Spanish – Guyana and the United States are joining forces in the fight against drug trafficking to corner the Nicolás Maduro regime further. The authorities of both countries announced that they would deploy maritime patrols to control drug trafficking on the border with Venezuela.
The local newspaper Guyana Chronicle opened with an editorial titled The protective, empowering arms of Big Brother, referring to the recent visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Guyana and the political and economic repercussions of this visit.
The editorial highlights some statements made by the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali. On the occasion of Pompeo’s visit, Ali emphasized that the South American country and the United States will deepen cooperation in the area of security with particular attention to maritime security and joint patrols to fight drug trafficking.
Pompeo took advantage of his tour of four South American countries to lobby and discuss the exit of Nicolás Maduro, accused in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
“Maduro is the most implicated drug kingpin in the hemisphere,” said U.S. President Donald Trump after decertifying Venezuela and Bolivia for “demonstrably” failing to meet their international commitments to combat drug trafficking.
A large quantity of cocaine is collected in Venezuela. From there, it is distributed to all the countries of the world. According to Commissioner Santos Bernal Uceda, head of the Cooperation Unit of the National Police Corps, attached to the Community of Madrid in Spain, drug shipments arriving in Europe and the United States pass from Colombia to Venezuela and are stored in the Orinoco Delta.
The Cartel of the Suns operates in the South American country, headed by officials of the Venezuelan Army and members of the Maduro regime. According to investigations, this criminal organization maintains links with the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and with the Colombian narco-guerrillas FARC and the ELN.
How Venezuela Exports Cocaine to the World
A new method for exporting cocaine was developed in Venezuela. Now, fishing boats transfer and distribute the drug in smaller boats at sea.
“We have detected a new mode that is stockpiling at sea. Fishing vessels or larger vessels that leave from Venezuela, border our territorial sea loaded with up to five tons, and are distributing that cargo in smaller boats in the middle of the sea to continue their destination,” said Captain Federico Alberto Sierra to the newspaper El Colombiano.
The drug traffickers’ modus operandi from Venezuela is the same that the Maduro regime has used to export oil: they transfer the oil at sea and sends the cargo as a “black market.”
Venezuela, known for having the world’s largest oil reserves, is now also known as a cocaine-producing country. Nicolas Maduro’s regime has transformed the South American country into an “emerging power in the production and illicit processing of drugs,” according to Spain’s ABC newspaper.
According to ABC, Venezuela is not only a bridge for the illicit export of cocaine from Colombia, but now also cultivates, produces, and processes drugs in “small but significant quantities” because of the links between narco-guerrillas and the Cartel of the Suns:
Faced with a reduction in oil production and the loss of its income from foreign exchange, the Soles cartel has resorted to drug trafficking managed by the FARC and the ELN as its alternative source of income but at a blood-stained social cost that would compete with the Mexican and Central American cartels.