The Nicolás Maduro regime has turned Venezuela into a strategic hub for cocaine and fentanyl trafficking, according to reports from the DEA and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
The Cartel of the Suns, directly linked to the Venezuelan military high command, operates alongside the Tren de Aragua gang in coordination with Colombian and Mexican cartels, as well as armed groups such as the ELN and FARC dissidents.
In response to this threat, Washington is leading a naval operation in the Caribbean — together with allied countries — to block drug trafficking routes. Contrary to the regime’s claims, this is not a military intervention but a strategic effort to dismantle criminal networks linked to the Venezuelan state.
Chavismo, together with certain pro-government factions in Parliament and even sectors of the traditional opposition, has tried to distract public opinion by denouncing an alleged “foreign intervention.” However, there is abundant evidence linking Maduro’s military apparatus to drug trafficking, as documented by the U.S. Department of Justice.
During Trump’s first administration, similar operations were carried out. Despite the evidence of state participation in illicit activities, voices such as that of Juan Guaidó opposed direct action.
According to the DEA (2023), drug flows from Venezuela have increased significantly, facilitated by criminal structures within the regime. The current operation has two main objectives: bringing drug trafficking leaders — including Maduro — to justice, and paving the way for a democratic transition, according to OFAC reports.
This reality exposes the distracting narrative of chavismo and certain sectors of the traditional opposition who refuse to acknowledge the existence and scope of the Cartel of the Suns.
Drug trafficking is no longer just a public health problem: it now represents a direct threat to U.S. national security. To the historic South American cocaine route has been added the fentanyl route, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In this context, Venezuela has become a strategic corridor for transnational crime, where Maduro’s regime and its military structure facilitate the transit of these drugs to major international markets.
Colombia remains the world’s largest cocaine producer, but more than 60% of the drug that reaches the United States and Europe passes through Venezuelan territory, according to DEA estimates. Drug trafficking from Venezuela has a significant impact both in the U.S. and in Europe.
Each year, fentanyl causes tens of thousands of overdose deaths, while South American cocaine reaches markets with historically high levels of purity and volume, according to the CDC and UNODC.
Seizures in European ports confirm that Venezuela has become a key transit and adulteration point for drugs, with associated economic costs — including health, security, and labor losses — amounting to tens of billions of dollars annually.
This scenario forces the United States and its allies to treat Venezuelan drug trafficking not as a domestic matter but as a direct threat to national and regional security.
The Nicolás Maduro regime is not a passive observer. Military airstrips and clandestine runways in Apure and Zulia are used to dispatch shipments to Colombia, the Caribbean, and other international destinations, while the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) provide protection and logistics.
Chemical inputs, such as urea produced by state-owned Pequiven, are diverted to border laboratories, according to OFAC reports, showing the state’s indirect role in cocaine production.
The U.S. Department of Justice has described this network as a narco-terrorist conspiracy, in which the combination of political and military power guarantees both impunity and efficiency in drug trafficking.
Since the late 2000s, the United States has documented the existence of the Cartel of the Suns. One of the first indications was the case of Walid Makled, a Venezuelan businessman arrested in Colombia, who stated that FANB officers received bribes to facilitate the movement of cocaine through Venezuelan ports and airports, which was later confirmed in U.S. court records.
Subsequently, the DEA and OFAC sanctioned generals such as Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal and Clíver Alcalá Cordones for collaborating with the FARC and protecting shipments of cocaine and fentanyl to the U.S. and Europe.
Another high-profile case was that of Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva, sanctioned for his role in drug trafficking logistics, proof that the criminal network had backing from the military elite.
Additional cases involve relatives of the political elite. In 2015, the so-called “narcosobrinos” — nephews of First Lady Cilia Flores — were arrested while transporting nearly 800 kg of cocaine to the United States, under the protection of FANB members, including Yazenky Lamas, Flores’s bodyguard during her presidency of the National Assembly.
Lamas was later prosecuted in the U.S. for drug trafficking, according to New York court records.
International seizures — including 1.3 tons of cocaine sent from Caracas to France in 2013, and 554 kg transported by a GNB commander in 2014 — as well as former General Clíver Alcalá’s links with the La Guajira Cartel and the CJNG, confirm that these criminal networks operate in an integrated and coordinated manner with international actors, according to DEA and OFAC reports.
In addition, the capture of members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), including one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons, revealed how Venezuela has become a strategic node for transporting cocaine and fentanyl to the United States and Europe, as reported by the DEA in 2021.
These cases confirm that the Cartel of the Suns operates from the heart of Venezuelan political and military power, involving relatives and close associates of the regime to guarantee impunity and control over drug trafficking.
The Maduro regime and some sectors of the opposition insist on portraying international anti-drug action as a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty. However, sovereignty cannot be invoked when national territory becomes a refuge for criminals and when the Cartel of the Suns uses state structures to send cocaine and fentanyl to the U.S. and other countries, according to the DEA and the Department of Justice.
Acting against these networks does not violate sovereignty: it restores it. A country can only be truly sovereign when its territory is not under the control of criminal organizations that jeopardize global security.
The Cartel of the Suns is today a transnational threat, involving top military leaders and political allies in cocaine and fentanyl trafficking to the United States, Europe, and other international markets.
The numerous documented cases — from Walid Makled and the generals sanctioned by the DEA to the narcosobrinos and Cilia Flores’s former bodyguard, along with international seizures and ties to the CJNG — confirm the existence of a criminal structure deeply embedded in the Venezuelan state, which has operated with impunity for years.
International and regional cooperation shows that joint action is essential to confront this type of transnational threat.
Intervention does not violate sovereignty: it restores it, weakens criminal networks, and contributes to a possible democratic transition in which state control returns to legitimate authorities, accountable to their citizens and to the international community.
This necessary transition is underscored by the fact that those involved in the Cartel of the Suns are, to a large extent, the same ones who make up Maduro’s regime, including ministers, judges, prosecutors, businessmen, and top military leaders.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of Gateway Hispanic.
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