The Prosecutor General's Office says the 29-year-old has been accused of conspiracy and financing drug trafficking.
Prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that Albarran had links to a ring that smuggled cocaine from Venezuela to Italy.
The authorities say Albarran was arrested in Caracas in January, just days after he returned home from a trip to Italy.
Albarran made that trip with fellow weightlifter Israel Rubio, and fled when Rubio was arrested in Pescara, Italy, on January 25, after a seizure of at least 2 kilos or 4.4 pounds of cocaine.
Rubio won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
He is jailed in Italy.