Venezuelan police capture five suspected guerrillas

Venezuelan police captured five suspected guerrillas carrying false passports, military fatigues and ammunition near the border with Colombia.

Photo: Venezuelan police capture five suspected guerrillas

Hebert Aguilar, police director in the western state of Tachira, told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency that the four Colombians and one Venezuelan were traveling on a bus when they were collared on Wednesday by local police.

But he did not say what group they might belong to or indicate which government they might be trying to overthrow.

"The suspected guerrillas possibly entered the country with the aim of committing crimes along the Colombian-Venezuelan border," Aguilar said.

Aguilar said they carried bogus identification cards, false passports, military fatigues, cellular telephones, ammunition and correspondence stamped with insignia of rebel groups when they were detained near San Cristobal, a city located about 750 kilometers (465 miles) west of Caracas.

Venezuelan authorities were working with Colombian officials to determine the identities of the suspects, Aguilar said.

Venezuela's 1,400-mile (2,253-kilometer) border with Colombia is plagued by violence stemming from Colombia's four-decade war involving leftist rebels, government troops and right-wing paramilitary groups.