Fugitive Venezuela judge helps elite U.S. anti-drugs unit

http://news.yahoo.com/fugitive-venezuela-judge-helps-elite-u-anti-drugs-201215051.html

Tue, May 29, 2012See latest photos »CARACAS/MIAMI (Reuters) - A former Venezuelan Supreme Court judge who fled the country last month is cooperating with an elite special operations unit of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that targets major international traffickers, according to sources familiar with the case.

Testimony by Eladio Aponte could pave the way for indictments of President Hugo Chavez's allies. That would embarrass the socialist leader and help Washington cast its ideological adversary as leading a pariah nation.

The United States has alleged for years that Chavez turns a blind eye to trafficking and that officials in his government are directly involved, accusations that Chavez rejects.

Aponte is one of six special witnesses cooperating with the DEA in its investigation of Venezuelan government ties to trafficking, said a former U.S. government official familiar with the situation.