Latest news with #narco-terrorism
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
US sanctions Venezuelan gang allegedly linked to Maduro
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the move highlights the Nicolas Maduro regime's role in narco-terrorism. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : The US treasury on Friday announced sanctions against a Venezuelan group which it claims is led by president Nicolas Maduro, alleging it backs leading drug cartels. The treasury's office of foreign assets control (OFAC) announced restrictions on the so-called 'Cartel of the Suns,' classing it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity. The OFAC agency, which determines sanctions based on US foreign policy, says the group is 'headed by Nicolas Maduro' and 'other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals in the Maduro regime'. It also alleged the cartel 'provides material support' to the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel – criminal gangs designated by president Donald Trump's administration as terrorist groups. 'Today's action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime's facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles,' treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Trump's first-term administration indicted Maduro and several of his top aides for 'narco-terrorism' and offered a reward for their capture, claims that were slammed by the leftist Venezuelan leader. According to Trump's government, 'Cartel de los Soles' has an objective of 'using the flood of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the US.' Trump has targeted several groups south of the US border that he says are funnelling vast amounts of dangerous illicit drugs into the US and are involved in extortion, migrant smuggling and other violent crimes. Relations between Washington and Caracas have been deteriorating for years. In 2019, the US contested Maduro's re-election, which was widely deemed as fraudulent by the international community. Trump this year announced a partial ban on travellers from Venezuela, among a dozen countries. On Thursday, Maduro announced that the US was allowing petroleum giant Chevron to resume operations in the South American country after previously slapping sanctions. Washington has not confirmed the development.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
US sanctions Venezuelan gang allegedly linked to President Nicolas Maduro
The United States Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against a Venezuelan group which it claims is led by President Nicolas Maduro, alleging it backs leading drug cartels. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced restrictions on the so-called 'Cartel of the Suns,' classing it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity. The OFAC agency, which determines sanctions based on US foreign policy, says the group is 'headed by Nicolas Maduro' and 'other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals in the Maduro regime.' It also alleged the cartel 'provides material support' to the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel -- criminal gangs designated by President Donald Trump's administration as terrorist groups. 'Today's action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime's facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Trump's first term administration indicted Maduro and several of his top aides for 'narco-terrorism' and offered a reward for their capture, claims that were slammed by the leftist Venezuelan leader. According to Trump's government, 'Cartel de los Soles' has an objective of 'using the flood of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States.' Trump has targeted several groups south of the US border that he says are funneling vast amounts of dangerous illicit drugs into the United States and are involved in extortion, migrant smuggling and other violent crime. Relations between Washington and Caracas have been deteriorating for years. In 2019, the United States contested Maduro's re-election, which was widely deemed as fraudulent by the international community. Trump this year announced a partial ban on travelers from Venezuela, among a dozen countries. On Thursday, Maduro announced that the United States was allowing petroleum giant Chevron to resume operations in the South American country after previously slapping sanctions. Washington has not confirmed the development.
CBS News
03-07-2025
- CBS News
Drone "narco sub" — equipped with Starlink antenna — seized for the first time in the Caribbean
Combating narco-subs and narco-terrorism in the U.S. and abroad The Colombian navy on Wednesday announced its first seizure of an unmanned "narco sub" equipped with a Starlink antenna off its Caribbean coast. The semisubmersible vessel was not carrying drugs, but the Colombian navy and Western security sources based in the region told AFP they believed it was a trial run by a cocaine trafficking cartel. "It was being tested and was empty," a naval spokeswoman confirmed to AFP. Manned semi-submersibles built in clandestine jungle shipyards have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to Central America or Mexico. But in recent years, they have been sailing much further afield, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The latest find, announced by Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo at a press conference, is the first reported discovery in South American waters of a drone narco sub. The navy said it was owned by the Gulf Clan, Colombia's largest drug trafficking group and had the capacity to transport 1.5 tons of cocaine. A low-profile unmanned semi-submersible vessel sits between two Colombian Navy boats off the coast of Tayrona Park near Santa Marta, Colombia, on July 2, 2025. Colombian Navy Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images The Gulf Clan is one of several cartels recently designated as foreign terrorist groups by the United group's "primary source of income is from cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its paramilitary activities," according to the U.S. State Department. A video released by the navy showed a small grey vessel with a satellite antenna on the bow. This is not the first time a Starlink antenna has been used at sea by suspected drug traffickers. In November, Indian police seized a giant consignment of meth worth $4.25 billion in a vessel steered remotely by Starlink near the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. It was the first known discovery of a narco sub operated by Starlink. Floating "coffins" Cocaine production, seizures and use all hit record highs in 2023, the U.N. drug agency said last month. In Colombia, production has reached record levels, fuelled by surging global demand. Rozo said the use of autonomous subs reflected the traffickers "migration toward more sophisticated unmanned systems" which are hard to detect at sea, "difficult to track by radar and even allow criminal networks to operate with partial autonomy." Juana Cabezas, a researcher at Colombia's Institute for Development and Peace Studies, told AFP that powerful Mexican drug cartels, who operate in Colombia, "hired technology experts and engineers to develop an unmanned submarine" as far back as 2017. She pointed out that drone vessels made it harder for the authorities to pinpoint the drug lords behind the shipments. "Removing the crew eliminates the risk of captured operators cooperating with authorities," agreed Henry Shuldiner, an investigator for the U.S.-based InSight Crime think tank, who co-authored a report on the rise of narco subs. Shuldiner also highlighted the challenge of assembling crews to sail makeshift subs described as floating "coffins." The journey can be deadly: In 2023, a "narco sub" with two dead bodies and nearly three tons of cocaine aboard was seized off the coast of Colombia. A submarine with two dead bodies and nearly three tons of cocaine aboard was seized in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia, officials said. Colombia Navy A near record number of the low-profile vessels were intercepted in the Atlantic and Pacific in 2024, according to the report. In November last year, five tons of Colombian cocaine were found on a semi-submersible en route to faraway Australia. Colombian law punishes the use, construction, marketing, possession, and transportation of semi-submersibles with penalties of up to 14 years in prison. Though commonly spotted off the coast of Colombia, narco subs have been intercepted across the globe in recent months. Just last week, the Mexican navy seized 3.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a semisubmersible vessel off the Pacific coast, while releasing video of the "narco sub" being intercepted. In March, Portuguese police said forces had confiscated nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible vessel off the remote Azores archipelago that was bound for the Iberian peninsula. In January, a suspected narco sub broke in two pieces as a fishing boat was towing it to a port in northwest Spain.
CBS News
28-06-2025
- CBS News
More than $130 million in cocaine recovered from ship in London port by U.K. authorities
Combating narco-subs and narco-terrorism in the U.S. and abroad British authorities seized 2.4 metric tons of cocaine in a ship arriving in England from Panama, authorities said Saturday, calling it one of the U.K.'s biggest drug busts in years. The drugs, valued at 96 million pounds ($132 million), were found under containers on a vessel at London Gateway port, east of the British capital. The shipment was discovered after what officials said was an intelligence-led operation. Britain's interior ministry, the Home Office, said it was the sixth-largest cocaine seizure on record. U.K. Border Force Maritime director Charlie Eastaugh said the seizure was "just one example of how dedicated Border Force maritime officers remain one step ahead of the criminal gangs who threaten our security. "Our message to these criminals is clear — more than ever before, we are using intelligence and international law enforcement co-operation to disrupt and dismantle your operations," he said. Britain is one of Europe's biggest markets for cocaine, according to the National Crime Agency. The U.K. government says cocaine-related deaths in England and Wales rose by 31% between 2022 and 2023. Last week, the Mexican navy seized 3.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a semisubmersible vessel off the Pacific coast, releasing video of the "narco sub" being intercepted. In April, a U.S. Coast Guard crew seized roughly 10,000 pounds of cocaine from a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean, the agency said. The haul was worth an estimated $74 million.
The Guardian
27-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Former Venezuelan intelligence chief pleads guilty to US drug charges
A former top Venezuelan military intelligence chief has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to narco-terrorism conspiracy, drug-trafficking and weapons charges, piling further US pressure on the government of Nicolás Maduro. Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, AKA 'El Pollo' or 'The Chicken', was the director of Venezuela's military intelligence under presidents Hugo Chávez and Maduro. On Wednesday, days before his trial was set to begin, he pleaded guilty to four federal counts, related to accusations that he helped lead a drug-trafficking group within the Venezuelan government. 'Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios was once one of the most powerful men in Venezuela. For years, he and other officials … used cocaine as a weapon – flooding New York and other American cities with poison,' said US attorney Jay Clayton. Carvajal turned against Maduro in 2019 and supported a failed coup that year led by the opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Maduro stayed in power but the Trump administration at the time recognized Guaidó as the legitimate leader of the country. Despite his opposition to Maduro, Carvajal was already under investigation by the US government: in 2020, the justice department released an indictment against him and other top Venezuelan leaders – including Maduro himself – accusing them of narco-terrorism crimes and of running the Cartel of the Suns. He was eventually extradited to the US from Spain in 2023. The US indictment alleges that from 1999 through 2020, Maduro, Carvajal and top government officials 'participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy' between the Cartel of the Suns and the former Colombian rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), to traffic cocaine to the US. The Farc was previously classified as a terrorist organization by the US government before most of its members laid down their weapons in a historic 2016 peace process. Although the US government claims the Cartel of the Suns is a structured and government-run drug-trafficking group, analysts claim that it is more of a 'network of networks' of various drug-trafficking groups protected by elements within the Venezuelan state. The Miami Herald, citing unnamed sources, reported that Carvajal was potentially collaborating with the US government to provide information about Maduro's drug-trafficking activities, the Tren de Aragua gang and Venezuela's ties to Iran. Details of his potential collaboration may be revealed during his sentencing hearing in October. He is facing life in prison for each count. Co-defendants in the Cartel of the Suns case include Maduro, the Venezuelan interior minister and two former Farc leaders –including one who was killed in a mysterious operation by the Colombian military. As one of the last Latin America-related acts of the Biden administration this January, the US government raised its bounty for Maduro and his interior minister to $25m, related to the narco-terrorism case. One of Carvajal's co-defendants was sentenced last year to more than 21 years in prison. Cliver Alcalá , a former Venezuelan general who opposed Maduro, pleaded guilty in 2023 for providing support to the Farc. This case has the potential to uncover details of US operations in Venezuela, including information about alleged US-backed attempts to oust Maduro. In a letter to the New York court, Alcalá's attorneys have claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency, Drug Enforcement Administration, and national security council were aware of a fumbled 2020 plot to overthrow Maduro. That failed plot, deemed the Bay of Piglets, was foiled by Venezuelan security forces. Government officials arrested a number Venezuelan dissidents and two American former Green Berets, working as mercenaries for Silvercorp, a US security firm.
