HomeNewsBriefVenezuela No.1 Trafficker in LatAm: Anti-Drugs Official
BRIEF

Venezuela No.1 Trafficker in LatAm: Anti-Drugs Official

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 SEP 2013 BY CHARLES PARKINSON EN

A former top anti-drugs official in Venezuela has lambasted corruption in the country and branded it the "number one" drug trafficking nation in Latin America, highlighting how deeply the connections between organized crime and state institutions now run. 

Speaking to El Universal, ex-President of the National Anti-drugs Commission Bayardo Ramirez criticized the lack of a clear policy to rid the country of trafficking, which he said was deeply ingrained into certain corrupt sectors of the government.

Highlighting impunity surrounding the flow of drugs into the country from Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, and out towards Central America, the Caribbean and Africa, Ramirez declared that only regime change could effectively address the problem.

The assertions come on the same day El Nacional published an interview with the Hernan Matute, director of the Free Chair on Anti-Drugs Matters (CLIAD), in which he branded the country "the most corrupt" in Latin America and questioned how the country's National Bolivarian Guard (GNB) could be left in charge of the investigation into the 1.3 ton consignment of cocaine recently uncovered in France, for which GNB officers have already been arrested. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Accusations of endemic corruption and deep official involvement in drug trafficking in Venezuela are unsurprising. As a departure point for drugs destined for both the United States and Europe, corruption permeates the security forces up to the highest levels. The so-called "Cartel of the Suns" (Cartel de los Soles) is the collective name attached to the various corrupt cells within the security forces that facilitate the flow of contraband through the country's borders, ports and airports, and likely had a hand in the Air France flight. The fact the flight departed from an airport under strict GNB control only emphasizes the degree to which drug trafficking complicity is embedded in security forces and the decision to allow the GNB to oversee the investigation seems at best misguided, at worst corrupt.

SEE ALSO: Cartel de los Soles Profile

Drugs are not the only illicit interest of corrupt Venezuelan officials. Contraband smuggling is rife in the border regions, especially fuel smuggling. Cheap, subsidized fuel crosses the border into Colombia, or is dispatched in ships destined for Central America, and this illegal trade is also reliant on the complicity of officials.

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

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 SEP 2022

Outgoing governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, is about to lose immunity from an arrest warrant.

COCAINE / 8 FEB 2022

Officials in the United States have revealed that former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández is in fact included on a…

ELITES AND CRIME / 5 NOV 2021

A package of controversial legislative reforms became law in Honduras this week, further sinking any lingering efforts to combat corruption…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…