HomeNewsBrief'Venezuela Never Reported Cocaine Haul in Jet Plane'
BRIEF

'Venezuela Never Reported Cocaine Haul in Jet Plane'

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 15 SEP 2014 BY ELYSSA PACHICO EN

Venezuelan authorities never disclosed that another cocaine haul was discovered in a jet plane earlier this year, raising new questions about the amount of drugs being moved through the country's main international airport to destinations abroad.

A story published by Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional revealed that authorities found 168 kilos of cocaine in a small jet on April 16. Neither Venezuela's Public Ministry nor the top anti-drug authority disclosed information about this seizure, the newspaper reported.

The cocaine was packed into four suitcases on board an aircraft that was bound for the Dominican Republic. The plane took off from Venezuela's biggest international airport, the Maiquetia, just outside Caracas, but landed again after just five minutes in the air due to a reported technical problem. 

The subsequent investigation saw seven people arrested, including an officer from the Bolivarian National Guard. 

InSight Crime Analysis

This recent seizure -- just 168 kilos packed into four suitcases -- pales in comparison to past incidents, like the ton of cocaine found on an Air France jet that flew from Caracas to Paris last year.  But as El Nacional suggests, the fact that the April seizure was never reported by Venezuelan authorities raises questions about what other drug hauls the public isn't hearing about. 

Venezuela's anti-drug police haven't handled security at the Maiquetia international airport since 2006. Instead, it has been in the hands of the Bolivarian National Guard, elements of which are believed to be deeply involved in cocaine trafficking as part of a drug trafficking network known as the Cartel de los Soles. Several National Guard officials were arrested following last year's Air France bust, as well as during an investigation involving an Italian woman -- the former secretary of ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- who was caught trafficking cocaine from Venezuela earlier this year.

SEE ALSO: Cartel de los Soles Profile

What Venezuela desperately needs is a thorough investigation into which high-level officials of the National Guard are complicit in the drug trade rather than more arrests of low-ranking officials and airport workers. But it's doubtful that President Nicolas Maduro's administration has the political will to push this through, given his need to stay on good terms with the security forces. And so long as airport drug inspection remains in the hands of the National Guard, these problems will likely continue.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

VENEZUELA / 14 FEB 2023

Las Claritas Sindicato is one of the strongest and longest-lasting criminal groups dedicated to illegal mining in Venezuela’s southern state…

BOLIVIA / 2 SEP 2022

Peru coca prices are low. And that's leading to potential cocaine production in Bolivia.

BRAZIL / 16 JAN 2023

Record seizures of cocaine in Portugal have raised fears Brazil's PCC may be getting increasingly involved.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…