U.S. Confirms Venezuelan Officials Engage in Drug Trade

Breitbart: WASHINGTON D.C. – The socialist government of Venezuela has been allowing drug traffickers, including the notorious Mexican Sinaloa and Zeta cartels, as well as potential terrorists and other unsavory individuals, to freely operate inside the South American country unabated, without fear of reprisal, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

In written testimony on Venezuelan drug connections prepared for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Thursday, Dr. Shannon O’Neil Nelson from CFR noted:

In terms of security, Venezuela’s willingness to permit drug traffickers, organized crime networks, potential terrorists, and other nefarious actors within its borders affects U.S. national security as well. Reports show that Colombia’s Bandas Criminales (BACRIM), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and National Liberation Army (ELN) all operate in the country, as do Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zeta cartels.

The nation has become a preferred drug smuggling route out of South America, with cocaine heading to the United States through Central America and the Eastern Caribbean, and to Europe through West Africa. The Venezuelan government effectively ended anti-narcotics cooperation a decade ago; since then Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations point to active collusion and collaboration between prominent government officials and drug traffickers.

In response to the alleged relationship between drug traffickers and the Venezuelan government, President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department has officially designated President Nicolas Maduro’s Vice President Tareck el Aissami a “Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker” under the “Drug Kingpin” regulations for his ties to a variety of continental drug trafficking organizations.

The Trump administration has also accused Venezuela’s vice president of having known ties to a variety of terrorist and drug trafficking outfits.  more here