(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-23 16:15

CARACAS -- Venezuela's government announced Tuesday that it aimed to sue the United States at the Organization of American States (OAS) over its "baseless charges" against Caracas' drug-fighting efforts.

Venezuela's ambassador to the OAS will present the case and "denounce the belligerence of the US," said Nestor Reverol, chief of the National Anti-Drug Office.

He will also call on Washington to "stop using the fight against drugs as a political weapon," said Reverol.

He made the comments in response to statements by the director of US National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), John Walters, during a recent visit to Venezuela's neighbor, Colombia.

Speaking to press after meeting with Colombia's president Alvaro Uribe, Walters said, "Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has become a major facilitator for the trafficking of cocaine to other nations on this continent and to Europe."

Such remarks were deemed an act of "aggression" against the Venezuelan government, Reverol said.

Venezuela busted 11 drug laboratories, each capable of producing one ton of cocaine a month, and seized 52 tons of drugs in 2007, the third largest worldwide, said Reverol, adding that a total of 4,000 people linked to drug trading were arrested in the year.

Over 50 laws have been passed in Venezuela to step up the fight against drug crime, according to the official.