Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (C) reacts during an event to deliver the formal request for a National Constituent Assembly to modify the country's Constitution in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 3, 2017. Boris Vergara/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images
There is evidence that drugs produced in Colombia continue to pass freely through Venezuela’s border. Following the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), trafficking routes are now under the control of several new criminal groups. In August last year, for example, experts pointed out that another Colombian rebel group, the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), has established a presence in Venezuela for the first time this year. The Rastrojos, once one of Colombia’s most powerful criminal groups, have also begun to emerge in Venezuela after practically disappearing in their home country.
“The Rastrojos have started recruiting Venezuelan nationals and have increased their presence in Venezuela”, Insight Crime reported in July. “The ongoing instability and rampant corruption in the Venezuelan security forces provides fertile ground for Colombian organized crime, and the Rastrojos have taken advantage of these dynamics.”
