Friday, 1 May 2009

The Venezuela-Europe drug connection - II

Thanks to Bridge we got a Dutch article about the recent detentions in Curacao.

I won't translate the whole article. Just some highlights:

  • More than 250 police officers were involved in the action
  • The cocaine was in shipping containers to West Africa and Europe or in couriers going from Curacao or Aruba to the netherlands.
  • The organization was probably responsible for import and export of at least 2000 kilos of cocaine per year
  • The suspects were investing drug profits in real estate in Colombia, Venezuela, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic
  • The organization had contacts with Hezbolla in Lebanon; they were supporting Hezbollah
  • Lebanon uses the money to buy large amounts of arms from South America (where there exactly?)
  • Basically the route is from Colombia through Venezuela to Curacao/Africa/Europe
  • The ships went from Venezuela to West Africa and from there to the Netherlands, Lebanon and Spain.
  • Money couriers went from Curacao to Venezuela mainly
  • 17 people were arrested. They were from Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Lebanon, Suriname and Cuba. There were 4 women and 13 men.
  • The police action was done in cooperation with the judiciary in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela and the US

My questions:

- was the judiciary in Venezuela really involved?
- what route was taken from Colombia through Venezuela and what can Venezuelan authorities do about this?
- would they really want to do something about it?

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous1 May 2009 at 11:26

    I wonder if there is a relationship with this:
    http://themengesproject.blogspot.com/2008/10/venezuelas-tarek-el-aissami.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bridge2 May 2009 at 15:54

    In de krant vandag ... weer gekopieerd omdat abonnee artikel

    Achttiende verdachte aangehouden in drugszaak
    2 Mei, 2009, 17:41 (GMT -04:00)

    Email dit artikel
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    WILLEMSTAD — In het onderzoek naar een internationaal opererende drugs- en witwasbende is gisteren een achttiende verdachte aangehouden.

    De man C. werd gearresteerd te Mundu Nobo. In zijn huis bevonden zich twee mitrailleurs en 200 kogels. De overige 17 verdachten die woensdagmorgen vroeg werden aangehouden zijn gisteren voorgeleid voor de rechter-commissaris. Hun aanhouding is verlengd. De bende wordt verdacht van het jaarlijks smokkelen van zo’n 2000 kilo cocaïne.
    Justitie vermoedt dat de bende contacten onderhield met criminele netwerken die in het Midden-Oosten de Libanese terreurorganisatie Hezbollah financieel ondersteunen. Door ondergronds bankieren kwam veel geld beschikbaar in Libanon.
    Beelden van de actie van woensdagmorgen zijn inmiddels op YouTube te bekijken. Het zijn beelden die de politie zelf aan de NOS beschikbaar heeft gesteld en ook zelf op het internet heeft gezet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3 May 2009 at 04:06

    Bedankt, Bridge. Weet je welke woorden ik kan gebruiken om dat video te vinden? Heb niets gevonden

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3 May 2009 at 06:51

    You questioned where Lebanon would buy arms in South America. My best guess would be Punta Del Este, Paraguay. It is well known to be a haven for all sorts of shady characters and shady deals.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous3 May 2009 at 09:07

    I think there is place closer to Lebanon: Venezuela.
    Of course, this is speculation.
    Kepler

    ReplyDelete

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