Venezuela: drug dealers paradise
By Aleksander Boyd
London 15.04.06 | Pondering over the huge seizure of cocaine in Mexico I can't help but conclude that DISIP, army and/or National Guard and authorities from Venezuela's main airport Simon Bolivar, indeed if the cargo was loaded there, must be either on the take or be part of the operational team.
The cocaine was placed inside 128 luggage cases. Are we to believe that not one law enforcement officer, custom or immigration agent, military or airport official saw what was taking place? Furthermore, many people are needed to load such cargo swiftly, why did it not arise any suspicions?
But it gets even more convoluted. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) register has got some information about the N900SA DC9-15 seized in Mexico. As a matter of public record, as of April 13 2006 -that is the day before yesterday, the plane was deregistered in the USA and "exported" to Venezuela. This is a nice lead to DEA and international law enforcement agencies, isn't it? Who bought the plane? Who paid for it? Who exported it to Venezuela?
This other link provides flight information related to the plane. On Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006 it departed from St. Petersburg Clearwater International to Simon Bolivar International airport. But the bust took place on April 11. So what happened between those two dates?
There have been some innacurate reports in the press as to the ownership of the plane, which has been attributed to SKYWAYS AIRCRAFT SECURITY that in turn is a subsidiary of SkyWay Communications Holding (SWYC). It may have been due to the seal that the N900SA had next to its main door. However the FAA's register shows no record of the plane having been owned by either of the companies aforementioned. Equally interesting is the fact that Royal Sons Inc., the last known owner, is cited as one of the 20 largest unsecured creditors in the Chapter 11 Petition Date of June 14, 2005 (Bankruptcy Case No.: 05-11953) filed by SWYC. Moreover Royal Sons Inc. allegedly had or has an office in Venice airport in Florida:
ROYAL SONS INC. used to be (or is also) working from VENICE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, where convicted Dutch fraudster Rudi Dekker’s Huffman Aviation trained some of the 9-11 hijackers. (small world after all)
Address listed as:
Royal Sons Inc.
224 East Airport Ave
Venice, FL 34285
Phone: (727) 535-5005
Fax: (727) 535-5156
Aircraft Dealers and Brokers
1131548870, (Google map )
And Huffman:
HUFFMAN AVIATION, INC. VENICE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT 400 EAST AIRPORT AVE VENICE, FL 34285-4007, Phone: (800) 966-8635 Fax: (941) 485-7401 (Google map )
Is it coincidence that Mohamed Atta learned how to fly in the close vicinity of Royal Sons Inc.? What I do know is that this cocaine bust merits minute scrutiny and investigation on the part of INTERPOL, DEA and related law enforcement agencies, and one of the angles that need proper exposure is the Venezuelan connection. In the interest of the hemisphere and the world at large, officials from the Chavez regime ought to be subpoenaed in this respect in order to determine responsibilities.
Addendum
Venezuelan sources in Maiquetia, local for Simon Bolivar International airport, claim that the other plane held by Mexican authorities, a Falcon registration XB-IYK, frequently landed and refueled there. Sources maintain that a revision of a) flight itineraries filed to Venezuela's Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC) and b) tax records levied on airplanes (DOSA) that use the airport could reveal the activities of the gang.
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200604150754
Hugo Chavez's comrades behind drugs seized in Mexico
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London 14.04.06 | Jeremy McDermott with The Scotsman reports the following article from Bogota:
MEXICAN authorities yesterday began investigations into the involvement of Colombian guerrillas in the shipment of 5.5 tons of cocaine seized from a commercial aircraft.
The high-purity cocaine, the biggest seizure in recent years, was found amid 128 pieces of luggage on a US passenger airline, Aero Flight, which left Caracas in Venezuela and made an unregistered stop in Ciudad de Carmen, Mexico, where soldiers found the drugs. The cocaine is valued at £70 million.
Santiago Vasconcelos, of the Mexican attorney general's office, said there was evidence that the drugs came from guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who have long-standing agreements with Mexican drug cartels to supply cocaine in exchange for weapons and ammunition. The two pilots, Poot Pérez and Pérez de Gracia, have been arrested before in connections with a drug flight, but managed to escape prosecution. They are unlikely to do so again.
These 5.5 tons make up the first major shipment linked to the FARC since the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, issued 50 indictments covering most of the FARC senior command structure, on charges of drug-trafficking.
"We believe these men are responsible for not only manufacturing and exporting devastating amounts of cocaine, but enforcing their criminal regime with violence," Mr Gonzales said.
It is significant that the drugs came via Venezuela, because the Colombian army has long alleged that Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, is sympathetic to the Marxist rebels.
At last someone starts connecting the dots. Once upon a time, Hugo Chavez allowed to be interviewed by what he considers the hostile media. In one such interview, given to Andrés Mata Osorio and published in El Universal 23 of May 1999, Chavez affirmed "I will not permit US overflights in Venezuela." May 1999 folks. There's a whole series of comments, articles, interviews and so on given on the topic by high officials of the Chavez regime (search words "sobrevuelos dea chavez"). The point I am trying to get at is, that since the very beginning, Hugo Chavez's commitment to the drug trade has been steadfast and open. One could call it a state policy of ensuring that US military or DEA planes could not shoot down, or chase, drug dealing activities carried out in Venezuela. Raping, yet again, the sovereignty discourse, Hugo Chavez keeps claiming that his regime does more than enough to combat and eradicate drug trade and narcoguerrillas.
Evidence, as is often the case with his 'revolution,' indicates that since Chavez's arrival in power, Venezuela has become the favourite launching pad for Colombia's drug traffickers. It is argued that +80% of the cocaine produced in neighbouring Colombia and the region enters the international markets via Venezuela, as heretofore unseen quantities have been seized in various countries.
On the other hand Chavez's cozy relationship with the FARC is no secret. So much so that the deranged president disrupted ties with Colombia, Venezuela's second largest commercial partner, over the capture in Caracas of FARC's leader Rodrigo Granda, who had Venezuelan citizenship, whose wife and step-daughter were welcomed by close associates of Chavez -read Rodriguez Chacin, and who was a guest of honor in one of his Bolivarian get-togethers.
As I keep saying, continental revolutions are extremely costly enterprises and PDVSA's moneys can take him only so far. The drug trade, pretty much controlled regionally by his FARC mates, is another source of incredible dividends. The quid pro quo is obviously total freedom to FARC and drug dealers to operate and move huge amounts of dope in, through and from Venezuela. And to make sure that nothing gets in the way of his guerrilla friends Chavez bought +100.000 AK-47s and the license to produce ammunition.
Gossip has it that someone I know personally, Ronald Moret, is back in business. Moret, if memory serves well, was caught in Canada, carrying DISIP credentials, in the early 90ies with more than 1 ton of cocaine concealed in off-board marine engines. He did some 9 years for it. Back in the days, Moret had some very powerful connections and it appears that in this revolutionary times he has gained anew some leverage with DISIP.
Ergo it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that either FARC or Venezuelan operatives high up in the Chavez administration or both were behind this operation. Never in history had criminals had it so easy as in today's Venezuela.