A recent intelligence report has unveiled connections between an international criminal network involving Iran, the Hezbollah group, and Venezuela’s government, alongside Colombian factions like the FARC and other Marxist groups. Reportedly, it was highlighted this week.
According to Semana, the Middle East Intelligence Reporting Agency provided crucial details to the Colombian military in its findings. Both Semana and Blu Radio reportedly have copies of this report, which outlines Hezbollah and Iran’s involvement in supporting cross-border cocaine trafficking through financial and logistical means.
The report indicates that Iran’s backing has fostered a criminal alliance linking Hezbollah and the Venezuelan regime with the Sands cartel, ELN, and FARC’s second Marquetaria faction. They are involved in various illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and military operations.
Blu Radio also elaborated on how Venezuela’s failing governance has allowed groups like the ELN to infiltrate its structures, effectively merging with regions like Táchira and Zulia.
It explained that the Sands cartel, led by Nicolás Maduro and senior military officials in Venezuela, has developed into a complex network that collaborates with Colombian armed factions. Reportedly, the DGCIM, Venezuela’s military intelligence, acts as a safeguard for this network, ensuring protection and quelling dissent. Senior generals from the Venezuelan Army and National Guard are believed to be involved in these criminal activities.
Semana referenced international sources indicating that high-ranking officials in Colombia’s military may also be part of this drug trafficking syndicate. The report outlines a Cocaine Export Corridor coordinating maritime routes from Venezuela to Africa and the Middle East, tightening the links from Colombia’s Catatumbo region to Malacabo in Venezuela, aligned with Hezbollah.
As an unnamed source noted, this data should be handled with utmost sensitivity. It emphasized the urgent need for support against these criminal enterprises. Semana.
Reportedly, drug trafficking profits are not just circulating locally but also reaching the Middle East. Some funds are funneled into Hezbollah networks in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran to support military activities, including logistics and weapon supply.
Additionally, the Colombian magazine mentions that the Maduro government is allegedly backing ongoing conflicts between the ELN and the FARC’s “33rd Front” in the Catatumbo area, contesting control over coca leaf production.
Colombia’s Noticias RCN details that this criminal enterprise has a base in Dubai, utilizing diplomatic protections to launder drug trafficking profits from Colombia. They reportedly benefit from the proceeds of operations involving the ELN and FARC, providing security and logistics for drugs, illegal gold, and fuel trafficking between the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, while also protecting Hezbollah on Venezuelan soil.
According to Noticias RCN, one of the reports suggested:
These individuals operate through Qatari front firms, officially recognized as contractors in sectors like energy and transportation, but in reality, they serve to launder drug money from both Colombia and Venezuela.
“Colombian armed groups, such as the ELN and FARC’s factions led by Ivan Mordisco, are deeply entrenched in this cross-border criminal network,” Noticias RCN added.
The Intelligence Report asserted that the international community has not adopted the necessary measures to tackle these issues, proposing international sanctions against identified officials and enhancing intelligence activities at the Colombia-Venezuela border. It suggests increased cooperation with Brazil, the US, Europe, and Israel, targeting Hezbollah’s financial apparatus. The report also calls for developing “inter-institutional strategies” for managing territorial issues in Catatumbo and Arauca.
Moreover, it urged addressing the situation “at an International Forum to condemn the use of Venezuela as a platform for violence and drug trafficking,” stressing that “the Colombian conflict is a war that will continue to be exported from Caracas, with support from Tehran.”
