Suriname named as alleged transit point in cocaine route to Europe – Venezuelan authorities

• say cocaine being transit from Venezuela via Guyana

Venezuelan authorities have reportedly identified Suriname as one of several countries allegedly used by an international drug trafficking network to move cocaine to Europe following the dismantling of a criminal organization in the state of Anzoátegui.

According to the Watertank News Agency, the operation conducted by the Venezuelan Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigative Corps (CICPC) led to the arrest of eight suspected members of the organization. During the operation, several vehicles, firearms, communication equipment, and other materials believed to have supported the group’s activities were confiscated.

Further, authorities reported that they have also destroyed an illegal airstrip suspected of having been used to facilitate the movement of narcotics. During the investigation, the Watertank reported that the organisation allegedly transported cocaine from Venezuela through Guyana and Suriname before the shipments continued onward to European markets, where the price for the narcotics is higher.

In addition, investigators believe that the network relied on a cross-border trafficking corridor spanning several countries to evade detection and move illicit cargo. This revelation underscores the growing attention regional law enforcement agencies are paying to trafficking routes through northern South America, including Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

It has always been known that criminal organisations have been exploiting porous borders, remote airstrips, river networks, and coastal access points to transport cocaine from production and storage areas toward transshipment hubs serving Europe and other international markets. Nevertheless, despite Suriname being identified as part of the alleged trafficking route, Venezuelan authorities have not accused the Surinamese government or its security agencies of involvement.

Instead, the country was cited as an alleged transit point used by the criminal network. Venezuelan officials described the operation as a significant blow to international drug trafficking. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities seek to identify additional suspects, dismantle associated criminal cells, and determine whether the organization maintained further links with partners operating elsewhere in the region and Europe.

Contacted for a comment on this recent development, Director of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), James Singh, noted that while the report painted a damp picture of Suriname, authorities there have been working in collaboration with Guyana to dismantle the drug trade, especially at the borders. In fact, he added that the CANU and the Surinamese authorities have had several successful operations, thus resulting in the confiscation and seizure of large amounts of narcotics.

Meanwhile, Singh reiterated his position that drug traffickers are intensifying efforts to use Guyana as a gateway for cocaine shipments to Europe and beyond but insisted that robust enforcement, international partnerships, and public vigilance are preventing Guyana from sliding into narco-state status. He has stated that because of the country’s geographical location, it is caught between suppliers of drugs in the region and consumers on other continents while adding that the threat from transnational cartels is constantly evolving.

While Guyana is not a producer of cocaine, he explained that its location makes it highly vulnerable. CANU has recorded some of the region’s most significant drug busts in recent years.These include the seizure of a semi-submersible vessel constructed locally in 2014, another captured in 2024 off the coast, and a dramatic raid that netted 4.4 tonnes of cocaine at an illegal airstrip.

He has also praised international cooperation referencing the seizure of 4.7 tonnes of cocaine on board a vessel that had departed from Guyana and was en route to West Africa.

These busts underscore traffickers’ growing sophistication. CANU has documented smuggling attempts via low-flying aircraft, contaminated shipping containers, and even semi-submersible submarines. Nevertheless, he emphasized that Guyana’s fight is not waged alone, as the Unit continues to work closely with U.S., British, Canadian, Brazilian, Colombian, French Guiana and Caribbean counterparts in what he described as an unprecedented level of collaboration.