WASHINGTON, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - The US Treasury announced Friday it was imposing sanctions on two senior Venezuelan officials and one former official after accusing them of aiding Colombian rebels involved in drug trafficking.

The Treasury said it 'designated' officials Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva and one former official, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, for 'materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).'