Venezuelan crew of "drug plane" held in Bissau

BISSAU (Reuters) - Anti-narcotics police in Guinea Bissau on Saturday arrested the three-man Venezuelan crew of an executive jet suspected of being used to smuggle cocaine into West Africa, an officer said.

The arrival of the Gulfstream jet at Bissau airport last weekend, having apparently come from Venezuela, had triggered a stand-off between police who wanted to search it and the army, which blocked access to the plane, diplomats said.

"Three Venezuelans are being held at the moment by the judicial police," counter-narcotics unit chief Sana Camara told Reuters, without giving further details.

Investigations into what they were flying into the tiny former Portuguese colony, an increasingly popular landing spot for the trans-Atlantic cocaine trade, would continue, he added.

International drug experts believe top officers in Guinea Bissau's various security services facilitate the passage of tonnes of cocaine through one of the world's poorest countries.

The United Nations said 6.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized in West Africa last year. Experts say the seizures represent a tiny percentage of what actually passed through the region.

"The plane landed a week ago. It seems some bags were taken out of the plane. The military set up a cordon to protect the operation," said one envoy, who asked not to be named.

"We suspect cocaine was onboard."

The justice ministry could not comment, while an army denied any knowledge of the armed forces involvement.

Corruption aside, police in the former Portuguese colony are outgunned by powerful international drugs-smuggling networks that have turned the country and other parts of West Africa into a transit hub for flooding Europe with cocaine.

Some Latin American smugglers and their local accomplices arrested during previous seizures have been freed by Bissau's judiciary, which critics say is both weak and corrupt.

International law enforcement agencies are watching the incident closely as they try to shore up efforts to stem the increasing flow of cocaine through the region.

Donors are now beginning to invest more in agencies like the judicial police, which is to receive 2 million euros ($3.2 million) from the United Nations for equipment and training.

But they face a daunting task as the unit lacks manpower, political clout and even fuel to carry out its operations. It is constrained as much by rival agencies as by the smugglers with their fleets of planes, boats and vehicles.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com) (Additional reporting and writing by David Lewis