As a key transit point for cocaine shipments destined for Europe and the United States, Venezuela has long been a staging ground for Colombian guerrilla groups and other players in the drug trade. The country has also produced its own brand of criminal actors, including megagangs controlled by prison bosses and powerful government-supported paramilitary forces, known as colectivos. Officials at the highest levels of the government and security have links to organized crime, including a shadowy group within the military dubbed the “Cartel of the Suns.”
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Latin America Makes Little Progress Against Corruption
Countries across Latin America continue to make stubbornly little progress in the fight against corruption.
Carlos Capa Gang
The Carlos Capa gang is one of the oldest surviving criminal gangs in Valles del Tuy, south of Caracas in Venezuela.
The R Organization
The R Organization is one of Venezuela's fastest growing mining gangs, which are often referred to as sindicatos.
Venezuela Profile
Venezuela is a key transit country for drug shipments leaving Colombia for the United States and Europe. Foreign groups, particularly Colombians, have traditionally controlled Venezuela's drug trade, being attracted by poor rule of law and corruption. There is evidence, however, that beginning in the mid-2000s corrupt elements in the security forces stepped up their role in the business, forming a loose network dubbed the "Cartel de los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns). Corrupt members of the security forces have also been major providers of weapons to the black market, to the particular benefit of Colombian guerrilla groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN).
Venezuela ProfileInvestigations
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Tren de Guayana is one of the most powerful mining gangs to currently operate in the southern Venezuela state of Bolívar.
A long-touted police reform in Venezuela would likely have a limited impact on rampant corruption in the ranks.
The US is losing allies in Latin America just as production of cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs is going through the roof.
Venezuelan authorities claim to have destroyed 40 tons of drugs this year. But are they being fully transparent about their track record?…
Entrenched criminal groups on the Colombia border keep resisting Venezuelan Army efforts to root them out.
Peru is taking steps to tackle the threat of Venezuelan mega-gang Tren de Aragua, and have recently captured 30 members of the gang.

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