Caracas, March 27, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Nearly two-thirds of Venezuelans dismiss as false recent drug trafficking accusations against Vice-President Tareck El Aissami, reports a new study by the independent polling firm Hinterlaces.

Last month, the US Treasury Department froze all of El Aissami’s alleged assets in the US under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, making the vice-president the top-ranking official in any country to be sanctioned in this way.

However, according to the new survey, 66 percent of Venezuelans view these allegations as false, while 69 percent think that the US government has failed to present evidence to bolster its claims.

Moreover, a further 59 percent of respondents believe that the accusation targeting the Venezuelan vice-president “forms part of a conspiracy against President Maduro” in comparison to 34 percent who disagree.

The poll likewise found that a slightly smaller margin of 51 percent of the population reported being aware that during his tenure as interior minister El Aisssami captured 102 drug traffickers, of whom, 21 were extradited to the US and 30 to Colombia.

The survey was conducted between March 2 and 15 on the basis of a pool of 1580 telephone respondents drawn from throughout the country. The results are reported with 95 percent confidence, containing a maximum margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent.