Cucuta buy cocaine

__________________________

📍 Verified store!

📍 Guarantees! Quality! Reviews!

__________________________

▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼

▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲

Cucuta buy cocaine

The Colombian border town of Cucuta has smuggling coursing through its veins, underpinning its economy and strengthening organized crime, which is raking in millions from everything from beef to gasoline. The city streets are lined with shacks where vendors siphon out the fuel from Venezuelan pickups and decant it into Colombian cars; restaurants serve Venezuelan beef that crossed the border stuffed into stripped-out cars; pharmacies sell out-of-date and damaged Venezuelan painkillers; and the marketplace hosts block after block of stalls offering everything from toothpaste to toilet cleaner that has been smuggled in from across the border. But while the contraband trade has colonized Cucuta, its impact is not limited to the city. Smuggling in the border region is creating mass shortages of essential goods in Venezuela and undercutting legal businesses in Colombia. It is also creating new contraband mafias, fuelling violence between organized crime networks and facilitating the regional cocaine trade. As in many Latin American border towns, Cucuta has a long history of contraband smuggling. The profits on offer from this price gap are magnified by the exchange rate imposed by the Venezuelan government. Venezuelan Bolivares can officially be traded at 6. But in Cucuta, 2, Colombian pesos — roughly one dollar — buys 89 Bolivares. The result, say the POLFA, is that smugglers pay Venezuelan contacts two or three times the retail price for products, sell them in Colombia for five or six times their original price and still easily undercut legal businesses in Colombia. The POLFA say they have indentified five specialist smuggling networks operating in and around Cucuta, which are transporting and distributing huge quantities of contraband goods across Colombia. These operations begin with a phone call from Venezuela, where smugglers assemble bulk shipments of goods, either by making many small purchases, or getting businesses to quietly set aside the merchandise. To move their loads into Colombia, the smugglers use clandestine border crossings — narrow dirt tracks of mud and sand that wind their way towards the Tachira River, which marks the border between the two countries. At the river, poles topped by fluttering plastic bags mark the shallowest points where it is safe to cross. Before they are shipped on, many goods are wrapped in Colombian packaging, and disguised with legal invoices purchased from corrupt contacts in legitimate businesses. The POLFA and other authorities tasked with tackling the trade are now playing catch-up with these sophisticated networks. Over the last year, they have stepped up their efforts against contraband smuggling in the region, with notable results. As indicated in the chart below, the most commonly seized contraband items in and include clothing, medication, and meat. The police patrol the clandestine border crossings on dirt bikes, typically accompanied by a truck, acting on tip-offs and relying on speed and surprise to snare smugglers. However, the odds are against them and their seizures are just a fraction of what makes it through. The police count on the fact that once on the narrow trails, it is usually impossible for the smugglers to turn around. However, each route has its own hiding places — including nearby ranches and farms — where the owners are paid off in exchange for letting the smugglers park their vehicles on the property, hiding out from police patrols. When police do make a seizure, they can confiscate the goods and sometimes the vehicles, but almost always have to let the smugglers walk. The smugglers, aware of the law, will rarely carry anything over the limit. The region has long been a stronghold for the Rastrojos criminal network, which despite having suffered some major blows in recent years remains strong in Cucuta, according to police. Intelligence reports indicate that not only is Megateo importing contraband gasoline for cocaine processing, he is also paid for drug shipments in Venezuelan contraband, helping him to quickly and easily launder drug proceeds by converting them into almost untraceable pesos. As with any multi-million dollar criminal business in Colombia, the Cucuta contraband trade has also been facilitated by official corruption. In an attempt to clean up the force, the POLFA have introduced confidence tests for officers, meet with internal affairs monthly and, critically, have started rotating staff and removing officers with local ties. Below, police in Cucuta inspect a seizure of medications. Venezuela has also begun to take steps to tackle corruption in the Bolivarian National Guard GNB , which monitors the border. In August, Venezuelan authorities even arrested 15 guards in the neighboring state of Tachira and accused them of repairing a smuggling trail after it had been destroyed. On one smuggling trail, InSight Crime saw a burned-out car riddled with bullet holes in the wheels and engine. The work of the GNB, the police said, and a common sight during their patrols. Despite the ongoing concerns over the GNB, Venezuela now certainly appears to be taking the issue of contraband seriously, especially as popular discontent with widespread shortages in the shops grows. President Nicolas Maduro has put aside his often antagonistic relationship with Colombia to call for increased cooperation on anti-smuggling operations, and Colombian officials speak highly of the improved relationship. In August, Venezuela began closing the border between 10 pm to 5 am. Although it is a temporary measure, both the Colombian authorities and residents say this has been an effective — but controversial — move. Meanwhile, police are hoping a new anti-contraband law currently making its way through Congress will give them the powers to go after the serious criminals. However, attempts to take down the contraband mafias are already running into the same wall as the fight against drug trafficking — while the profits are there, then it does not matter how many arrests they make, or how many networks they dismantle, the trade continues. This article is the first in a four-part series looking at the contraband trade in Colombia. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of the latest organized crime news and stay up-to-date on major events, trends, and criminal dynamics from across the region. Donate today to empower research and analysis about organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, from the ground up. Skip to content. SEE ALSO: Venezuela News and Profiles To move their loads into Colombia, the smugglers use clandestine border crossings — narrow dirt tracks of mud and sand that wind their way towards the Tachira River, which marks the border between the two countries. All we can do is try to make sure it is not out of control. Stay Informed With InSight Crime Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of the latest organized crime news and stay up-to-date on major events, trends, and criminal dynamics from across the region.

Cucuta: Colombia's Contraband City

Cucuta buy cocaine

You can still find them here, but before our city was completely flooded with Venezuelan products. Since the border is closed, everything has changed. Socialist measures include subsidized gasoline and alimentary products, with a complex distribution system for Venezuelan citizens. The last number of an ID-card is linked to a certain day, when Venezuelans are allowed to do their shopping. Buying groceries on the Venezuelan side and selling them in Colombia was a way to make a lot of money. Both Venezuelans and Colombians living in border towns profited. Out of this, a complex money-changing scheme has evolved. As of this writing, cardholders can buy a dollar for 6. Give this card to someone in Colombia, who withdraws the money in dollars and changes it back into bolivars, and the money can be multiplied by a hundred. Venezuelan officials who approve the travels of a card owner often are bribed in order for the scheme to work, but still there is a lot to be gained from this kind of transaction. In August, Maduro began closing the border to reportedly fight the smuggling of goods. Nestor Torres remembers that day well. He lived with his parents in Venezuela but worked in Colombia, and he knew it would be a problem. Torres is one of more than 20, Colombians who returned to their country voluntarily in recent months, in addition to the roughly 1, people who were deported. Many were forced from their homes in the middle of the night, said year-old Carlos Julio Cardenas, who used to live in Valencia, Venezuela. But one night, soldiers knocked on my door and told me I had to go with them. They loaded all 48 Colombians living in my neighborhood in vans and brought us to a prison. In fact, he had fled the war as a refugee, as did many other Colombians who lived — until recently — in Venezuela. I was 20 at the time, and my mother told me to leave for Venezuela because otherwise I would have to fight with the guerrillas. Cheap gasoline from Venezuela is imported for cocaine labs to process coca leaves into paste, which is then moved to Venezuela, and from there, shipped to the United States and Europe. Cocaine is produced in Colombia or Peru, and then is shipped out through Venezuela. The recent arrest in Haiti and indictment in the U. Now, because the city is unprepared for real demand of gasoline, it is rationed, with an allowance of filling up a tank twice a week on certain days. As a result, queues form at gas stations, where people wait for several hours. That has prompted the resourceful residents to start a new business practice: Customers buy gasoline at a station and then resell it for a dollar more per gallon. But that help ends on the last day of December. General Francisco de Paula Santander , who encouraged the United States to recognize Gran Colombia, lived in a house turned into a museum, walking distance from the border that Maduro has now closed indefinitely. For Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos , the closed border is a delicate subject with his country conducting peace talks with the guerrilla group FARC for the past three years in Havana. Venezuela is a Cuban ally, and Santos hopes to avoid further conflict with his neighbor at a politically sensitive moment. The text has been corrected. Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube. Sign in. Forgot your password? Get help. Password recovery. No menu items! Friday, October 18, By The Tico Times. November 19, Meanwhile, people like Torres and Cardenas are waiting to see what happens. The Tico Times. Next article Riteve wants to hike the price of mandatory car inspections by percent. Latest Articles. Popular Reads.

Cucuta buy cocaine