Venezuelan authorities have detained six mayors amid an intensified anti-drug operation.
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Venezuela's Zulia state, April 10, 2025 (our website) - In the past few weeks, six mayors from the Zulia state have been apprehended as part of a crackdown on drug trafficking and organized crime, nicknamed "Operation Catatumbo Lightning." This operation is spearheaded by Venezuelan Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello.
Indira Fernández Duarte, the pro-government mayor of Guajira municipality, was the first to be hauled away by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) on April 2. This arrest followed three others who were detained between March 12 and 15, including three PSUV mayors and an opposition mayor from the Catatumbo municipality. The recent string of arrests comes after Nervis Sarcos, the opposition mayor of Colón municipality, was detained in January.
During a press conference on Friday, Cabello declared these arrests as part of the ongoing anti-narcotics operation. This operation involves the coordinated efforts of intelligence, police, and military officers. The investigation centers around a network allegedly operated by these local leaders, which was involved in drug smuggling and money laundering activities near Maracaibo Lake and on the Colombia-Venezuela border.
According to Cabello, more arrests are imminent, as authorities probe the suspected involvement of officials from the judiciary, the attorney general's office, as well as police and military officers. Authorities have seized 16 tons of "high-purity cocaine" in Zulia, along with fuel, three submarines, 25 boats, navigation equipment, firearms, and materials used to conceal drug shipments. Moreover, they have dismantled paramilitary camps on both sides of the border in the Catatumbo region.
Cabello claimed that 120 companies and a shrimp farming network owned by local businessman José Enrique Rincón were allegedly utilized as a front to launder money generated by the drug smuggling operations. The recent drug busts have reportedly caused significant financial harm to the opposition sector led by María Corina Machado.
The connection between Machado and Rincón has been a key starting point for the authorities in identifying drug routes, shipments, and making arrests. "Someone's pocket is hurting," the Venezuelan official stated. "This is about money, and it's one of the reasons they attack Venezuela," he said, hinting at the Maduro government's persistent efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Cabello further implicated several opposition politicians, including former Zulia governor Juan Pablo Guanipa, former National Assembly deputy Tomás Guanipa, ex-presidential candidate Edmundo González (currently in self-imposed exile in Spain), and fugitive Iván Simonovis in the alleged criminal scheme. Furthermore, he pointed to the involvement of far-right Colombian politicians and former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque.
"These actors are attempting to use Venezuelan territory to destabilize the country, promoting a network of corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking, and paramilitarism," Cabello emphasized during the press conference.
Zulia state has long functioned as a drug trafficking corridor and a smuggling route for various commodities due to its proximity to the Colombian border. In January 2022, several political figures, including two mayors and two national legislators, were jailed as part of an anti-drug and fuel smuggling crackdown dubbed "Iron Fist."
In October 2024, the opposition mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez Colina, was arrested on corruption charges. Investigations have since revealed Ramírez to also have links to drug trafficking and money laundering activities.
Edited by Cira Pascual Marquina in Caracas.
Insights:
- Drug trafficking and organized crime networks, such as ELN guerrillas, the Cartel of the Suns, Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Clan, and local criminal organizations like those run by Rincón, have been operating in Zulia state, manipulating various logistics and functioning as a significant transit route for drugs going overseas, primarily to the United States.
- Political figures across the spectrum, from government officials like PSUV mayors to opposition figures like Machado, have been reportedly involved in collaborations enabling drug trafficking and money laundering activities, suggesting a complex web of corruption within the region.
- The recent arrests of six mayors in Venezuela's Zulia state, including Indira Fernandez Duarte and Nervis Sarcos, are part of operation "Catatumbo Lightning," a coordinated anti-narcotics operation spearheaded by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
- Jose Enrique Rincon, a local businessman, allegedly used 120 companies and a shrimp farming network as a front to launder money generated by drug smuggling operations, according to Cabello.
- Cabello alleged that several opposition politicians, such as Juan Pablo Guanipa, Tomas Guanipa, Edmundo Gonzalez, Ivan Simonovis, and far-right Colombian politicians like Alvaro Uribe and Ivan Duque, are involved in a criminal scheme aiming to destabilize Venezuela through corrupt networks of drug trafficking, terrorism, and paramilitarism.
- Zulia state, with its proximity to the Colombian border, has functioned as a significant drug trafficking corridor and smuggling route for various commodities, as highlighted by the arrests of political figures like Rafael Ramirez Colina on corruption and drug-related charges.
