Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello shows on a map the route that a US false flag drug vessel had followed before being captured by Venezuelan authorities. Photo: MIPPCI.
The Venezuelan minister of the Interior, Justice, and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, reported that the United States government is trying to carry out a false flag operation involving planting drugs on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean in order to justify military aggression against the country.
Cabello issued this statement at a press conference on Wednesday, September 17, in reference to a recent operation in which Venezuelan security agencies dismantled a false flag operation orchestrated by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In the operation, Venezuelan authorities captured a Go Fast vessel carrying 3,692 kg of cocaine, 100 bags of cocaine hydrochloride, a satellite phone, two smartphones, two radios, a GPS, and 2,400 liters of fuel.
The four persons on board were arrested, all with Venezuelan IDs, which, according to Cabello, was part of the plan to incriminate Venezuela. “They were going to claim that they had detained four Venezuelans [with drugs],” the minister said.
“Guerra y droga en el Caribe”: lo que dijo Diosdado Cabello en su rueda de prensa del 17-S
Caracas, 17 de septiembre de 2025. El ministro del Poder Popular para Relaciones Interiores, Justicia y Paz, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, ofreció una rueda de prensa donde detalló un operativo… pic.twitter.com/of0qd8lbKe
— Con el Mazo Dando (@ConElMazoDando) September 17, 2025
Minister Cabello reported that one of the detainees has been identified as Levi Enrique López Bati, a DEA agent with ties to Gersio Parra Machado, a drug trafficker who operates in Colombia’s La Guajira and Catatumbo. Moreover, one of the detainees, known as Cirilo, confessed to having connected López Bati with the DEA to carry out the operation.
The minister further reported that the vessel, at the time of its capture, was traversing the same route as the failed Operation Gideon of 2020, an attempt at a mercenary incursion into Venezuela.
According to investigations, the seized drugs originated from Colombia, prompting the Venezuelan interior minister to urge the Trump administration to control shipments leaving via the Pacific toward the US and Europe. He also pointed out that drug shipments have been detected in banana exports from Ecuador, linked to the family of President Daniel Noboa.
Cabello added that the constant US actions against Venezuela in the Caribbean are aimed at accusing the Venezuelan government of drug trafficking. “What they want to do is plant drugs on a Venezuelan vessel,” he stressed.
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The minister highlighted that in 2025, Venezuela has seized more than 60 tons of cocaine, a figure that surpasses the confiscations of other countries in the region, demonstrating the effectiveness of Venezuelan anti-drug operations.
He emphasized that Venezuelan anti-drug operations respect international protocols and human rights and never include extrajudicial killings.
“We do not bomb a vessel without knowing [what it is carrying], even though we could when, after they were given a warning, they did not stop,” he explained, contrasting this procedure with the practices of the US, which bombs vessels at sea to eliminate witnesses and evidence. “Nobody has the authority to assassinate anyone … but the US is sentencing Caribbean fishers to death.”
Cabello also highlighted Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s stance against drug trafficking and added that the attacks from the US against Petro are not a coincidence.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SL
