Venezuelan Officials Suspected of Turning Country into Global Cocaine Hub

[Little Tich]

Source: The Wall Street Journal

U.S. probe targets No. 2 official Diosdado Cabello, several others, on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering

U.S. prosecutors are investigating several high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including the president of the country’s congress, on suspicion that they have turned the country into a global hub for cocaine trafficking and money laundering, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the probes.

An elite unit of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington and federal prosecutors in New York and Miami are building cases using evidence provided by former cocaine traffickers, informants who were once close to top Venezuelan officials and defectors from the Venezuelan military, these people say.

A leading target, according to a Justice Department official and other American authorities, is National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, considered the country’s second most-powerful man.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelan-officials-suspected-of-turning-country-into-global-cocaine-hub-1431977784

---

Note: Long article

[FairWinds]

1. Yeah, like I really believe what the WSJ says about . .

Venezuela.

Wonder if the "elite unit" has any time left over to investigate
US de-stabilization of that country?

Veterans For Peace

[Demeter]

10. Or Colombia

[Caijoe]

11. Hey WSJ...

Anything to say about the CIAs drug running in Afghanistan? Didnt think so.

[AngryAmish]

31. Trust me, these drug allegations are mere mistranslations.

[RufusTFirefly]

2. I forget. Who owns the Wall Street Journal again?

I know it'll come to me. It's on the tip of my tongue.

[Archae]

3. I don't trust the Wall Street Urinal.

Now if this story had some better sourcing, it may be credible.

But any "newspaper" now owned by Rupert the T**** Tabloid King, and running with this:

http://mediamatters.org/research/203684

Has no credibility.

[7962]

4. Shoot the messenger!!

[Fuddnik]

6. The messenger should have been shot the day Fox News (Rupert Murdoch) bought him.

[freshwest]

8. I'm not listening to the media. I was surprised at people I know from Mexico and south, who disliked

Chavez, because I had a soft spot for him. They told me many years ago this was happening.

They mentioned this specifically but this is the first I have seem any USA media covering this, whether we love or loathe them. They saw how the cartels got rich from the drug trade and were destroying civil society.

To me, it's not about ideology or economics, it's how the people are being affected that is totally beyond their control. I believe people from down there, not the WSJ or MSM.

Or the selected or ideological voices. I suspect the people who are closer know the truth. JMHO.

[Bacchus4.0]

17. Chavez was not well liked outside of his supporters in Venezuela and on DU nt

[freshwest]

19. Yes, and it surprised me to learn that. Again, what do we know here? Not much, I guess. TY. n/t

[Bacchus4.0]

20. Some info from 2011 on popularity of presidents both internally and from citizens in the region

http://utahnewsnow.blogspot.com/2011/10/latinobarometro-ranking-de-popularidad.html#!/2011/10/latinobarometro-ranking-de-popularidad.html

You can go to the latinobarometro.org site to see the reports but here is a summary from 2011 on presidents in the region, viewed both internally and from latino citizens of other nations.

Internal polling gave Santos of Colombia the highest approval at 75% (he is in the 40s now), Dilma at 67% (she is at a woeful 13% now), but note that Chavez was only at 49% internally.


The ratings by citizens of other countries put Obama at #1 (6.3 out of 10), again Dilma second. The worst ranked were Castro, Chavez, and Ortega.


SANTIAGO DE CHILE.- El presidente estadounidense Barack Obama fue el mejor evaluado de los líderes políticos del continente seguido muy de cerca por la presidenta brasileña Dilma Rousseff, mientras que los mandatarios de Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela fueron los peor considerados, según una encuesta realizada en 18 países.

El estudio de Latinobarómetro mostró a su vez que el presidente chileno Sebastián Piñera --con 28%-- recibió la más baja aprobación a su gestión. El presidente con mayor apoyo a su gestión fue el colombiano José Manuel Santos, con 75%. Rousseff le siguió con 67% y Rafael Correa de Ecuador con 64%. Pese a su baja evaluación Chávez tuvo, sin embargo, 49% de aprobación a su gestión.

Obama recibió una calificación de 6,3 en una evaluación de 1 a 10 efectuada entre 20.204 personas de 18 países de la región entre el 15 de julio y el 16 de agosto con un margen de error de 3%. Le siguió la presidenta brasileña con un 6.

El cubano Raúl Castro, con 4,1, y Chávez y Daniel Ortega de Nicaragua, con 4,4, fueron los peor evaluados.

[freshwest]

33. Thanks, I want to hear from them. Been brushing up my Eng/Esp with my google. n/t

[Bacchus4.0]

34. sure, they publish annual polling reports on a variety of issues nt

[NBachers]

5. In other words, they're pulling an Ollie North.

[geek tragedy]

7. I don't trust anyone involved with this story.

Not the DEA, not the VZ government, not the WSJ.

[AngryAmish]

32. No. pick a side and blindly follow it.

It is the DU way.

Actually, this is unfair to us DUers. It is a human response.

[Peace Patriot]

9. The Dead End Agency strikes again!

!@#$%^$!!!

And Rupert Murdoch is reprinting their faxes!

Be afraid! Be very afraid! The corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs" is gonna getchya, Leftie!

[roody]

12. Legalize it!

[Ford_Prefect]

13. Notice the lack of coordination with CIA assets in Los Angeles and other domestic locations.

Are they only bad drug lords when they aren't sharing the profits with Langley?

[JonLP24]

22. I've noticed a lot less cocaine in the US recently

Anti-Drug Unit of C.I.A. Sent Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in 1990

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19— A Central Intelligence Agency anti-drug program in Venezuela shipped a ton of nearly pure cocaine to the United States in 1990, Government officials said today.

No criminal charges have been brought in the matter, which the officials said appeared to have been a serious accident rather than an intentional conspiracy. But officials say the cocaine wound up being sold on the streets in the United States.

One C.I.A. officer has resigned, a second has been disciplined and a Federal grand jury in Miami is investigating.

The agency, made aware of a "60 Minutes" investigation of the matter scheduled for broadcast on Sunday, issued a statement today calling the affair "a most regrettable incident" involving "instances of poor judgment and management on the part of several C.I.A. officers."

The case involves the same program under which the agency created a Haitian intelligence service whose officers became involved in drug trafficking and acts of political terror. Its exposure comes amid growing Congressional skepticism about the role of the C.I.A. in the war on drugs.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/20/world/anti-drug-unit-of-cia-sent-ton-of-cocaine-to-us-in-1990.html

[Ford_Prefect]

23. I'm sorry but a 22 year old report gives me no confidence at all in current practices.

CIA helped build the Colombian connection, taught the Contras and others how to dodge customs and DEA, and collected funds off the books to pay for operations deemed best kept from public and congressional view. They have done this kind of thing since at least the Vietnam war and have shown a strong tendency to revert to whatever will get the job they want done regardless of side-effects, and in some cases intended side-effects.

[JonLP24]

24. I agree with

I linked to the 22-year old thing because it involved Venezuela and may be something to do with the current situation as Venezuela currently at the moment isn't cooperating with the US.

On edit -- They were bringing cocaine here from Venezuela so the Contras and all the other stuff was the same thing as the 22-year old story.

[Ford_Prefect]

27. My point is that I doubt CIA ever really gave up the practice or the connections to drug lords,

regardless of which part of the planet they are operating on. They have a long history of using the dark economy to by-pass regulation and oversight. If they were flying Heroin for the war lords in Afghanistan I doubt they have any scruples about similar relationships closer to home.

Homeland Security Act let them off leash in many ways and I doubt they would waste time informing congress about any of this. Look at NSA if you need any further reference point.
Anything visible enough to make the MSM is either cover for something else or a favor for some well connected "friend" who wanted to lose a competitor. That's the history certain divisions within CIA have over decades of operation.

[JonLP24]

28. Neither do I

They were doing it too in Venezuela which is why I posted the story because this is what they were doing in Venezuela before Chavez.

On edit -- I agree with you, I think you are misunderstanding me.

[Ford_Prefect]

30. The whole region has drug sources who operated long before CIA got into the act.

I got your point, thanks.

I was trying to state a larger framework which has a particular history.

I do think the fact of how it was reported and that there is any MSM awareness at all points to sleight of hand on the part of DEA, CIA, or some unnamed contractors. We see what they wave in our faces, and rarely anything contradictory, about Venezuela (who have become the new Cuba for right-wing bullying).

[bemildred]

14. I suspect this story of being more DEA bullshit. nt

[hack89]

15. The annual UN report on drugs has highlighted Venezuela's role for several years now. nt

[FrodosPet]

16. But who controls the United Nations?

[Bacchus4.0]

18. yeah, the WSJ report isn't the first media outlet to report on the Ven government drug activity nt

[JonLP24]

21. DEA is a spy agency

Cocaine has been coming out of Venezuela a long time ago, sometimes with the help of the CIA

Cocaine also comes out of Colombia too and private militias fighting on the same side of the government drug traffic too. I don't doubt drug money corrupts but corrupts everybody too including American authorities.

[reddread]

29. the drug war, per Michael Levine

an overnight revolution putting drug lords in power within drug producing and trafficking countries of
South and Central America at the start of GHWB's seizure of Executive power.
Anyone who was smoking marijuana back in the early 80's noticed the unlimited effort expended on prosecuting
a diminishing marijuana supply and drying it up while cocaine became ubiquitous.
these are the real drug crimes, left unanswered by the powers that profit.
untouched and untouchable.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

25. Do we have better sources than DEA and WSJ to back the claim?

It might be true, it might not be. There's just no way to tell when the story vectors in from known liars with a vested interest in, you know, lying.

[Bacchus4.0]

35. There are various reports on Venezuela officials being involved in the drug trade. Here is one

http://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2015/01/29/the-bodyguard-dea-witness-was-chavez-confidante/

The Bodyguard: DEA Witness Was Chávez Confidante

The testimony given by Leamsy Salazar — a former security official to late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez — suggesting several senior figures within the Venezuelan government are involved in money laundering and drug trafficking has resulted in a range of counter-accusations from Venezuela.+

But Salazar’s history reveals him to be a prominent Chavista insider, and his testimony joins that of several previous senior officials in linking government functionaries to a range of criminal activities.+

According to local news source ABC, in December 2014, Lieutenant Commander Salazar requested permission to take leave to get married and leave the country for his honeymoon. Salazar, formerly the bodyguard of Chavista number two Diosdado Cabello, visited several European countries, and finally Spain. With the backing of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he received permission to enter the United States, and on Monday, January 26, flew from Madrid to Washington to give evidence about his former charge.+

-------------------
Chávez’s Seal of Approval

Although Salazar always kept a low profile, Chávez himself once highlighted his importance in his weekly televised address Aló Presidente, describing him as “a humble, great, marine.” After Chávez had been temporarily ousted from power in April 2012, Salazar took to the roof of Caracas’s Palacio Blanco to wave a Venezuelan flag, signalling Chávez’s return two days later. It soon became one of the emblematic images of the Bolivarian Revolution.+

[reddread]

26. no other possible response (GRAPHIC WARNING!)

[Bacchus4.0]

36. Former Chavez security chief arrives in DC (on Monday) to testify agains Ven officials (Spanish)

Here is a Spanish language article on the arrival in Washington of former head of Chavez' security and then under the head of pariliament Diosdado Cabello to testify in court against Ven officials. http://www.abc.es/internacional/20150127/abci-venezuela-cabello-eeuu-201501262129.html



Leamsy Salazar, former chief of security for Chavez and then Cabello, is circled in the pic. Narco-criminals Chavez is pictured with Cabello next to him.

[Comrade Grumpy]

37. Please elaborate on Chavez's "narco-criminality."

[Bacchus4.0]

38. With pleasure: Hugo Chavez's Venezuela 'supplies half of Britain's cocaine'

here are a few and you find much more about Chavez's narco-criminality info at this link; www.google.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/2205687/Hugo-Chavezs-Venezuela-supplies-half-of-Britains-cocaine.html


Anti-drugs officials estimate that more than 50 per cent of all the cocaine consumed in Britain has been trafficked through Venezuela - under the "revolutionary" regime of Mr Chavez. The figure could be as high as two thirds.


Senior commanders in Venezuela's security forces are thought to be profiting from the trade and actively helping the smugglers, notably by allowing them to use military airfields.


"Venezuela is a magnet for drug trafficking right now. It's a huge problem," said a senior member of another Latin American government. "Venezuela is a Bermuda Triangle for drugs."


Is Venezuela's military playing role in drug trafficking? http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0131/Is-Venezuela-s-military-playing-role-in-drug-trafficking



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/18/AR2009071801785.html

BOGOTA, Colombia, July 18 -- A report for the U.S. Congress on drug smuggling through Venezuela concludes that corruption at high levels of President Hugo Chávez's government and state aid to Colombia's drug-trafficking guerrillas have made Venezuela a major launching pad for cocaine bound for the United States and Europe.

Since 1996, successive U.S. administrations have considered Venezuela a key drug-trafficking hub, the Government Accountability Office report says. But now, it says, the amount of cocaine flowing into Venezuela from Colombia, Venezuela's neighbor and the world's top producer of the drug, has skyrocketed, going from an estimated 60 metric tons in 2004 to 260 metric tons in 2007. That amounted to 17 percent of all the cocaine produced in the Andes in 2007.

The report, which was first reported by Spain's El Pais newspaper Thursday and obtained by The Washington Post on Friday, represents U.S. officials' strongest condemnation yet of Venezuela's alleged role in drug trafficking. It says Venezuela has extended a "lifeline" to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which the United States estimates has a hand in the trafficking of 60 percent of the cocaine produced in Colombia.