This investigation, the product of three years of field research, looks at the exponential growth of organized crime in Venezuela and the consequences of this for the region.
Investigation Chapters
7 Reasons for Describing Venezuela as a ‘Mafia State’
There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “mafia state.” Here are seven arguments as to why we think Venezuela qualifies and what the implications are of this troubled Andean nation as a regional crime hub.
Drug Trafficking Within the Venezuelan Regime: The ‘Cartel of the Suns’
In Latin America, criminal entrepreneurs in the form of cartels, have traditionally run drug trafficking. In Venezuela, it is managed from within government, and if Nicolás Maduro wins another term in office, Venezuela’s position in the global cocaine business will solidify.
The Devolution of State Power: The ‘Colectivos’
They are known by supporters as “knights of steel” on their motorcycles, and as the most ardent defenders of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution. Yet now they look more like criminal gangs with immense social control. Welcome to the world of the “colectivos.”
The Devolution of State Power: ‘The Pranes’
In May 2011, a 26-year-old prison gang leader held 4,000 members of the Venezuelan security forces, backed by tanks and helicopters, at bay for weeks. Humiliated nationally and internationally, it pushed President Hugo Chávez into a different and disastrous approach to the prison system.
Colombia and Venezuela: Criminal Siamese Twins
Colombia and Venezuela have shared criminal dynamics for decades. Colombia has pushed cocaine through Venezuela on its journey to US and European markets, while Venezuela’s contraband fuel has gushed in the other direction. But today the criminal links are far more complex and increasingly symbiotic.
Honduras and Venezuela: Coup and Cocaine Air Bridge
On the morning of Sunday, June 28, 2009, Honduran soldiers burst into the presidential palace in the country’s capital, Tegucigalpa, rustled President Manuel Zelaya from his bed, and took away his cellular phone. As the army disarmed the presidential guard, the soldiers ushered Zelaya into a van.
Dominican Republic and Venezuela: Cocaine Across the Caribbean
Drug traffickers have a problem exporting drugs from Venezuela. There are few commercial flights, little container shipping, no tourists and a collapsed fishing sector. But the Dominican Republic, 1,400 kilometers away, has it all.
Venezuela and El Salvador: Exporting Aid and Corruption
José Luis Merino is one of the most powerful figures in El Salvador’s governing political party and played a key role in the founding of ALBA Petróleos, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., whose business network has made many Salvadoran elites wealthy.
