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U.S. indictment against Maduro alleges Caribbean politicians took drug payoffs
(Kaieteur News) – A sweeping federal indictment filed in the United States against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and members of his inner circle has sent shockwaves across the region, alleging that unnamed Caribbean political leaders were complicit in a vast, state-sponsored cocaine trafficking network.
The legal documents allege that Maduro and his inner circle operated a state-sponsored drug network that smuggled immense quantities of cocaine into America. This illicit enterprise reportedly relied on a corrupt system of payoffs to protect traffickers and involved high-ranking politicians across the Caribbean and Central America. Prosecutors claim the regime utilised government resources, including military escorts and diplomatic passports, to facilitate these shipments while collaborating with violent international cartels.
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Beyond drug trafficking, the charges implicate the leadership in organised crime activities such as state-sanctioned violence, kidnappings, and the laundering of drug money to solidify their political grip. A.G Bondi said the legal action seeks to hold the Venezuelan administration accountable for turning their nation into a sanctuary for global terrorism and narcotics distribution.
The indictment claim allegedly implicates unnamed Caribbean politicians.
Through this drug trafficking, NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, the defendant, and corrupt members of his regime enabled corruption fueled by drug trafficking throughout the region. The transshipment points in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico similarly relied on a culture of corruption, in which cocaine traffickers operating in those countries paid a portion of their own profits to politicians who protected and aided them. In turn, these politicians used the cocaine fueled payments to maintain and augment their political power. So, too, were politicians along the “Caribbean route” corrupted by cocaine traffickers, who would pay them for protection from arrest and to allow favored traffickers to operate with impunity as they trafficked cocaine from Venezuela north towards the United States. Thus, at every step–relying on the producers in Colombia, transporters and distributors in Venezuela, and recipients and re-distributors on transshipment points north-the traffickers enriched themselves and their corrupt benefactors who protected and aided them.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she is not surprised that the United States’ indictment contains allegations that Caribbean politicians were complicit in the cocaine trafficking trade. The Superseding Indictment document, which contains the Grand Jury charges against Maduro and others, claims that Caribbean politicians benefited financially from these traffickers in return for protection against the law. Asked for her reaction to this accusation, the Prime Minister told the Trinidad Guardian: “I’m not surprised at all. As the story continues to unfold, I have no doubt that many “respectable” and “celebrated” people across all sectors of society will be exposed.”
The document specifically states that the defendant, Nicolas Maduro, and “corrupt” members of his regime enabled corruption fuelled by drug trafficking throughout the region. It also says that cocaine trafficking through Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico was underpinned by systemic corruption, with traffickers bribing politicians for protection, while those illicit funds were used by political figures to strengthen and entrench their power.
Turning to the Caribbean, the document states, “So, too, were politicians along the ‘Caribbean route’ corrupted by cocaine traffickers, who would pay them for protection from arrest and to allow favoured traffickers to operate with impunity as they trafficked cocaine from Venezuela north towards the United States.
“Thus, at every step, relying on the producers in Colombia, nine transporters and distributors in Venezuela, and recipients and re-distributors on transhipment points north, the traffickers enriched themselves and their corrupt benefactors who protected and aided them.”
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