Venezuelan officials say they are investigating allegations that military officers passed state secrets to the United States.

The nation's Military Attorney General's Office told El Universal newspaper Thursday that it has launched a probe of the alleged spies, although it would not say how many suspects there were.

Venezuela's Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Wednesday that several low-level military officers were caught passing information to the U.S. military. He said some of the suspects have been detained and others have left the country.

The attorney for one of the suspects told reporters a U.S. military attaché, identified as John Correa, has been mentioned as a possible link between the Venezuelan officers and the United States.

The U.S. embassy in Caracas had no comment.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.