A broker, known as Luisito, assured his client, alias Julio, that a relative within the “little red party” with connections to the “famous Suns” could ensure the safe transport of a container holding 32 kilograms of cocaine onto a ship at a Venezuelan port. The illicit cargo, concealed inside two electrical generators, was intended for Libya. Wiretap recordings obtained by CBC News revealed Luisito’s attempts to convince Julio that Venezuelan military members would not steal either his money or the shipment.
The wiretaps, gathered during a successful two-year investigation by Colombian federal police into a multinational drug-smuggling ring based in Colombia, disclosed the organization’s methods of transporting cocaine across continents via air and sea. The group utilized human drug mules for air transport and shipping containers for sea deliveries.
The investigation, originating from a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) initiative, captured conversations among group members discussing dealings with Venezuelan military officials overseeing the Guarano International Port in Falcón state. The Venezuelan government denied any involvement in drug trafficking, and no government party or military officials were implicated in the wiretaps obtained by CBC News.
In the intercepted conversations, Luisito consistently referred to senior Venezuelan military officers as “the Suns” and associated the color red with the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The wiretaps shed light on the existence of the “Cartel of the Suns,” a group of high-ranking Venezuelan officers allegedly controlling cocaine shipments from their country.
According to a former Colombian anti-narcotics agent involved in the case, the term “Cartel of the Suns” surfaced in various investigations through discussions with informants, illustrating deep ties between the Venezuelan regime and drug trafficking. The agent suggested that the U.S. criminal case against captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, likely drew from similar investigations.
Maduro and Flores face charges in a U.S. Federal Court in New York City, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. The indictment describes the Cartel of the Suns as a system where Venezuelan elites profit from drug trafficking and protect partner traffickers.
The wiretaps exposed Julio’s plan to ship cocaine to Libya using fake Venezuelan IDs and a local company to conceal the illicit cargo in a container filled with generators and other equipment. Despite concerns over theft, Julio considered moving the container by sea from Venezuela to Brazil and then to Libya, relying on Luisito’s connections within the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
Luisito assured Julio of a smooth customs process, emphasizing that Venezuelan military officers focused solely on anti-narcotics screening. The former Colombian police agent confirmed that the shipment reached Libya, leading to the arrest and conviction of Luisito and Julio.