The convicted Venezuelan drug-trafficker, Cesar Simon Abreu Suarez, whose escape from jail has constituted a well-publicized scandal in the news media, did not have an exit restriction, according to the director of the Immigrations Department, Vitelio Mejia Ortiz. Unnamed sources in Immigration told the newspaper El Nacional that when the news of Mr. Abreu Suarez’s escape appeared on 17 March, Mr. Mejia Ortiz notified his inspectors and supervisors working at all ports, airports and on the Haitian border to detain him. It would seem, however, that such an order was given too late since most reports indicate that Mr. Abreu Suarez escaped from La Victoria prison last November.
The sources also said that no convicted drug trafficker has an exit restriction, and that the agency responsible for recommending such a restriction is the Drug Control Department (DNCD), which they claim failed to do so in the case of Mr. Abreu Suarez.
As the investigation into the case continues, the Director of Prisons, Dr. Alberico Hernandez, has been temporarily relieved of his duties by the National Attorney General, Dr. Luis Nelson Pantaleon Gonzalez. Bernardo Santana Paez has been named the interim Director of Prisons.
5-11 April 1996