The government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela announced the arrest of two mayors who are members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV in Spanish). This political force, ruling the country since the end of the last century, gathers the militant followers of late Hugo Chávez. The action serves Chavismo to export the narrative that it has no contemplations in the fight against corruption and drug trafficking. Others will not fail to point to the probable use of these mayors as scapegoats sacrificed precisely to push that narrative. Top PSUV leaders, including Maduro, have been denounced for alleged links to drug trafficking. However, there is no tangible and compelling evidence beyond disputed testimonies to support that line of investigation. “We are not going to accompany any criminal, elected by whomever he was elected, if (they were) elected on the PSUV card and (are) participating in these drug trafficking activities, (they are) going to pay,” said the powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello in statements broadcast on state television.
The accused governed local affairs in Almirante Padilla and Miranda, two coastal municipalities in Zulia state located on the Maracaibo Strait, which connects Latin America's largest lake with the so-called Gulf of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. The operation led to the arrest of nine people in total and the seizure of about 5 and a half tons of cocaine of “very high purity”, more than 27 thousand liters of fuel, 7,000 liters of resin, about 70 rolls of glass fibers, 3 submersibles, 25 boats, 25 outboard motors, 6 GPS equipment, 17 cell phones, 2 revolvers, and 140 galvanized sheets for the construction of boats. Cabello also stated that three logistic supply points and four shipyards were dismantled. A little more than 3 years ago, the security forces arrested in flagrante delicto the then mayor of another municipality in Zulia, also linked to the PSUV, recalls EFE.
#AHORA | 📌 Venezuela anuncia incautación de 5,4 toneladas de cocaína de alta pureza tras operativo en el Sur del Lago en Zulia: hay nueve detenidos y dos abatidos
March 14, 2025— Por la calle del Medio (@plcdelmedionews)
Vía @AlbertoRodNews pic.twitter.com/BifOQ6iFm3
In Paraguay, agents of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Police raided the headquarters of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat in the department of Canindeyú this Friday, after a judge claimed that 700 kilograms of marijuana were missing from a shipment seized on February 23 that was to be incinerated. The volume allegedly missing is equivalent to about 5% of all the pressed marijuana in custody in the city of Saltos del Guairá, so a potential diversion could easily go unnoticed. It is not ruled out that the pressed marijuana had been misweighed initially, according to statements by the head of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat. This agency has made monumental seizures of pressed marijuana during Santiago Peña's administration.
Trans-oceanic anti-drug operation gives sound results 👇
❗ Large cocaine bust in Ecuador: 36 arrested after 73 tonnes of drugs seized
March 14, 2025— Europol (@Europol)
The targeted criminal structure is part of an intercontinental criminal network involved in multi-tonne cocaine trafficking via sea containers from South America to Europe.
⬇️https://t.co/nFU5ZiWzta pic.twitter.com/WybYbOCMW3
Meanwhile, in Washington 👇
Senate passes bill that would increase penalties for fentanyl traffickers | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/rJ0TYejX0m
March 14, 2025— kcranews (@kcranews)
Ecuador
Once again, the Penitenciaría del Litoral, the largest prison in the South American country, integrated to the infamous penitentiary complex located in the outskirts of Guayaquil, was the scene of violent events with deadly consequences. In the early hours of Thursday morning, a prison guard died amid synchronized explosions of vehicles in the vicinity of the extremely dangerous prison. Three agents were wounded in the action, which is being investigated as a terrorist attack. Since last year, 17 deaths of prison officers have been recorded, denounces a female penitentiary agent who, in addition to demanding greater security and resources for them, puts the spotlight on the impunity that surrounds these losses.
“(Before) we had the respect of the (prisoners), a lot of respect, but since 2021 there were many different reasons why we lost (it) and we were losing (the control of the prisons)”, the penitentiary agent abounded. According to EFE, in the last four years, more than 500 inmates have been killed within the penitentiary system. The head of the Carondelet is under extreme pressure, so he is now appealing to the problematic Erik Prince—the founder of Blackwater who recently threatened to intervene in the Venezuelan conflict—as an alternative to get out of the security crisis that has the country by the neck in the last years.
A controversial partner (source of the image).Mexico
This is worth reading. It is just insane and has everyone outraged. “The recent discovery in Mexico of charred human remains and hundreds of personal items, including shoes and clothing, at a ranch allegedly operated by a drug cartel is a deeply disturbing reminder of the trauma of organized crime-linked disappearances in the country... The discovery is all the more disturbing given that the ranch had previously been raided in September 2024 by the National Guard and the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office, without crucial evidence being detected,” the spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday.
Killing site in Jalisco, it is not a new reality. It's just the latest in a long series of gruesome discoveries, further evidence of Mexico's unresolved problem of missing persons https://t.co/2GmlwvX6HH
March 14, 2025— María Verza (@verzamex)
I hope the power is restored soon.
Thanks!