The United States confirmed that a massive cocaine shipment confiscated last weekend off Spain’s coast is connected to members of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Working on a tip from the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA] and the Colombian National Police and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, Spain’s military intercepted the Karar, a vessel that first left Panama and had 4,000 kilos of cocaine loaded on it off Venezuela’s coast before sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
The boat, which sailed under the flag of Togo, was headed to the northwest coastal city of Vigo but was intercepted more than 300 miles off the coast of Galicia, an autonomous community in Spain.
On April 25, Spain’s military seized a vessel that crossed the Atlantic Ocean with 4.4 tons of cocaine that were loaded off the coast of Venezuela earlier in the month
Intelligence reports gather in December 2019 forced narcotic authorities from the United States, Colombia and the United Kingdom to keep tabs on a Colombian drug trafficking ring that was planning to ship cocaine to the northern Spain coastal city of Vigo
Spain’s national police arrests a suspect on April 25 who was allegedly connected to the 4,000-kilo shipment of cocaine that was confiscated on a boat, 600 miles of the coast of Lisboa
‘I spoke to the Spanish ambassador this afternoon, and it is true that they seized a ship that left Venezuela [carrying] four tons of drugs off the coast of Europe,’ said James Story, director of the Venezuela Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, in an interview with Infobae.
‘There are people from Maduro’s regime involved.’
The ship’s 15 crew members – mostly nationals from Bangladesh and Nepal – were detained as well as 13 other individuals, dealing a huge blow to a drug trafficking network in Galicia reportedly headed by Juan Carlos Santórum, who evaded capture during last Saturday’s ‘Operation Donkey’ raid.
Authorities also confiscated several motorcycles and speedboats from warehouses operated by the group along northern Portugal and the Galicia city of Pontevedra.
Authorities in Spain check packs of cocaine after 4,000 tons were loaded off a boat in the port of Vigo on April 28
Police in Spain investigate the Karar vessel that was transporting 4.4 tons of cocaine that were loaded on to it off the coast of Venezuela in early April
Spain detained 15 crew members from the Karar, a vessel that departed Panama early in April and stopped off Venezuela’s coast where 4,000 kilos of cocaine were loaded
According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the shipment was backed by a drug trafficking group from Colombia.
Intelligence shared by narcotic agencies from Spain, Colombia the DEA discovered that the shipment had been in the works since December 2019.
Colombian authorities have been actively investigating the whereabouts of those involved with the network.
The United States government has been seeking to arrest Maduro and other members of his regime for helping Colombian drug smuggling organizations and the FARC rebel group ship at least 250 tons of cocaine to the U.S. for almost two decades.
The U.S. has also offered a $15million bounty for Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a March indictment. The Justice Department accused him and current and former members of his regime of aiding Colombian drug traffickers and the FARC rebel group in shipping at least 250 tons of cocaine to the U.S. during a period of almost two decades
Authorities confiscate a speedboat from a warehouse operated by a drug trafficking ring based out of the Galicia, an autonomous community in northern Spain
The sub-delegate of the Government in Pontevedra, Maica Larriba (third from right), General Commissioner of the Judicial Police, Eloy Quiros (second from right) and the Regional Head of Customs of the Tax Agency in Galicia, Jaime Gaya (right), during a press conference Tuesday to reveal the 4.4 tons of cocaine that were seized April 25
The U.S. has also offered a $15million bounty for Maduro in a March indictment.
Additional rewards of $10million are also being offered for information leading to the arrest of Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly; Hugo Carvajal, former Director of Military Intelligence; and Tareck El Aissmai, former Vice President and the current Minister of Industries and National Production.
Former Venezuelan general Cliver Alcalá, who was also named in the indictment, turned himself in.
The indictment alleged that Alcalá and top officials received bribes from the FARC in exchange for safe passage for cocaine shipments sent through Venezuela.
‘The Venezuelan regime, once led by Nicolás Maduro Moros, remains plagued by criminality and corruption,’ said Attorney General Bill Barr. ‘For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities.’
Around 2008, at a meeting with Cabello and Carvajal, it was decided Alcalá would coordinate drug-trafficking with the FARC, according to the indictment.
Spain’s military seized 4,000 kilos of cocaine April 25 that had been shipped from Venezuela on a vessel
The US is also offering a $10million reward leading to the arrest of three of Maduro’s aides (bottom left). Cliver Alcalá (first from left) turned himself to the DEA last Friday