Three tons of cocaine seized at Venezuela airport

The seizure of a three-ton cocaine shipment at Venezuela’s main airport underscores the role of airport infrastructure in international drug trafficking and exposes an unusual drug smuggling route.

On August 24, the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) seized three tons of cocaine that were to be transported on a cargo flight of EMTRASUR (a Venezuelan state airline) from the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, located in the state of La Guaira, near Caracas. The shipment was destined for Afghanistan, but was to make a stopover in Russia, according to a media report.

Authorities arrested 13 people following the seizure of the drugs. Three of them were identified as being responsible for coordinating the entry of the substance from Colombia through the border state of Táchira and its transfer by land to the airport. The cocaine was hidden in packages linked to the business Café El Faraón CA, whose owner reportedly fled to Colombian soil following the seizure of the drugs.

SEE ALSO:Venezuela’s Cocaine Revolution

Although the initial report indicated that the president of the state-owned Aerocargo del Sur (EMTRASUR), César José Pérez Salas, had been captured, Venezuelan Transport Minister Ramón Celestino Velásquez later denied this version in his X Report.

To date, no other official source within the Venezuelan government, apart from Velasquez, has commented on the seizure.

After the seizure, journalist Sebastiana Barráez told InSight Crime that “it is not possible for drug shipments to leave Maiquetia International Airport without the complicity of the security forces, specifically the Armed Forces, because the airport is completely under government control.

The last time Maiquetia Airport was involved in such a large shipment was in 2013, when French authorities seized 1.3 tonnes of cocaine spread across 31 suitcases on board a commercial Air France flight.

InSight Crime Analysis

While this is not the first time Maiquetia Airport has been used to export cocaine to unusual foreign destinations, sending such a large shipment to a country like Afghanistan could provide a cover for other lucrative drug smuggling routes to Asia.

Historically, Afghanistan was the world’s leading center for opium production and trafficking, accounting for nearly 80% of the global supply. However, its role in the drug trade has changed significantly in recent years. Opium production in the country fell by 95%, from 6,200 tons in 2022 to just 333 tons in 2023, according to an August 2023 study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The collapse of the opium market has led to new dynamics, such as the increase in the trade in locally produced methamphetamine, with record seizures in Europe and Asia. Although Afghanistan has a history of drug trafficking, this is the first time that a cocaine shipment from Latin America to Afghanistan has been recorded.

SEE ALSO:Mafia boss claims there is a cocaine connection between Venezuela and Turkey

Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on organized crime and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, told InSight Crime that using Afghanistan as a destination for cocaine appears to be a diversionary tactic to ensure shipments arrive to other emerging destinations.

“It’s quite complicated to get through Afghanistan, and it almost seems like this had to be intercepted. It’s like a covert operation, where an anti-narcotics unit is testing the quality of the networks through controlled deliveries, or maybe the drug traffickers are sending something that they know will be intercepted while they’re moving another shipment on a different route,” Felbab-Brown said.

On the other hand, the researcher points out that if there is interest in transporting three tons of drugs to the Asian market, Turkey and Russia – where the flight would have a stopover – would be safer options with better connections to Venezuela for this type of operation. Both countries have set up networks and specialized criminal organizations that guarantee a more reliable transit.

“Turkish groups play an important role. They have extensive Latin American connections and have connections in Central Asia and of course the Middle East, as well as Europe,” Felbab-Brown explained.

On the map of alternative destinations that have left Venezuela, Turkey is positioning itself as an option for common destinations such as Europe and North America, where state surveillance and interdiction have prompted international organizations to look for new drug routes.

In 2018, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported the dismantling of a transnational criminal network that was sending drugs via commercial flights from Venezuela to Lebanon, Turkey and some destinations in Europe. Among the 18 detainees who participated in that criminal enterprise was a second sergeant of the GNB who was assigned to the airport’s special anti-drug unit.

Another high-profile case involves the accusations of Sedat Peker, a mafia boss of Turkish origin, who accused Erkam Yildirim – son of former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim – of making several visits to Venezuelan soil with the aim of opening a new transnational drug trafficking route between South America and Turkey.

Although Peker’s allegations have not led to official investigations, commercial ties between the Venezuelan and Turkish governments, particularly in the gold trade, could be exploited by Turkish criminal networks that have gradually increased their involvement in the cocaine trade.

Featured image: Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía. Credit: Wikimedia Commons