By: Insight Crime
June 3, 2025
A large portion of drug seizures in Falcón, Venezuela, appear to be staged by the authorities to project an image of effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking.
Members of Venezuela’s security forces have been recycling previously seized drug shipments, hiding them on beaches in Falcón state, and later “discovering” them to showcase results, according to a number of sources consulted by InSight Crime, including military personnel and individuals linked to drug trafficking networks.
Sources said traffickers who operate along this strategic cocaine route from South America to the Caribbean and Europe are also involved in these staged operations.
InSight Crime has documented ties between drug traffickers and local politicians in this coastal part of Venezuela, as well as operations run by a trafficking network made up of Venezuelan military personnel — commonly known as the Cartel of the Suns — that is enabled and protected by the country’s deeply rooted corruption.
SEE ALSO: Venezuela’s Cocaine Revolution
Below, InSight Crime details the two main methods used to stage drug seizures.
Recycling Confiscated Drugs
Officers with the Bolivarian National Police and the National Guard reportedly recycle drugs that were seized in previous operations, tossing them into the sea or burying them along the shoreline, according to two military officials familiar with the practice.
One of the clearest signs of this tactic is that for several years, these operations rarely led to arrests, and the quantities seized so far in 2025 average around 40 kilograms. On April 12, the Bolivarian National Police reported the seizure of 51 kilograms of marijuana found in sacks abandoned on a beach in Píritu, Falcón. This case is one of at least seven drug seizures reported on beaches in Falcón this year. Six involved marijuana, most did not exceed 50 kilograms, and none resulted in arrests, according to InSight Crime’s media monitoring.
“The government, the military — they use stashed drugs and throw them into the sea, only to seize them later. This mostly happens when there’s a change in leadership at the Integral Defense Operational Zone (Zona Operativa de Defensa Integral – ZODI) or Strategic Region of Integral Defense (Región de Estratégica de Defensa Integral – REDI),” a National Guard officer told InSight Crime.
SEE ALSO: Beyond the Cartel of the Suns
The ZODI and REDI are key territorial structures in Venezuela’s defense and military control apparatus. Given the Maduro regime’s heavy reliance on the military to remain in power, leadership roles in these commands typically go to trusted allies.
Floating Drug Loads: A Win-Win
Other staged seizures are reportedly done in coordination with traffickers, who help create the illusion of law enforcement action and success. The goal is to hide the fact that many security force members are actually enabling the flow of drug shipments from Falcón to Caribbean islands.
“Some traffickers leave drugs floating in the sea to stage seizures and make it look like the government is doing its job. They give up marijuana because it’s not worth much,” a former drug trafficking worker told InSight Crime.
This claim aligns with a recent case. On April 7, military personnel reported finding 29 kilograms of marijuana floating near a beach in Morrocoy National Park, in eastern Falcón. As is typical in Falcón, no arrests were made.
Drugs washing ashore in Falcón are not always staged incidents. Some boats carrying shipments are damaged or wrecked at sea, leaving bricks of drugs adrift — which security forces then collect and present as seizures.
But structural corruption, low wages, and poor training have all contributed to the involvement of Venezuelan security personnel in criminal economies.