Venezuela — A Narco-State?
President Donald Trump’s administration has raised the reward to $50 million for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, whom he accuses of using terrorist organizations, such as Tren de Aragua, Cartel de Sinaloa and Cartel de los Soles, to introduce lethal drugs and violence into the United States.
The new amount doubles that established in January 2025 ($25 million), when Joe Biden was president, which at the time matched what was offered for Osama Bin Laden, who founded al-Qaida and led the 9/11 attacks, and for the ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
According to the nongovernmental organization Transparencia Venezuela, in 2024 alone, drug trafficking in Venezuela generated more than $8.2 billion in revenue, a figure that highlights the increase in this illegal economy within the country and reflects the ever more active role that it has in the world drug market.
The reality of power in Venezuela is determined by the proliferation of mafias, organizations and criminal gangs, many of which are allegedly involved in the main power structures, at the military, bureaucratic and corporate levels, which, due to the high levels of corruption in the country, have managed to slip past official controls, winning allies within formal institutions to keep the businesses afloat and divide up the profits.
Among other things, the report by Transparencia Venezuela highlights the presence of Cartel de los Soles, named after the insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. It’s a criminal organization that involves senior officials from Maduro’s power establishment, and that has turned Venezuela into a strategic territory for drug trafficking networks.
Drug trafficking in Venezuela isn’t just a security concern or organized crime — it’s a government policy that generates billions of dollars for the mafias that control the country and that have turned it into an instrument of the state for their survival. While the Maduro regime remains in power, this transnational crime will keep spreading.
The international community urgently needs to acknowledge the scale of the problem and adopt stronger measures to combat drug trafficking, to dismantle the criminal economy that supports Maduro’s dictatorship and to stop impunity of the Chavista regime. The Venezuela of today can’t be the Venezuela of tomorrow.
The new amount doubles that established in January 2025 ($25 million), when Joe Biden was president, which at the time matched what was offered for Osama Bin Laden, who founded al-Qaida and led the 9/11 attacks, and for the ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
According to the nongovernmental organization Transparencia Venezuela, in 2024 alone, drug trafficking in Venezuela generated more than $8.2 billion in revenue, a figure that highlights the increase in this illegal economy within the country and reflects the ever more active role that it has in the world drug market.
The reality of power in Venezuela is determined by the proliferation of mafias, organizations and criminal gangs, many of which are allegedly involved in the main power structures, at the military, bureaucratic and corporate levels, which, due to the high levels of corruption in the country, have managed to slip past official controls, winning allies within formal institutions to keep the businesses afloat and divide up the profits.
Among other things, the report by Transparencia Venezuela highlights the presence of Cartel de los Soles, named after the insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. It’s a criminal organization that involves senior officials from Maduro’s power establishment, and that has turned Venezuela into a strategic territory for drug trafficking networks.
Drug trafficking in Venezuela isn’t just a security concern or organized crime — it’s a government policy that generates billions of dollars for the mafias that control the country and that have turned it into an instrument of the state for their survival. While the Maduro regime remains in power, this transnational crime will keep spreading.
The international community urgently needs to acknowledge the scale of the problem and adopt stronger measures to combat drug trafficking, to dismantle the criminal economy that supports Maduro’s dictatorship and to stop impunity of the Chavista regime. The Venezuela of today can’t be the Venezuela of tomorrow.
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