FBIS4-56992 "drlat091_t_94008"
FBIS-LAT-94-091 Daily Report 6 May 1994
Venezuela

Drug Traffickers Flood Currency Market

Drug Traffickers Flood Currency Market PA1005010094 Caracas EL NACIONAL in Spanish 6 May 94 p D-11 PA1005010094 Caracas EL NACIONAL Spanish BFN [Report by Alonso Zambrano] [Text] The financial events that occurred in the country on Friday, when the U.S. dollar exchange rate closed at 124 bolivares, alerted intelligence organizations that drug traffickers were offering dollars for between 80 and 100 bolivares. Military intelligence sources are currently investigating the criminal activities carried out in Caracas, Maracaibo, Merida, San Cristobal, Puerto Ordaz, and Porlamar. Confidential reports, which are being thoroughly investigated, warn about the presence of intermediaries used by leading cartels from the neighboring country, who reportedly offered dollars for between 80 and 100 bolivares, taking advantage of the confusion unleashed by a sudden increase in the dollar's value. The transactions involved attempts to launder large amounts of money that international drug organizations keep stashed along the Venezuelan border and introduce to the market in small amounts. The confidential report talks about the mobilization of a considerable sum of "dirty" dollars resulting from drug operations carried out in Medellin, Cali, and Cucuta. The report indicates that, in a process like this, Venezuela is essential for illegal dollar transactions carried out by such criminal organizations.