After a months-long investigation, CNN is reporting that cocaine trafficking from Venezuela to the United States is now soaring through what’s been described as a “cocaine superhighway,” facilitated by Venezuela’s own military and political elite.
The report notes that last year hundreds of tiny, unmarked planes were loaded daily with Colombian cocaine, a rapid increase from the year before when they reportedly made two trips a week. Furthermore, while they used to depart from the remote southern jungle regions of Venezuela, they now take off from the country’s more developed northwest region to reduce their flying time.
“Drug smugglers are more and more exploiting the complicity of Venezuelan authorities, and more recently the vacuum of power,” said one US official, while estimating that in 2018 alone, 265 tons of cocaine crossed into Venezuela from Colombia with a value of $39 billion on the U.S. streets. U.S. officials believe that the accelerated drug smuggling can be attributed to hyperinflation in Venezuela, caused by economic mismanagement and “rampant corruption among the government’s senior officials.”