Are Colombian paramilitary groups active in Venezuela? [View all]

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http://colombiareports.com/are-colombian-paramilitary-groups-active-in-venezuela/



After Colombia began to crack down on drug trafficking over the first decade of this century, many large scale operations moved to Venezuela where they were received by a sometimes ambivalent, and often complicit government. Rather than using Colombia’s Caribbean coast, the drug lords are now trafficked to Venezuela where widespread corruption among the authorities allows them to ship drugs to the Caribbean.

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What Maduro isn’t saying

On the Venezuela side of the border smuggling is coordinated by former Venezuelan military officials called the Cartel de los Soles. Using their connections and influence in the military, the Cartel de los Soles move cocaine through Venezuela to the global market.

The Soles aren’t a cartel in a traditional sense, but a loose connection of criminal cells within the various branches of the Venezuelan military. The Soles are most active in the border regions, where they are believed to work with the FARC, a Colombian leftist guerrilla group to move cocaine across the border.

The United States federal government has recently stepped up its investigation of governmental corruption in Venezuela. Their main target is Diosdado Cabello, the president of Venezuela’s national assembly and its second most powerful man after President Maduro. Cabello is believed to be the ringleader of a large narco-trafficking organization. They have also identified members of the upper levels of the Venezuelan government and military as the leaders of drug trafficking operations in Venezuela.