Police in Venezuela say they have seized nearly 2,500 rolls of toilet paper in an overnight raid of a clandestine warehouse storing scarce goods.

The Thursday announcement on Twitter said that the officers raiding the garage in western Caracas also seized about 400 diapers and 7,000 liters of fruit juice.

Police chief Luis Karabin told Venezuelan news agency AVN that police, acting on a telephone tip, found "merchandise that we know is scarce on the shelves and doesn't reach the people."

Toilet paper is hard to find in Venezuelan grocery stores, as are staple food items such as sugar, milk and cooking oil.

The socialist government says the shortages are part of a plot by opponents to destabilize the country. Economists

blame the government's price and currency controls.