How many tonnes of cocaine do US Americans and Europeans want to buy? How many weapons do they want to sell?

I posted some time ago in German about the increase in cocaine finds by security forces in Venezuela. In 2009 those forces found 15 tonnes of cocaine. In 2010 they found about 24.53 tonnes. In 2011 they have found at least 18 tonnes:

• In February Venezuelan and French authorities caught in international waters 3.6 tonnes going from Colombia to Honduras, 

• By june, a total of  10.3 tonnes had been confiscated

• Just in one action Venezuelan authorities caught 6.7 tonnes of cocaine

We still have almost 6 months to go. Of course, that cocaine is just a fraction of whatever cocaine dealers were trying to smuggle through and out of Venezuela to North America's and Europe's markets. Those markets exist because US Americans and Europeans pay real money.

Here I am not with other bloggers: I also think high ranking officials in Venezuela are likely to be involved in the drug trade in Venezuela but I don't think they are the only high ranking people involved in that. Mexico is in complete disarray in the fight "on" drugs. That could not happen if the military there were so kosher. And the US and Europe are not helping at all to improve things while keeping up demand.

On top of that, you have things like the Gunwalker coming from the States. Please, watch this CBS video about how the US government provided thousands of high-power guns to the drug cartels.

I am sure this hasn't been the first time and it won't be the last one. There are many reasons for that.

Is Venezuela's government a disaster with regards to cocaine traffic? Yes, indeed. Is the picture more complex than that? Yes, it is.

At best, the current situation is a complete mess and a farce by all government bodies. At worse, it is a mess with a lot of people on every side pursueing very nasty targets.