The international naval campaign Orion V to combat narcotrafficking, carried out in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean, as well as in Colombian rivers, enabled the seizure of 50.3 metric tons of cocaine and 7.3 metric tons of marijuana, Colombian President Iván Duque announced on May 29. Duque, together [ … ]
Transnational Threats
Venezuelan Service Members Rule Gasoline Black Market
On May 18, a commission of Venezuela’s General Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM, in Spanish) arrested eight service members belonging to units of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB, in Spanish) and the Bolivarian Navy, stationed in Bolívar state. According to the Infobae news agency, Military Prosecution representatives stated during the first [ … ]
Venezuela’s Official Virus Data Is ‘Absurd’: HRW and Johns Hopkins
Venezuela's low case count and death toll from the coronavirus are likely false and could in fact be thousands of times higher than official figures, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Johns Hopkins University. Nicolás Maduro's regime has reported 10 COVID-19 deaths out of 1,121 cases in a [ … ]
US Navy – Coast Guard Team: 4 Interdictions in 4 Days
The Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) and the Freedom Variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) teams disrupted a combined 112 bales of suspected contraband worth over $79.6 million, May 24-27. While on routine patrol, the Lassen [ … ]
US Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant Interdicts Approximately 3,000 kilograms of Cocaine near Costa Rica
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC-617) crew seized a total of 122 bales of cocaine, June 22, in back-to-back interdictions of go-fast vessels just off the coast of Limon, Costa Rica. The forward-deployed Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew aboard the Vigilant successfully disabled the first go-fast vessel and [ … ]
US Navy Carries Out Freedom of Navigation Operations
The U.S. Navy routinely conducts Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) throughout the world. FONOPs are operations by U.S. naval and air forces that strengthen internationally recognized rights and freedoms by challenging excessive maritime claims, which according to the U.S. Department of Defense are attempts by coastal nations to unlawfully claim [ … ]
US Air Force to Support Counternarcotics Operations in Caribbean
The U.S. Air Force will temporarily deploy four aircraft and crews to Curaçao to support enhanced counternarcotics operations with international partners targeting illicit traffickers in the Caribbean. Two patrol aircraft, an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS), supported by two KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, will fly detection [ … ]
Coast Guard Offloads $5.6 Million in Seized Cocaine
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Donald Horsley (WPC-1117) offloaded approximately 150 kilograms of seized cocaine and transferred custody of three suspected smugglers to federal law enforcement authorities on June 13. The seized drug shipment is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $ 5.6 million. The [ … ]
Peruvian Navy Determined to End Illegal Mining
In the early morning hours of June 11, on the Madres de Dios River of the department of the same name in the Peruvian Amazon, the Peruvian Navy’s Captaincy of Puerto Maldonado, with the support of the National Police and the Office of the Attorney General, dealt a significant blow [ … ]
Colombian Army Deals Blow to Illegal Mining
In mid-May, in a joint operation with the Colombian Navy, Air Force, and the National Police, the Colombian Army dealt a hard blow to illegal mining in the Chocó department. The operation led to the destruction of three engines, three backhoes, and two mining production units that helped finance the [ … ]
USS Preble Interdicts 2,000 Kilograms of Cocaine
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) team seized 100 bales of suspected cocaine worth over $40 million, June 2. After a U.S. Navy maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron VP 26, first spotted [ … ]
Cyber Criminals Exploit Pandemic to Carry Out Attacks in Latin America
The pandemic is the perfect opportunity for cybercrime groups, which take advantage of the increase in people working from home due to the lockdown. The weak digital security measures that many companies and users have create an ideal environment for data theft and fraud. “COVID-19 is causing an unprecedented increase [ … ]