* Dutchman and five Colombians flown out in cuffs
* Alleged Mexico cartel member is among suspects
* Govt says its commitment to drug fight is clear
By Daniel Wallis
CARACAS, March 21 (Reuters) - Venezuela, long accused by the United States of being lax in the fight against drugs, deported six "highly dangerous" suspects on Monday and said the move showed its commitment to combating organized crime.
In a sign of the expanding reach of Mexico's drug cartels, one of the six suspects is accused of being a member of the brutal "Los Zetas" group.
"These actions demonstrate the commitment of the government, its cooperation and responsibility in the frontal assault on drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime," the CICPC national investigative police said in a statement.
Facing criticism it has colluded with left-wing rebels based in the jungles of neighboring Colombia who rely on cocaine smuggling for funds, President Hugo Chavez's government says it has sharply stepped up arrests in recent years.
Five of those deported on Monday from an airport on the Caribbean coast are Colombians, and one, Merk Anton Herman, is Dutch. Venezuela said all six were on Interpol's "Red List."
Herman, a white-haired 61-year-old, was escorted in front of a sign reading "Captured" in Spanish by armed security men wearing balaclavas, before being led to a plane.
The Venezuelan authorities said he was a member of a dangerous criminal organization dedicated to trafficking narcotics by air and sea between Colombia and Europe.
Four of the Colombians -- three men and a woman -- were deported to their home country where they face charges including drug offenses, kidnapping for money and murder.
The fifth, another woman, was sent to the United States, showing some continued cooperation with the United States despite diplomatic tensions between Washington and Caracas.
She is Gloria Rojas Valencia, 53, and is accused of drug trafficking and being a member of Mexico's "Los Zetas" cartel, a feared gang founded by former army special forces soldiers.
Western diplomats in Caracas say Mexican traffickers have used Venezuela as a transit point for Colombian cocaine heading to the United States and customers further afield.
It is an important route: The U.N. World Drug Report for 2010 said about half of all sea-born shipments of Colombian cocaine to Europe left from Venezuela in recent years.
Speaking at the airport, Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami also mentioned the case of a 41-year-old Canadian, Robert Stead, who he said was arrested on the Caribbean resort island of Margarita and accused of importing heroin.
Chavez tore up a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005 after accusing its agents of spying. But the country continues anti-drugs efforts with other nations and has deported more than 50 trafficking suspects since 2006, mainly to Colombia and the United States.
Last July it handed over to U.S. officials Carlos "Beto" Renteria, who was the last free leader of Colombia's top drugs gang, the "Norte del Valle" cartel, and one of the world's most wanted alleged cocaine smugglers. [ID:nN13257286]
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
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