Illegal drug trade in Venezuela

Illegal drug trade in Venezuela refers to the practice of illegal drug trade in Venezuela. Historically Venezuela has been a path to the United States for illegal drugs originating in Colombia, through Central America and Mexico and Caribbean countries such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. According to a 2009 US report, 90% of US cocaine is sourced from Colombia, and Venezuela and the Caribbean account for around 10% of US-destined cocaine trans-shipments.[1]

Another significant route is directed to export cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs via direct sea shipments from Venezuela to Europe, with half of all direct shipments to Europe in 2006-8 originating in Venezuela.[2][3] Venezuela ranks fourth in the world for cocaine seizures, behind Colombia, the United States, and Panama.[4] In 2010 Venezuela arrested and deported to the United States Jaime Alberto "Beto" Marin, the head of the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel.[5]

In 2005 Venezuela severed ties with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.[5] According to the pro-Chávez website Venezuelanalysis.com in the period 2006-9 Venezuela arrested three times as many people for drug trafficking, and seized 10% more drugs, than it had in the 2002-5 period.[5] In 2009 a report for the United States Congress said that from 2004 to 2007 the quantity of cocaine exported from Colombia via Venezuela had quadrupled, reaching 17% of world trade in cocaine in 2007.[6] The report said that corruption in the Venezuelan armed forces was facilitating Colombian FARC guerillas' drug trafficking.[6] 2010 estimates showed that nearly a quarter of all from South America cocaine went through Venezuela with the Venezuelan government overstating claims of drug enforcement.[7]

Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan

In the early 1970s parts of the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan moved to Venezuela,[8] which became an important hideout as the clan bought hotels and founded various businesses in Caracas and Valencia, as well as an extended ranch in Barinas, near the Colombian border. "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory," according to the Italian police. "The structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela." The Cuntrera-Caruana clan had direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra.[8]

Pasquale, Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera were expelled from Venezuela in 1992, "almost secretly smuggled out of the country, as if it concerned one of their own drug transports. It was imperative they could not contact people on the outside who could have used their political connections to stop the expulsion." Their expulsion was ordered by a commission of the Venezuelan Senate headed by Senator Cristobal Fernandez Dalo and his money laundering investigator, Thor Halvorssen Hellum. They were arrested in September 1992 at Fiumicino airport (Rome),[9][10] and in 1996 were sentence to 13–20 years.[8]

Norte del Valle Cartel

In 2008 the leader of the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel, Wilber Varela, was found murdered in a hotel in Mérida in Venezuela.[11] In 2010 Venezuela arrested and deported to the United States Jaime Alberto "Beto" Marin, then head of the Norte del Valle Cartel.[5]

Drug trade and government corruption

A 2008 report by the United Nations noted the increase in cocaine trafficking through Venezuela since 2002.[12] In 2009, a report from the United States Congress said that from 2004 to 2007, the quantity of cocaine exported from Colombia via Venezuela had quadrupled, reaching 17% of world trade in cocaine in 2007.[6] Aporrea.org, a website that promotes the Chávez administration, argued that the government had been combating the illegal drug trade, citing a UN report.[13] In 2010 UN statistics showed seizures stable at around 33,000 kg in 2008, or around 5% of global seizures, and Venezuela still ranked fourth in cocaine seizures.[4]

Venezuelan armed forces and FARC

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Treasury accused two senior Venezuelan government officials and one former official of providing material assistance for drug-trafficking operations carried out by the FARC guerrilla group in Colombia.[14] In the same year, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, testified before the U.S. Congress that "there are no evidences [sic]" that Venezuela is supporting "terrorist groups", including the FARC.[15] In March 2012, Venezuela's National Assembly removed Supreme Court Justice Eladio Aponte Aponte from his post after an investigation revealed alleged ties to drug-trafficking. On the day he was to face questioning, Aponte Aponte fled the country, and has sought refuge in the U.S., where he began to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Justice. Aponte says that, while serving as a judge. he was forced to acquit an army commander who had connections with a 2 metric ton shipment of cocaine. Aponte also claimed that Henry Rangel, former defense minister of Venezuela and General Clíver Alcalá Cordones were both involved with the drug trade in Venezuela.[16] Venezuelan officials have also been allegedly working with Mexican drug cartels.[16]

In September 2013, an incident involving men from the Venezuelan National Guard placing 31 suitcases containing 1.3 tons of cocaine on a Paris flight astonished French authorities.[16] On 15 February 2014, a commander for the Guard was stopped while driving to Valencia with his family and was arrested for having 554 kilos of cocaine in his possession.[17] According to Colombian weekly Revista Semana, the director of the Dirección General de Inteligencia Militar (DGIM), Venezuelan agency in charge of Military Intelligence, was involved in supporting FARC drug trafficking.[18]

International actions

The CIA, in spite of objections from the Drug Enforcement Administration, in 1990 allowed at least one ton of nearly pure cocaine to be shipped into Miami International Airport. The CIA claimed to have done this as a way of gathering information about Colombian drug cartels. But the cocaine ended up being sold on the street.[19][20]

In November 2014, authorities from Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and the United States dismantled an international drug trade and money laundering operation which was based in Brazil where aircraft had their ID codes modified and were then flown from areas in Venezuela controlled by FARC to Honduras where the aircraft were abandoned.[21]

Statistics

See also

References

  1. ↑ United Nations, World Drug Report 2010, p74
  2. ↑ United Nations, World Drug Report 2010, p84
  3. ↑ Another route sees shipments by air via West Africa to Spain to be distributed in Europe. - United Nations, World Drug Report 2010, p84
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 United Nations, World Drug Report 2010 Statistical Annex: Drug seizures
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Venezuelanalysis.com, 20 September 2010, Venezuela Deports Two Drug Kingpins, Calls US Drug Blacklist "Abusive and Interventionist"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 (Spanish) EL Pais, 16 July 2009, El narcotráfico penetra en Venezuela
  7. ↑ Neuman, William (26 July 2012). "Cocaine’s Flow Is Unchecked in Venezuela". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Tom Blickman (1997), "The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba", Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997
  9. ↑ Fonzi, Gaeton. "The Troublemaker". The Pennsylvania Gazette (November 1994).
  10. ↑ Presumed Guilty, by Isabel Hilton, Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ), July 1994 (UK edition)
  11. ↑ BBC, 1 February 2008, Colombian drugs lord found dead
  12. ↑ El Universal, 24 February 2008, Aumenta narcotráfico por Venezuela
  13. ↑ (Spanish) Carlos J. Palacios, aporrea.org, 25 October 2007, Narcotráfico en Venezuela
  14. ↑ "Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC". Press Release. United States Department of Treasury. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "OAS' INSULZA: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF VENEZUELAN SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS". El Universal. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Meza, Alfredo (26 September 2013). "Corrupt military officials helping Venezuela drug trade flourish". El Pais. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  17. ↑ Sanchez, Nora (15 February 2014). "Detienen a comandante de la Milicia con cargamento de drogas". El Universal. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  18. ↑ (Spanish) Revista Semana, 2 February 2008, El Montesinos de Chávez
  19. ↑ Tim Weiner, 20 November 1993, New York Times, Anti-Drug Unit of C.I.A. Sent Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in 1990
  20. ↑ New York Times Service, "Venezuelan general who led CIA program indicted," Dallas Morning News (26 November 1996) p. 6A.
  21. ↑ "Desarticulan red de tráfico de drogas que operaba en Venezuela, Brasil y Honduras". La Patilla. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.

External links