Caracas, August 4 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has appointed Major General Nestor Reverol as the new head of the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace. The appointment came after the U.S. State Department charged Reverol and other top Venezuelan officials with “participating in an international cocaine distribution conspiracy” from January 2008 to December 2010.

Nicolas Maduro has rejected the accusations, saying that Washington wants to make Reverol to pay for all the drug traffickers he has captured. "What a coincidence that there are no drug kingpins in the United States," said Maduro, adding that Venezuela has captured dozens of drug traffickers.

The experienced top military general will be in charge of what are being called People's Liberation Operations, which form part of the government's efforts to combat criminal gangs in Venezuela.

Reverol had previously occupied this post during the administration of former President Hugo Chavez. And until his new appointment, he was the General Director of Venezuela’s office against drugs or ONA.