Venezuelan Interior Minister Diodado Cabello showing the criminal chart of those involved in the drug-trafficking ring dismembered by the Catatumbo Lighting 2025 Operation in Zulia state. Caracas, April 4, 2025. Photo: AVN.
This Friday, April 4, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported 16,308 kilos of high-purity cocaine have been seized, thanks to intelligence work by the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) and law enforcement agencies.
In presenting an overview of the Catatumbo Lightning 2025 Operation, Minister Cabello explained that confessions have been obtained from those recently arrested, including five mayors. These confessions have allowed them to locate routes and seize boats and submarines used for drug trafficking.
“Venezuela is making progress in dismantling Colombian drug trafficking routes. Our FANB and our colleagues in the security forces deserve recognition for the work they have done,” he stated.
He then reported that the recently arrested mayors were identified as Indira Fernández Duarte, Alberto Subalbarro, Jorge Navaz, Fernando Loiza, and Danilo Esteban Añez. Regarding the other arrested mayor, José Enrique Rincón, Cabello explained that he operated an extensive shrimp farming network in Lake Maracaibo used for illicit purposes and that approximately 120 new companies were linked to this network of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime.
The Venezuelan top official emphasized that “this entire operation is being directed by [former Colombian presidents] Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, who want to use our territory to attack Venezuela. They use that money to conspire, in addition to stimulating terrorism and drug trafficking.”
Links to the Venezuelan far right
Diosdado Cabello added that the location of mercenary camps in the Catatumbo region of Venezuela and Colombia was identified when a meeting between María Corina Machado and José Enrique Rincón was reviewed.
He then pointed out that the far-right politicians María Corina Machado, Iván Simonovis, Tomás Guanipa, Juan Pablo Guanipa, and Edmundo González, among others who have been identified, have close ties to this large mafia in Zulia state.
“We must remember again and again that all of this is linked to extremist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition. When The New York Times comes out with this, they will believe it. I hope this is on record as saying this for a long time… what we have said here has been strictly verified,” he said.
Drug trafficking network routes
Regarding the routes used by the illicit drug traffickers, Cabello asserted that they traveled along the Catatumbo and Santa Ana rivers, allegedly reaching waters within Colombian territory. However, he did not rule out the possibility of other routes, which will be determined during the investigation.
He reported that a false flag operation was planned at two points along the discovered routes, with vessels marked “Coast Guard” posing as the Bolivarian National Navy.
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“We have verified, through the capture of fake FANB boats, the plot to mount a false positive against Venezuela,” Minister Cabello added.
He also revealed that in another operation, they were able to dismantle a warehouse containing automotive parts and other materials. The warehouse was used to manufacture boats and submarines to facilitate the transport of narcotics and psychotropic substances in the area.
(Últimas Noticias) by Olys Guarate
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
