FBIS4-67183
"jptdd021__l94036"
JPRS-TDD-94-021-L
JPRS
Narcotics
6 May 1994
LATIN AMERICA
VENEZUELA
Traffickers Reportedly Tried To Flood Market With Dollars
Traffickers Reportedly Tried To Flood Market With Dollars
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.