On 3 September 2022 Venezuela’s armed forces intercepted an unmarked vessel off the Caribbean coast carrying more than 3.1 US tons (2.8 metric tons) of marijuana and almost 18 pounds (8 kg) of cocaine, along with seven spare outboard motors, 33 large fuel containers and a satellite phone.[1][2] The boat had sailed from Colombia and was bound for the island of Martinique.[1]

Twelve Venezuelans travelling on the boat were arrested.[1][2][3] General Domingo Hernández Lárez, head of the Operational Strategic Command of the armed forces, said they worked for the Colombia-based Cartel of the Guajira.[1][2] The 2,857 kg of marijuana was displayed at a beachside camp in the village of Tiraya on the Paraguaná Peninsula, which the military called the most important marijuana stash found in the country since 2012.[1][2][3]

The arrests and the seizure were part of special armed forces operations along Venezuela’s border.[3] Hernández said the military had disabled 305 aircraft since 2012, 27 of them in the current year.[3] Hernández also said 40.2 tonnes of illegal drugs had been seized in Venezuela so far that year, 29.2% more than in the same period of the previous year.[3]