What do the latest government moves on illegal mining in Venezuela show?
What does Colombia’s sentencing of “Otoniel” mean for the criminal organization he once led?
Are tourists in Mexico for the World Cup really at risk?
This week’s top three organized crime stories in On the Radar.
1: What do the latest government moves on illegal mining in Venezuela show?
Reports emerged this week of a major operation by the Venezuelan government against criminal groups in the Orinoco Mining Arc in southern Bolívar, the country’s mining region.
The Las Claritas area is home to the world’s fourth-largest gold deposit, which was expropriated by former President Hugo Chávez from a Canadian company, creating a vacuum that was ultimately filled by the Las Claritas Sindicato criminal group.
SEE ALSO: Las Claritas Profile
Until now, the Venezuelan state had not actively pursued the group, despite being aware of its links to Tren de Aragua (TdA) and allegations that it may have sheltered Héctor Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero,” and other Tren de Aragua members following the fall of Tocorón. The group’s leader, Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica,” who’s also one of the founders of TdA, is wanted by the United States.
The decision to move against the group now suggests a rupture in a years-long hybrid relationship, and a prioritizing of ties with the United States and the international investment projects waiting to enter the area.
The operation came just days after Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and one of the highest-ranking military officers in the United States, visited Venezuela.
2: What does Colombia’s sentencing of “Otoniel” mean for the criminal organization he once led?
Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” the longtime leader of Colombia’s largest criminal group, the Urabeños, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Colombia for crimes including homicide, forced disappearance, and terrorism, a sentence he will serve after completing his current 45-year prison term in the United States.
Before his arrest and extradition in 2022, Otoniel was one of Colombia’s most powerful and wanted criminal figures, capping a criminal career that spanned more than three decades and saw him rise from guerrilla insurgent to paramilitary commander and ultimately head of the country’s most powerful criminal organization.
But although his capture ended one of Colombia’s most influential criminal careers, it did not weaken the group he built, which under the leadership of Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo,” has become more structured and hierarchical, strengthened its political apparatus, and consolidated its position at the center of multiple illicit economies, particularly international drug trafficking.
3: Are tourists in Mexico for the World Cup really at risk?
As the World Cup kicked off in Mexico, Canada, and the United States this week, the Trump administration issued a fresh travel warning to Americans coming south of the border to watch games in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.
The three different states hosting the football tournament all have travel warnings that range from “exercise increased caution” to “reconsider traveling.” In recent decades, Nuevo León, Jalisco, and Mexico City have all seen heightened violence connected to organized crime.
SEE ALSO: Soccer Crime
In Jalisco, home to one of the World Cup sites in Guadalajara, was where Nemesio Osegura Cervantes, alias “El Mencho” and the former head of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), was finally tracked down and killed earlier this year by Mexican security forces.
But it’s really Mexicans, and their communities, not tourists, who are affected most by organized crime-related violence. Tourists coming for the World Cup are unlikely to be impacted by local gangs unless they go looking to buy drugs or indulge in other vices.
Don’t miss all our coverage on all the criminal groups and dynamics in this week’s On the Radar.