Two Ukrainian crewmembers of the B Atlantic vessel, who were arrested in Venezuela on charge of drug trafficking, have left Caracas for Ukraine, where they will serve out their sentences.
"Volodymyr Ustymenko and Yuriy Datchenko escorted by representatives of the Ukrainian Interpol Bureau have left Caracas (Venezuela) for Ukraine. They will fly through Paris and are expected to arrive at Boryspil airport in the afternoon of December 30," the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Oleksandr Dykusarov, told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
Dykusarov noted that the return of the Ukrainians home was made possible due to the agreements reached by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the latter’s recent visit to Ukraine, as well as during the official visit of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko to Venezuela on December 20-21.
As reported, two Ukrainian crewmembers of the B Atlantic vessel were arrested in the Venezuelan port of Maracaibo on August 13, 2007 on suspicion of being involved in the illegal smuggling of 128 kilograms of cocaine. A Venezuelan court sentenced the two Ukrainian sailors to nine years in prison.
In November 2010 the Ukrainian Justice Ministry agreed to return them to Ukraine to serve out their sentences.
