The Venezuelan nongovernmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal revealed that there were 451 political prisoners detained in police and intelligence facilities of Venezuela as of the first week of June. This represents a 35 percent increase over the number of prisoners of conscience recorded by the same organization in March, showing [ … ]
Transnational Threats
Honduran Security Forces Deal Blow to Narcotrafficking amid Pandemic
Despite the COVID-19 crisis and the measures imposed by the Honduran government to prevent the spread of the virus — including mandatory confinement, border closings, and the deployment of service members and police officers to carry out new tasks — Honduran law enforcement agencies continue to deal a heavy blow [ … ]
US Adds Maduro’s Crypto Chief to Most Wanted List
Another Venezuelan official linked to the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime has been added to the United States’ Most Wanted List. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Joselit de la Trinidad Ramírez Camacho, who was also [ … ]
Honduras Fights Maritime Narcotrafficking with High Tech
Honduras is fighting narcotrafficking and transnational crime at sea with cutting-edge satellite technology from the Maritime Information Center (CIM, in Spanish) of the Directorate General Merchant Marine (DGMM, in Spanish) within the Honduran National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA, in Spanish). This technological connection center collects, analyzes, and evaluates large amounts of [ … ]
Honduras Shuts Spaces to Venezuelan Narcotrafficking
Cooperation mechanisms among Honduras, the United States, and Venezuela’s interim government have become stronger to halt Venezuelan narcotrafficking mafias connected to the Nicolás Maduro regime, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To strengthen military operations against drug trafficking and crime throughout the region, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández inaugurated the Combined Interagency [ … ]
Coast Guard, Colombia Navy Interdict 7.5 Metric Tons of Suspected Drugs In Western Caribbean Sea
The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies interdicted approximately 1,500 packages testing positive for cocaine on a motor vessel approximately 74 kilometers northeast of Panama, June 8, 2020. While on routine patrol, a Coast Guard HC-130 Maritime Patrol Aircraft crew detected a suspect motor vessel traveling northeast of Panama. The [ … ]
Chilean Navy Deploys Hospital Ship Amid COVID-19 Crisis
The Chilean Navy’s multipurpose ship LSDH-91 Sargento Aldea deployed in mid-June as a hospital ship off the coast of Valparaíso in central Chile to provide health care to non-COVID-19 patients. The ship’s mission is to free up beds at local hospitals so that they can focus on the most urgent [ … ]
Two Illegal Drug Labs Dismantled in Catatumbo, Colombia
During military operations carried out to neutralize logistics and financial activities of criminal groups in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, Norte de Santander department, and under the Freedom Heroes Campaign Plan, troops of the Colombian Army’s Vulcano Task Force located two laboratories for drug processing in the rural area of Convención and [ … ]
Costa Rica Increases Cocaine Seizures in Caribbean Coast Ports
Improvements in port control, intelligence work, and coordination with partner nations are yielding significant results for Costa Rica’s drug seizures at its ports, especially on the Caribbean coast. By the second week of May, Costa Rican authorities had carried out four major cocaine seizures, totaling more than 8 tons. In [ … ]
Brazil: Federal Police Cracks Down on Narcotrafficking
The Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) has increased operations against narcotrafficking in different parts of Brazil in the last few weeks. On May 19, the PF launched Operation Alias to dismantle a criminal organization that specializes in international drug trafficking. The organization operated from Guajará-Mirim city, Rondônia state, on [ … ]
Chile Keeps up the Fight Against Narcotrafficking amid the Pandemic
Although more than 74,000 service members of the Chilean Armed Forces and the Carabineros (Chile’s national police) are deployed nationwide to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, said Chile’s Defense Minister Alberto Espina Otero at a mid-April press conference, security forces continue to fight transnational crime. Since government measures to prevent [ … ]
Colombian Navy Seizes 43 Metric Tons of Drugs in the Caribbean in 5 Months
The Colombian Navy seized 43 metric tons of drugs in the Caribbean from January to late May, during surveillance operations targeting speedboats and container ships ready to set sail. This marks a milestone for the Caribbean Naval Force, which has increased its operational results by 113 percent compared to 2019, [ … ]