Venezuela Drug News

[Giuseppe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8160639.stm

Venezuela 'fuelling drugs trade'

Corruption in Venezuela's government and military is allowing drug trafficking into the US to flourish, a US congressional report has said.

Venezuela provides "a safe haven" for Colombian armed groups operating along its border, the report says.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed the report's findings, labelling it "a new lie" from the US.

The US says the annual flow of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela quadrupled between 2004 and 2007.

The report, by the Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of Congress, says corruption in Venezuela has extended a "lifeline" to Colombian rebels who profit through the drugs trade using sanctuaries along the border.

The report says that the situation risked reversing gains made in stemming the flow of drugs from Colombia.

"If illegal armed groups continue to find safe haven in Venezuela and receive support from Venezuela, the permissive atmosphere and lack of co-operation will likely adversely affect the security gains made in Colombia since 2000," the report said.

According to researchers who prepared the report, visiting both Venezuela and Colombia earlier this year, Venezuelan officials were bribed to facilitate Colombian cocaine shipments.

Mr Chavez, speaking on Friday after a copy of the report was leaked, said the US was "the top drug trafficking country on the entire planet".

Co-operation between Venezuelan and American drug enforcement agencies has declined sharply since 2005, when Mr Chavez accused US officials of spying, a charge they denied.

[Junior]

Reinforcements sent after Venezuelan prison stand-off
BBC News, June 18, 2011

The Venezuelan authorities say they will resume a major operation aimed at regaining control of a prison near the capital, Caracas.

An extra 400 troops have been drafted in, after more than 3,500 National Guards were unable to take full control of El Rodeo prison on Friday.

This follows a riot last Sunday between rival gangs in which more than 20 inmates were killed.

Attempts to negotiate a peaceful resolution have so far failed.

On Friday, the government announced that its forces had re-taken all of the part of the prison called Rodeo I, accounting for some three-quarters of all inmates.

Two members of the security forces were killed, and at least another 18 injured on Friday.

It is not clear how many casualties there have been among prisoners.

'Fake' death photos

The authorities say one inmate was killed on Friday, and have said photos circulating on social media sites showing more casualties were "fake".

An estimated 1,300 prisoners still remain in the part of the prison not under the control of the authorities - Rodeo II.

Some of these prisoners are armed.

The interior minister, Tareck El Aissami, announced on state television that a small group of inmates were using guns to exert control over the other prisoners.

He said he had tried to negotiate with some of these leaders in an effort to get them to surrender.

But these leaders, whom he classified as "negative", had not responded.

"Their attitude continues to be the same: hostile," he said. "They are refusing to let assistance be given to prisoners. They are refusing to have a dialogue."

The minister said they would try to keep dialogue going.

He said "90% of prisoners agreed with the measures taken by the government".

And he went on to say that some of the leaders would be punished by being transferred to high security prisons.

Notoriously overcrowded

Outside the jail, tense stand-offs have continued, with security forces clashing with angry relatives.

The security forces have fired tear gas in an effort to disperse groups of relatives of the inmates.

On Friday, the Venezuelan vice-president, Elias Jaua, sought to reassure the prisoners' relatives.

In a televised speech, he explained to them why the government needed to take action.

"The intervention we're carrying out today isn't to massacre their relatives," he said, "it's to protect the lives of more than 5,000 inmates."

Venezuelan prisons are notoriously overcrowded and there have been a series of riots since the beginning of the year.

[Junior]

Venezuela prison stand-off: El Rodeo inmates moved
BBC News, June 20, 2011

The Venezuelan authorities have transferred 2,500 prisoners from a jail near Caracas as they seek to reassert control there.

On Friday, troops took over most of El Rodeo jail in Guatire, after a riot between rival gangs of prisoners a week ago left some 20 people dead.

But a stand-off continues in one prison wing, after attempts to negotiate with a group of armed inmates failed.

The interior minister said some 50 prisoners were refusing to disarm.

In the meantime, the authorities have sought to deal with the prisoners from the part of El Rodeo they already control.

In the early morning of Sunday, they began transferring some 2,500 inmates by bus to a number of other prisons in the country.

They planned to move the remaining 1,000 inmates later in the day.

Officials say the measure is temporary, designed to protect the fundamental rights of the prisoners.

'Short circuit' fire

Many of the inmates' relatives, however, remain highly anxious about a situation that is still very volatile.

Two members of the security forces and at least one prisoner were killed in clashes inside the jail when the security operation started on Friday.

Hundreds of relatives have gathered outside the jail, where they have clashed with security forces in recent days.

Some of them watched with great alarm as a fire broke out in part of the prison before dawn on Sunday.

The Venezuelan authorities denied that they had started the fire deliberately.

A senior government official, Nestor Reverol, said the blaze - which has since been put out - had been caused by an electrical short circuit and that no-one had been hurt.

Waiting game

Attempts to end the stand-off inside part of El Rodeo have so far failed.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Tareck el-Aissimi said the leaders of a group of inmates - whom he called "hostile" and "negative" - had been using their weapons to exert control over more than 1,000 fellow inmates in that area of the jail.

Mr Aissami told the state television channel, VTV, that the leaders were demanding that government troops - who number some 4,000 - pull out of the jail.

And he said the men would not permit a search of the part of the prison they controlled.

The authorities have been trying to implement a crackdown on guns within the jail, and have so far confiscated a number of firearms and a quantity of drugs.

But Mr Aissami said he was prepared to play a waiting game.

"We'll last out for as long as it takes," he said.

"Time is not on their side. We're on our guard, waiting for them to hand over their weapons."

[Junior]

Venezuela jail: 36 leave El Rodeo prison amid stand-off
BBC News, June 21, 2011

Venezuelan troops have escorted 36 prisoners out of a jail near Caracas where armed inmates are resisting the army's attempts to retake control.

A National Guard spokesman said the men had been "hostages of violent prisoners".

There have been gunfights since Friday between some 5,000 members of the security forces and inmates holed up in a wing of El Rodeo prison.

Some 2,500 prisoners have been moved from the complex to other jails.

Last Friday, troops took over most of El Rodeo jail in Guatire, after a riot between rival gangs of prisoners on 12 June left some 20 people dead.

But a stand-off continues in one section of prison.

'Weapons of war'

On Monday, troops managed to free 36 men from areas no longer held by rebellious prisoners, Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami told state television.

Mr Aissami has said that one prisoner and two National Guard troops have been killed during the clashes.

An inmate reached by mobile telephone told the Associated Press that there had been 17 deaths.

Troops were using what he called "weapons of war" against them, prisoner Rafael Contreras said.

Hundreds of relatives are outside the jail, anxious for news.

Authorities say a group of what they call "hostile" inmates are using their weapons to control some 1,000 prisoners in one section of the prison.

Venezuela's overcrowded prisons see frequent riots between rival gangs.

The prison system, built to hold about 14,500 inmates, is currently estimated to house some 46,000 prisoners, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which monitors prison conditions.

[Junior]

Venezuela confirms arrest of siege prison governors
BBC News, June 28, 2011

Venezuelan authorities have confirmed that two high-ranking officers at a jail near Caracas have been arrested on suspicion of arms and drugs-smuggling.

The men, along with a National Guard captain, are accused of smuggling weapons into El Rodeo prison.

Twenty people died when rioting broke out in the prison earlier this month, leading to an ongoing stand-off between prisoners and security forces.

Armed inmates are holding some 1,000 other prisoners hostage, officials say.

Prosecutors said the men being held are Luis Rafael Aranguren, the governor of El Rodeo II, one wing in the prison complex, and the deputy governor of El Rodeo I, Ruben Jose Gonzalez Heredia.

Authorities also arrested Capt Jose Camargo Gomez.

They are suspected of belonging to a ring that smuggled weapons into the prison.

Waiting game

Rioting erupted in El Rodeo prison in Guatire on 12 June. There has been a tense stand-off since it was quelled on 17 June.

Several days later, troops took control of most of the complex and many of the inmates were transferred to other jails.

But a stand-off continues in one section of the prison and there have been sporadic gun battles.

One soldier and two prisoners have been killed in the violence, authorities say.

Officials say they remain open to dialogue, but that order must be restored.

Venezuela's overcrowded prisons see frequent riots between rival gangs.

The prison system, built to hold about 14,500 inmates, is currently estimated to house some 46,000 prisoners, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which monitors prison conditions.

[Junior]

Inmates at Venezuela's Rodeo prison free 'hostages'
BBC News, July 8, 2011

State media in Venezuela say prisoners who took control of a jail near the capital Caracas three weeks ago have released 148 fellow inmates whom they were allegedly holding hostage.

There are conflicting reports about the situation inside the prison.

Venezuelan officials say a small gang of inmates is terrorising the rest of the prison population.

But relatives of the prisoners say the men were resisting a police operation aimed at getting rid of armed gangs.

State news agency AVN said the armed prisoners freed 148 inmates, many of whom were ill or weak three weeks into the stand-off with the security forces.

The release had been made possible after relatives negotiated with the leaders of the armed group of inmates, the news agency reported.

The prisoners also handed over the body of an inmate who died during the stand-off.

Lethal stand-off

Officials say 869 prisoners are still being held by the armed gang, which is made up of some 50 inmates.

The security forces were sent into the jail on 17 June after 22 inmates were killed in a fight between rival gangs at El Rodeo I prison in Guatire, near Caracas.

At least 3,500 troops from the Venezuelan National Guard moved into the jail and managed to regain control of Rodeo I, but were fired on by prisoners in the adjoining Rodeo II complex.

Despite the deployment of an extra 400 troops, the security forces have not been able to take control of Rodeo II.

Hundreds of relatives have been camped outside the jail and have also clashed with the security forces on a number of occasions.

Officials say three members of the security forces have been killed in the operations to retake the prison.

There are conflicting accounts regarding the number of inmates who have died.

The security forces say one prisoner was killed during the operation to take Rodeo I.

They say five more were killed in internal gang fights in the following weeks and one died from health complications.

Local media put the number of inmates killed at a minimum of eight.

Prisons in Venezuela are notoriously overcrowded and violent.

The government has allocated almost $100m (£60.1m) to the task of reforming the prison sector, but Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami has said it will take time to tackle "the sheer drama, urgency and complexity of the problems besetting the prison system".

[Junior]

Venezuelan prison stand-off ends after 27 days
BBC News, July 13, 2011

Police in Venezuela have regained control of a prison east of the capital, Caracas, after a stand-off that lasted for 27 days.

More than 800 inmates have now given up their weapons and left the El Rodeo prison in minibuses.

They are undergoing medical examinations and will be taken to two other prisons.

The stand-off began after troops stormed the prison to put an end to violent clashes between rival groups.

More than 25 people died in the mid-June clashes and in subsequent attempts to regain full control of the prison, in the town of Guatire.

Venezuelan troops eventually took over a part of the jail known as El Rodeo I, which accounted for some three-quarters of the inmates.

But hundreds of armed prisoners remained in control of the other wing, El Rodeo II.

The authorities said a small group of inmates there were using guns to exert control over the other prisoners.

Several attempts to negotiate with the leaders of the prison's two factions failed.

But nearly a month after the first riots, the Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister, Tareck El Aissami, said the inmates agreed to surrender.

He said they had been given guarantees that their human rights would be respected.

"We've managed for all of them to come down to the patios," Mr El Aissami said. "We celebrate the triumph of peace, dialogue."

A spokesperson for the prisoners' relatives, Grisel Zorrilla, told the Associated Press news agency that the inmates all appeared well as they left the compound.

Venezuelan prisons are notoriously overcrowded and there have been a series of riots since the beginning of the year.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says nearly 500 people died in prison violence last year.

[Junior]

Fights in two Venezuela jails leave seven inmates dead
BBC News, July 20, 2011

Venezuelan officials say six prisoners died and more than a dozen were injured after fighting broke out between rival gangs in a jail in Yaracuy state.

The clashes at the San Felipe prison, some 500km (310 miles) west of Caracas, followed the murder of one of the gang leaders, officials said.

Violence also erupted at a jail in Cabimas, in Zulia state, where one inmate died in a fire.

Venezuelan prisons are seriously overcrowded and see frequent riots.

Last week, a stand-off ended at a jail in Guatire after nearly a month when armed prisoners surrendered.

More than 25 people had died in clashes and in subsequent attempts to regain full control of the prison.

[Junior]

Venezuela's El Rodeo prison officials charged
By Sarah Grainger, BBC News, Caracas
August 10, 2011

Venezuelan prosecutors have charged two former prison governors and a soldier with corruption, following June's riot that killed 22 people at their prison.

They were also charged with facilitating the trafficking of arms and drugs and associating with criminals in El Rodeo jail.

The riot at the jail, outside Caracas, began after a fight between rival inmate gangs of prisoners.

National Guards were then sent to search the jail for drugs and guns.

But one group of heavily armed prisoners refused to surrender, leading to a stand-off which went on for almost a month.

Overcrowding

The former governor of one half of the El Rodeo prison was arrested alongside the deputy governor of the other section of the jail and a captain of the National Guard who worked at the prison in late June.

In a statement, the public prosecutors' office said the three had been charged with corruption and have been remanded in custody to await trial.

In response to the events at El Rodeo, President Hugo Chavez created a new prisons ministry, which recently announced plans to release almost half the country's inmates in order to ease overcrowding.

Venezuela's prisons house more than twice the number of inmates they were originally designed for and violence amongst prisoners is commonplace.

[Junior]

Venezuelan prison fight leaves 7 dead, 37 injured
The Associated Press, Philly.Com
Thursday, August 18, 2011

CARACAS, Venezuela - Inmates brawled in an overcrowded prison in western Venezuela, killing seven prisoners and injuring 37 people, including eight visitors, a police chief said Thursday.

The fighting at the Cabimas lockup erupted Wednesday afternoon while relatives of inmates were visiting the prison, Zulia state Safety Secretary Odalis Caldera said.

Authorities regained control of the prison, but the facility remains severely overcrowded. It was built for 120 inmates but holds 619.

Such problems are common in Venezuela's 34 prisons, which officials say hold nearly four times more people than their intended capacity.

Less than a month ago, violence in the same prison left one inmate dead and 16 injured with burns.

The fight follows a nearly monthlong prison uprising that pitted armed inmates against National Guard troops at the Rodeo prisons near the capital of Caracas. That standoff ended last month after gunfights between troops and inmates that killed one prisoner and two soldiers and wounded 20 troops. Four more inmates who escaped were slain by soldiers.

Last year, 476 people died and 967 were injured in prison violence in Venezuela, according to figures compiled by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

[Junior]

Inmates Free 1,550 Hostages Held in Venezuela Prison
Written by Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Inmates at a Venezuelan prison released some 1,550 people who had been held hostage for more than a week by gang bosses demanding concessions from the authorities.

The standoff began on September 25, when Uribana’s "pranes," or prison gang bosses, refused to allow inmates' relatives to leave after visiting time.

The civilians, including 1,300 women, were freed Tuesday after prison authorities negotiated a truce with the pranes. The authorities promised to improve prison conditions, as well as better treatment of prison visitors in the future.

Although some of the inmate’s relatives may have voluntarily joined the protest, the majority were reportedly taken hostage on orders from prison gang leaders, who planned to use them as leverage in negotiations with prison officials. Prior to freeing all hostages, some elderly and ailing victims were released. A young woman was reportedly raped in the prison on Saturday night by one or more inmates, and has been hospitalized.

Venezuelan prisons are notoriously overcrowded and violent. More than 44,000 inmates are housed in a system designed to handle fewer than 15,000, and the institutions are often run by powerful gang bosses.

The country’s prison system has been rocked by a string of crises in recent months. In April inmates took prison officials hostage at the Rodeo II prison outside of Caracas, while in June, riots resulted in the deaths of at least 23 inmates in the country.

[Junior]

Chavez Suggests Law to Shoot Down Suspected Drug Planes
Written by Ronan Graham, InSight.com
Friday, October 14, 2011

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has proposed legislation to allow the military to shoot down suspected drug trafficking planes.

In a televised speech on Thursday, the Venezuelan leader argued in favor of a law allowing the military to shoot down planes which refuse to land when asked. He said that this would discourage traffickers from transporting drugs through Venezuelan airspace.

Chavez said that Venezuelan military planes sometimes follow aircraft suspected of transporting drugs and order them to land, but that the pilots often ignored the orders, leaving the military powerless to stop them.

Venezuela has become an important transport route for traffickers transporting drugs into the United States and Europe. The U.S. government has criticized Chavez’s government for taking inadequate action to prevent drugs being trafficked through Venezuela.

[Junior]

Venezuela arrests Colombian 'drug lord' Valenciano
BBC News, November 28, 2011

One of Colombia's most-wanted men, Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, has been captured in Venezuela.

Better known under his alias Valenciano, he is accused of smuggling tonnes of cocaine from Colombia to the United States.

American officials had offered a $5m reward for information leading to his capture.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has praised his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, for the arrest.

President Santos was speaking ahead of a summit with President Chavez in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

He described Valenciano, 39, as a "high value target for Colombia, and the entire world".

The Colombian security forces accuse him of leading a drug gang based in the Colombian city of Medellin.

The gang, known as The Office, was once the armed wing of Pablo Escobar's drug trafficking ring and took over many of its operations after his death in 1993, Colombian officials say.

Valenciano is accused of managing a 1,500-strong gang controlling the main drug trafficking routes from Colombia through Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, to the United States.

Both President Chavez of Venezuela and President Santos of Colombia hailed Valenciano's arrest as an example of successful security collaboration.

He was seized by Venezuelan forces in the northern state of Aragua with the help of intelligence provided by Colombian police.

President Chavez said: "Under no circumstance have we or will we allow drug trafficking, paramilitary or armed groups of any kind to violate our territory."

In 2010, relations between Colombia and Venezuela broke down when then Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuela of harbouring left-wing Farc guerrillas.

Relations between the two neighbours have improved markedly since President Santos came to power in August 2010.

President Chavez said Valenciano would be taken to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to be handed over to Colombian authorities.

[Junior]

Venezuelan 'drug lord' Walid Makled goes on trial
BBC News, April 10, 2012

The trial has begun behind closed doors of alleged Venezuelan drugs kingpin Walid Makled on charges of money-laundering, trafficking and murder.

Mr Makled, who is also wanted by the US, was arrested in Colombia in 2010 and extradited to Venezuela last year.

His case took on political overtones in Venezuela when he alleged in interviews from prison that he paid millions of dollars to senior officials.

The government said his claims were an attempt to avoid prosecution.

Improving ties

Mr Makled was a successful businessman in Venezuela whose family owned an airline, a transport company and several warehouses.

He went into hiding in 2008 when his brothers were arrested after large quantities of cocaine were found at a family ranch. He was arrested in Colombia in 2010.

Colombia sent him back to Venezuela a year later, in a move seen as a sign of improving ties between the two countries.

The US authorities say he was one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world.

Mr Makled, who is also accused of two murders, has always denied the charges, saying the authorities framed him in order to seize his businesses.

Journalists were not allowed into the court in Caracas to cover proceedings, with officials saying there was not enough room, the Spanish news agency Efe reported.

"The trial has begun and the prosecution is speaking. It is very long because the accusations run to 900 pages," one of the defence lawyers, Rafael Ojeda, told reporters.

"The trial has got off to a bad start," opposition politician Miguel Angel Rodriguez said, arguing that the importance of the case meant it should be open to the public.

[Junior]

US Sees 'Worrying Trend' in Venezuela Drug Trafficking
Written by Christopher Looft, InSight.com
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A US Treasury official said that the department had observed a "worrying trend" in drug trafficking in Venezuela in the last two years, and that Henry Silva Rangel, now the country's defense minister, had called for closer government cooperation with the FARC rebel group.

Adam Szubin (see picture), director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), told El Universal that Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva, who the department designed as a narcotics traffickers in 2008, "has argued for better cooperation between the Venezuelan government and the FARC."

Rangel Silva was accused by OFAC of "materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities" of the Colombian rebel group. A top intelligence official at the time, he was sanctioned along with another intelligence official and the former interior minister for ties to the group. Another four government officials were designated in 2011.

The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act targets individuals and businesses with suspected ties to international drug trafficking by freezing their US assets and barring US individuals and businesses from commercial ties with them.

Szubin assured the newspaper that "nobody enters OFAC's list by mistake."

InSight Crime Analysis

There have long been accusations of ties between the FARC and elements of the Venezeulan government and military. High-ranking members of the rebels' ruling Secretariat are thought to use the country as a refuge, as well as a source of weapons and medical care.

These accusations were bolstered earlier this year when President Hugo Chavez appointed Rangel, then a high ranking general, as defense minister, despite the accusations that he has helped the FARC to smuggle drugs. His appointment was likely part of efforts by an ailing Chavez to shore up political power. The ties between the two are strong; as military officers, they collaborated in a 1992 coup attempt.

However, since a rapprochement with the Colombian government in 2012, Venezuela has been working more closely with its neighbor to catch and deport members of the rebel group. In March 2012, Venezuelan authorities cooperated with Colombia to capture one of the group's founding members.

[Junior]

Venezuela Seizes 3 Tons Cocaine at Caribbean Port
Written by Hannah Stone, InSight.com
Friday, April 27, 2012

Venezuelan authorities found more than 3.3 tons of cocaine at a port north of Caracas, apparently being shipped from Colombia to Mexico.

National Guard troops found the drug at La Guaira port on Thursday, hidden in over 1,000 boxes of powder for making ceramics, according to Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami. The minister claimed that the substance was being shipped to Mexico. Two Mexicans and one Venezuelan were arrested during the operation, reports El Universal.

The authorities were alerted to the presence of the drugs because the cost of shipping the boxes was higher than the stated worth of their contents, causing suspicion.

El Aissami stated that Venezuela was seizing more drugs than ever, and that the latest confiscation reinforced that government's drug policy.

InSight Crime Analysis

This shipment likely came from Colombia -- Venezuela has become the biggest transit country for cocaine produced by its neighbor, and the cargo was reportedly packed by a company in Tachira state, which borders on the Colombian province of Norte de Santander.

Venezuela has become an increasingly important route for shipping cocaine from the Andean region to Europe, the US and Mexico. As Colombia has tightened security over the last decade, clamping down on illegal landing strips and increasing observation at sea ports, it has become safer to send the drug over the loosely policed border into Venezuela. Lax policing, and corruption amongst offcials, make the country even more attractive to traffickers.

Much of the cocaine trade over the Colombia-Venezuela border is dominated by the Colombian Rastrojos working in concert with the Mexican Zetas, according to think tank Nuevo Arco Iris.

The 3.3 ton find is significant, but it remains a tiny fraction of the amount of cocaine that passes through the country, which a US State Department estimate put at 161-212 tons in 2011.

Aissami is not correct in saying that Venezuela is seizing more drugs than ever; the country confiscated 42 tons of drugs in 2011, compared to the previous years' totals of 63, 60, and 40, respectively. This is all significantly lower than the peak of 152 tons seized in 2005.

[Junior]

Former Officials Allege 'Cartel War' in Venezuelan Military
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Thursday, May 10, 2012

Allegations of high-level corruption in Venezuela continue to mount, with two former government officials alleging that rival drug trafficking factions are battling within the upper levels of the Venezuelan security forces.

In a May 9 interview with Miami-based SoiTV, former Supreme Court Justice Luis Velasquez Alvaray claimed that elements of the Venezuelan military leadership is heavily involved in drug trafficking, and said there may be “a war among cartels” brewing in the armed forces. Among the most powerful, according to him, is the “Cartel de los Soles” (Cartel of the Suns), a shadowy group of drug traffickers in the military which allegedly includes generals.

Valasquez claimed that the April 23 murder of retired General Wilmer Antonio Moreno was related to his knowledge of criminal activity, and fingered General Cliver Alcalay, head of the Army's 4th Armored Division, as one of those responsible for the killing.

The assertion that Moreno was killed by criminal elements in the military was supported by recent remarks that the former head of anti-drug agency CONACUID Mildred Camero recently made to El Universal. Camero also insinuated that the same elements were behind the March 24 shooting of the former governor of Apure state Jesus Aguilarte, and said both were proof of an conflict among Venezuelan security forces involved in drug trafficking.

InSight Crime Analysis

If these allegations prove true, and high level military officials in Venezuela are indeed taking part in drug-fueled conflicts in the country, it could prove extremely harmful to President Hugo Chavez’s public image. Chavez has previously laughed off allegations of drug trafficking in the military as propaganda designed to discredit him, but with two former government officials making open accusations against current military members, they are becoming harder to dismiss. The charges would also be deeply damaging to Chavez considering his public stance against rising insecurity in the country; if it emerges that he may have had knowledge that figures in the military were contributing to the violence, he will face difficulty winning the upcoming October elections.

However, these accusations must be taken with a grain of salt, much like the recent accusations made by former Supre Court judge Eladio Aponte. All of these ex-officials have an axe to grind, and an interest in casting the Chavez administration as deeply infiltrated by criminals. Both Aponte and Alvaray are in exile (Aponte in the US and Alvaray in Costa Rica), and face corruption charges against them in Venezuela. Moreno had a falling out with Chavez in 2005, and has since been a major critic of the government.

[Junior]

Venezuela Proposes Intelligence Center to Monitor Drug Trafficking
Written by Tracey Knott, InSight.com, Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Venezuela has proposed the creation of a regional intelligence fusion center to monitor drug trafficking, reflecting a growing trend toward Latin American security cooperation.

On June 18, Venezuela proposed creating a South American intelligence center to monitor drug trafficking in the region. According to Venezuelan Vice Minister of Public Safety Nestor Reverol (pictured above), the system will monitor maritime and aerial transportation in the region and will promote shared intelligence among South American countries so that they will be able to develop independent strategies to combat drug trafficking. The proposal will be raised before the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Venezuela posed the idea at an international seminar on drug trafficking in Porlamar, Venezuela, which brought 42 experts from South America, as well as representatives from international and European governmental bodies, together to discuss the changing methods of shipping drugs to Europe and West Africa, as well as also the emergence of new synthetic drugs, such as bath salts and synthetic marijuana.

It is not yet clear who would direct the creation of the South American monitoring system and when it would be established.

InSight Crime Analysis

For Venezuela, combating drug trafficking is a key component of its national security. The South American country is a well-known haven for drug traffickers, and is a transition point for cocaine produced in Colombia and then shipped via Venezuela to the Caribbean, West Africa, and Europe. Many top Colombian drug lords are suspected of residing in Venezuela, including Daniel Barrera, alias “Loco Barrera."

The Venezuelan proposal is reflects a growing trend toward regional cooperation in fighting drug trafficking. In April at the Sixth Summit of the Americas, all 33 attending countries voted to establish an Inter-American System against Organized Crime. This monitoring system will be made up of regional security and law enforcement experts and officials, and is expected to make policy recommendations for countries in the region. It will coordinate its efforts with the Organization of American States (OAS) -- an organization that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has criticized in recent years.

Both the Inter-American System and UNASUR intelligence center, if well organized, could promote the sharing of strategy and intelligence necessary for an effective fight against drug trafficking. Although both bodies are designed to combat drug trafficking, the Inter-American System appears designed to promote policy dialogue between Latin American countries, while the Venezuelan plan, albeit vague, focuses on another important aspect of regional drug enforcement: intelligence sharing.

However, considering widespread allegations of corruption among Venezuela’s military forces, the country’s South American neighbors might be reluctant to entrust classified information to the Venezuelan military.

[Junior]

Venezuela Seizes 20 Tons of Liquid Cocaine
Written by Michael Kane, InSight
Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Venezuelan authorities have seized 20 tons of liquid cocaine bound for Mexico, highlighting the increasing popularity of smuggling the drug in liquid form.

On June 26 Venezuelan security forces detected liquid cocaine in four shipping containers carrying a chemical substance on a ship docked in the northwestern state of Zulia, along the Colombian border. The ship was bound for the port of Veracruz, Mexico.

Three people, including a Colombian national, were arrested in connection with the shipment. Interior and Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami described the seizure as “one of the largest operations we’ve ever had in the history of Venezuela [and a] blow to drug trafficking,” although he said the purity of the shipment had not yet been tested.

He also indicated law enforcement was conducting “other raids” in connection with the confiscated shipment.

InSight Crime Analysis

Drug traffickers are constantly evolving and inventing new ways of avoiding detection as they move their product across borders. One of the most popular methods of smuggling cocaine in recent years has been to camouflage it in liquid form (see picture).

According to Infosurhoy, powder cocaine is highly soluble, meaning half a kilogram can be completely dissolved in a liter of water, making it invisible to the naked eye. The dissolved cocaine is more difficult to detect using x-ray or ultrasound scanners. When it reaches its final destination, 90 percent of the product can then be retrieved and converted into its original state by filtering the mixture.

Due to the fact liquid cocaine can be easily concealed, traffickers have increasingly moved the drug in its liquid form. One Colombian official confirmed the trend to Infosurhoy, saying,“Trafficking methods are like fads: What is hot today is [smuggling] cocaine in a solution.”

In April 2011, authorities uncovered a smuggling ring that moved cocaine hidden in lotions and shampoos between Peru and New Jersey. Then last July, the Panamanian navy seized more than three tons of liquid cocaine on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Last week, an El Salvadoran man was arrested crossing the Mexican border into the United States carrying 71 pounds of liquid cocaine, worth an estimated $710,000.

[Junior]

Venezuela drug seizure much smaller than initially reported
Fox News Latino, June 28, 2012

The amount of cocaine seized earlier this week aboard a ship in the northwestern Venezuelan state of Zulia was actually 4.8 tons, not the 20 tons initially reported, Interior Minister Tareck el Aissami said.

The cocaine was packed into 91 barrels of petroleum products in four containers in "an effort to use the odor of the hydrocarbons to hide the characteristic odor of cocaine," the interior minister said.

The ship carrying the containers was bound for Mexico, El Aissami said.

Tests conducted by the National Anti-Drug Office, or ONA, concluded that only "25 percent of the gross weight" of the barrels was cocaine, totaling 4.8 tons, the interior minister said.

El Assami had announced on Tuesday that police seized 20 tons of cocaine and arrested three suspects in Zulia.

The three suspects are Venezuelan citizens Hernandez Gonzalez, 40, and Marin Gimis, 35, and Colombian national Dearmas Chili, 38, El Aissami said.

"The investigation remains open" and prosecutors are trying to "determine other links," El Aissami said.

Three of the containers were bound for the Mexican Gulf port of Veracruz and the other was going to the port city of Venustiano Carranza, the interior minister said.

"This is one of the biggest seizures we have made in the history of Venezuela, a blow to drug trafficking," El Aissami said.

Venezuelan security forces seized more than 26 tons of cocaine in 2011, the interior minister said.

While Venezuela is not a drug-producing nation, neighboring Colombia is the world's leading source of cocaine.

[Junior]

Venezuela Set for Record-Breaking Violence in 2012
Written by Hannah Stone, InSight
Thursday, July 12, 2012

Venezuela saw 9,510 murders in the first six months of the year, according to police figures, putting the country on track to surpass 2011's record level of violence.

If killings continue at the same rate, based on figures from investigative police force CICPC, the country would have a murder rate of 68 per 100,000 by year-end, according to El Universal.

The newspaper notes that the rate could be even higher as homicides usually rise in the second half of the year. In 2011, only 46 percent of killings took place between January and June.

According to El Universal, the police reported a massive rise in the murder rate in Caracas, which shot up by some 72 percent, from 1,123 in the first six months of 2011 to 1,934 in the same period this year.

InSight Crime Analysis

Venezuela saw 18,850 murders in 2011, higher than any year on record, according to CICPC figures quoted by the Metropolitan Observatory on Citizen Security (OMSC). The latest reports suggest that the country will see still more violence this year.

This will increase the pressure on President Hugo Chavez, who is fighting for re-election in October. Insecurity is consistently ranked as a top concern for the electorate, though so far opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has had limited success in making the issue stick to the popular president. In June, the government launched a new security plan which it said would enforce tighter gun control and help get young people into jobs and education.

It is significant that some 20 percent of the murders in the first semester of this year took place in Caracas -- this means that killings are becoming still more concentrated there than last year, when the capital was the site of 18 percent of the country's murders. This points to the urban face of violence in Venezuela, much of which is driven by street crime. Another contributor is Caracas-based armed groups ("colectivos") aligned with the government. Last year the most violent municipality in the country was Libertador, Caracas which is home to the greatest concentration of these colectivos, in the neighborhood Enero 23.

The bitterly contested election could fuel still more violence. International Crisis Group warned in a recent report that a defeat for the government could spark a violent political crisis, with members of the Chavez administration unwilling to let go of power, and the colectivos capable of unleashing violence either independently or on behalf of the government.

[Junior]

Five Things to Watch Out for in Venezuelan Kingpin’s Trial
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com
Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Venezuelan drug lord Walid Makled claims to have damning evidence of the military and government elite's ties to the drug trade. Three months in, his trial has offered few explosive revelations, but there are several ticking time bombs to watch out for.

Makled went into hiding when the security forces raided his farm in 2008 and arrested three of his brothers. After he was arrested in Colombia in 2010, he claimed that he had kept many high-ranking military officials and several governors on his payroll, including the head of the anti-narcotics office and the commander of the armed forces.

Instead of extraditing Makled to the US, where he is wanted for drug trafficking, and where he would presumably have shared intelligence with the authorities, Colombia sent him to Venezuela. His closed-door trial for drug trafficking, money laundering, and two counts of homicide began April 9.

It will likely be a long one. One of Makled’s defense attorneys told EFE that proceedings will probably take a year or more, as the defense has presented 180 pieces of evidence, while the prosecution has presented 400. Seven weeks into the trial, the defense had only gone through 25. Three of Makled’s brothers and nine of his employees, arrested during the 2009 farm raid, are also facing charges.

While the trial, closed to the press, has not offered up new details about Makled’s alleged links to the government and military, there have been several intriguing developments. Below are five factors that may prove to be influential in how the trial plays out:

1. Makled’s Silence may Speak Louder than Words

Makled’s decision not to testify is one that he could reverse at a later point in the trial, according to Venezuela’s Organic Penal Procedures Code (COPP). One of Makled’s defense attorneys has said that Makled’s choice is a “very personal decision,” and added, somewhat ominously, “he will know what things to guard and what he should say.”

After former Supreme Court Judge Eladio Aponte left the country and became a informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), state television released footage of Makled, in handcuffs and accompanied by police, calling Aponte the primary associate in his airline business, which is suspected of smuggling tons of cocaine outside the country. While it is not clear when the footage was recorded, its release was clearly intended to cast further doubt on Aponte’s allegations of corruption within the Venezuelan government, by emphasizing his links to Makled. The release of the video footage was one indication that state media, at least, is willing to manipulate Makled’s allegations to achieve its own political ends. Critics of President Hugo Chavez’s administration have been doing the same, pointing to Makled’s claims as evidence that Venezuela is a “narco-state.”

Makled knows that his information is worth a great deal to both the government and the opposition, for different reasons. By not saying everything he knows -- or by using the threat of his testimony as leverage -- he can make a play to influence the outcome of the trial.

2. The Judge has been Accused of Being too Close to the Government.

Judge Ali Paredes also handled the high-profile trial of Judge Maria Afiuni, a case heavily criticized by human rights groups. Afiuni was jailed in 2009 after she issued a ruling in a corruption case that infuriated Chavez. Her case is often cited as an example of the undue influence of the executive branch over the judiciary.

At the time, Afiuni refused to appear before Paredes in court on the grounds that she wouldn’t receive a fair trial. In December 2011, Paredes ruled that she must remain under house arrest for two years.

Paredes’ involvement in the Afiuni case raises the question of whether he will give Makled a fair trial, or whether he will issue his rulings with an eye on the government’s interests.

3. Makled’s Brothers are Sitting on Intelligence of their Own.

Walid’s three brothers, arrested during the farm raid in 2008, are also on trial for drug trafficking. While they have not spoken as openly as Walid about their alleged knowledge of the drug trade, they are also receiving closed door trials, suggesting that there are interests who do not want their testimony made public. One brother has been placed under house arrest due to a reported medical condition. Another one, Abdla, has his own political future at stake. At the time of his arrest, he was running for political office and was considered a challenge to the rule of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), raising suspicions about the timing of the farm raid.

4. Makled’s Employees Say they Know Nothing

Statements from several of Makled’s detained employees suggest that, in the government’s eagerness to show that they were striking a blow against drug trafficking, they may have arrested Makled’s farm employees simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. According to a report by El Nacional, among nine employees detained at the farm are the maid, the gardener, the cook, and two farm hands, one of whom is 72 years old and has prostrate cancer. All deny knowing that the farm was used a storehouse for cocaine -- during the raid, security forces found 400 kilos of the drug on the premises. These denials would be routine, except for the fact that one employee has already pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and testified that neither the employees (nor Makled) knew that he was storing cocaine in the house. If it turns out that these employees were held on scant evidence, it could cast further doubt on the efficiency of Venezuela’s judiciary in handling the Makled case.

5. The Defense is Playing Hardball

Makled’s team of attorneys are working hard to find loopholes or irregularities that could result in the judge ruling certain evidence inadmissible. So far much of this involves casting doubt on whether the raid on Makled’s farm was carried out according to procedure. According to Venezuelan law, such police raids must be conducted in the presence of at least three witnesses. The defense won a minor victory in one court session, when a National Guard officer admitted that the witnesses were not present when the security forces collected vital evidence at a landing strip found on the farm grounds.

[Junior]

Over 500 Inmates Died in Venezuela in Last Year: Report
Written by Edward Fox, InSight.com
Friday, July 27, 2012

Over 500 inmates have died in Venezuela's prisons in the year since the government set up the new Prison Ministry, according to a report, despite the ministry's efforts to reform the corrupt and overcrowded penitentiary system.

According to a report released by the NGOs A Window to Freedom and the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (OVP), 523 inmates have died in the country's prisons in the year since the government created the Ministry of Penitentiary Services (MPPSP), on July 26, 2011.

In addition to the deaths, 1,967 prisoners were injured, a rate of more than five a day, reported EFE.

The Prison Ministry's head, Iris Varela, announced last year that she would take a "humanist" approach to reforming Venezuela's prison system, introducing sports and culture programs to rehabilitate inmates, and would reduce the number of inmates by processing and reviewing cases more quickly. Varela said that many prisoners were "victims of the bureaucratic system."

Carlos Nieto, head of A Window to Freedom, declared that the figures showed "nothing has changed," with the country's systems still running at 340 percent capacity, despite the creation of a new ministry.

InSight Crime Analysis

Venezuela's prison system is one of the worst in Latin America. For example, as Nieto noted, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico all have larger prison populations and suffer from overcrowding (see Global Post map on Latin America's prisons), yet they only see around 150 deaths a year on average.

Inmate gang bosses known as "pranes" are in control of many of Venezuela's jails, with the OVP estimating that of Venezuela's 34 prisons, the government only has control of six. One of the country's most notorious prisons, La Planta in Caracas, which was closed down in May, is emblematic of this. When soldiers moved in to try and shut it down, they were met with stiff resistance, sparking violent clashes. The underground economy in La Planta was estimated to earn inmates $3.7 million a year.

Part of the problem is the vast number of pre-trial detainees in the system who can spend years awaiting trial due to the country's inefficient judicial system. Varela has said that 24 new jails will be constructed in two years exclusively for pre-trial detainees, and that the aim is to reach a waiting time of no longer than eight months. However, according to Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights, institutional incapacity, the exclusion of non-state actors and the government's continued opposition to decentralization mean real progress will be difficult.

[Junior]

Venezuela Border State a Drug Trafficking Haven: NYT
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com
Friday, July 27, 2012

The Venezuelan border state of Apure is one of the busiest transit areas for cocaine heading to the Caribbean, with much of the drug trade controlled by Colombian rebels, according to a New York Times report.

The Times reported that local residents say they are accustomed to the sound of low-flying drug flights overhead and the sight of patrols by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who protect drug shipments.

This evidence of how openly the drug trade is conducted in Apure, one of Venezuela’s poorest states, contradicts assertions by government officials that they are doing everything they can to combat organized crime in the region, the Times report said.

In a May news conference, the governor of Apure said authorities had destroyed 36 hidden airfields in the state and had reduced the number of illicit flights detected by half. The Times visited one airstrip that had reportedly been destroyed by the security forces, and noted that “there were no signs that soldiers had blasted holes in the runway or taken other steps to prevent it from being used again.”

Colombia has long accused Venezuela of tolerating rebel presence in border states like Apure, Zulia, and Tachira. The FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN) both keep encampments in these regions.

InSight Crime Analysis

Venezuelan security forces present cocaine seizures and the dismantling of airstrips in Apure as evidence of progress in their fight against organized crime, and argue that they lack the resources to do much more. On July 18 and July 23, the National Guard and the police in Apure announced seizures of 820 and 250 kilos of cocaine, respectively.

The judiciary has also made some effort to prosecute members of the security forces accused of links to the drug trade in Apure, recently presenting charges against nine former police officers.

The question is whether these are merely small-time seizures and prosecutions intended to mask the fact there is high-level tolerance and involvement in drug trafficking across the border. As the Times report observes, the government has overstated its success in fully dismantling many of Apure’s airstrips, casting doubt on claims that the government is doing everything it can to disrupt drug trafficking operations.

[Junior]

'Blame Game' Fails to Explain Why Venezuela is Cocaine Hub
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com
Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Venezuelans like to blame Colombia for their problems with organized crime while Colombians say that Venezuela has its own powerful drug trafficking organizations working closely with members of the country's security forces. Both statements seem to be true.

In fact, in Venezuela, a country of 27 million, many things are deceiving at first glance. Take Merida, a university town some 800 kilometers from Carcacas and 245 kilometers from the Colombian border. The government pays for free rides on the bus rapid transit system and for free meals at the private university. The orange juice bottles have a little red stamp that read “Made in Socialism.” Many public works projects -- hospitals, highways, sports stadiums -- are accompanied by signs announcing that they are backed by the “Bolivarian Revolution.”

But this bustling university town is also a stronghold for opposition parties and a haven for Colombian traffickers and insurgents. Colombian drug trafficker Wilber Varela, alias “Jabon,” was gunned down here in 2008. And last year, police arrested one Colombian rebel commander, who had found refuge in the city.

The assassin cells in Merida are deliberately modeled after the “oficinas” set up in Colombia. They are known to carry out contract killings for as little as 500 bolivares (about $116 in the official exchange rate), Teresa Salazar, a professor at the criminology department of Merida’s University of the Andes, told InSight Crime.

Colombian criminals also populate other states. One of Varela’s successors was captured in central Barinas state while both Colombian drug lords and top leaders of guerrilla groups the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have found refuge in Venezuela’s border states. Colombian criminal groups are responsible for shoot-outs in Venezuelan towns and have also been accused of killing members of the Venezuelan security forces.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that kidnappings and murders in Venezuela have gone up in part because of Colombian criminal groups active in the country. Salazar echoes these views, arguing that the influx of Colombian drug traffickers and rebel groups has done much to drive up insecurity in Merida and the surrounding region.

But while there may be some truth in atrributing the country's security woes to Colombia, there is a fine line between placing blame on outsiders, and taking responsibility for internal security failures.

“You can’t say there’s insecurity in Venezuela just because there’s violence in Colombia. It’s just not true,” said Pedro Rangel, director of Caracas-based conflict think tank Incosec. “It is a factor, but it’s not the entire problem.”

To be sure, Venezuela’s public institutions are crippled by corruption and deeply penetrated by organized criminal groups of all origins. Seven high-level military officers, including the current defense minister, as well as current and former close allies to the Chavez administration, have been blacklisted by the US Treasury Department for drug trafficking.

And while some of these Venezuelans began as facilitators of Colombian traffickers’ operations, some have now become powerful drug trafficking groups themselves. The most prominent example is the so-called Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns). Named for the epaulets on their uniformed shoulders, this group of high-ranking National Guard officials has deep ties to the drug trade.

“It's no longer a dynamic in which the security forces accept payment from traffickers in exchange for moving product," says Mildred Camero, a former Chavez government drug czar. "The Venezuelan security forces are actually trafficking themselves."

Camero's assertion is backed up by exiled judge Eladio Aponte's descriptions of high-level military complicity with the drug trade. Chavez government supporters say Aponte, the former Attorney General for the military and a Supreme Court justice, is running a smear campaign. Indeed, the former judge’s accusations could be discredited by highlighting his alleged ties to Venezuelan drug trafficker Walid Makled, who is currently on trial. However, there are a number of cases connecting the Guard to trafficking that damage the government. To cite just one, in 2011, a plane carrying 1,400 kilograms of cocaine took off from a military base in Caracas, an incident which the government was never able to properly explain.

What’s more, Colombian traffickers present in Venezuela cannot operate here without some complicity from the security forces, says Camero. Both Varela and Colombian drug trafficker Hermagoras Gonzalez Polanco, arrested in Venezuela in 2008, were closely associated with Venezuela's National Guard (the picture above shows Gonzalez's brother, Eudo, and his fake National Guard ID). And one theory about Varela’s death is that he simply could not pay for protection from the Guard anymore leaving him vulnerable to attack from rivals.

As it is in Merida, where the street signs alluding to the “Bolivarian Revolution,” and the free public transport and education feed the impression of a government that is in control of its country -- there is rotten business going on, and outside forces can’t take all the blame.