A Contraband Crackdown Is Rattling the Border Between Colombia and Venezuela
Venezuelan soldiers have been on an aggressive hunt for smuggled gasoline along the border with Colombia in recent weeks, contraband that Remedio Pana, a 42-year-old indigenous woman who lives on the Colombian side of the shared border, stores in her front yard.
Pana has watched Venezuelan soldiers sprint into her border town and rough up her neighbor, and she's heard their gunfire. But, as she explained to VICE News outside her hand-built mud home in Paraguachon, in northeast Colombia, she needs money from the illicit sale of fuel to feed her ten children.
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VICE News has learned after more than two dozen interviews with officials, residents, and smugglers that, despite Maduro's efforts, corrupt guards, as well as determined traffickers and guerrillas, have turned the border into a high-stakes conflict zone where contraband continues to flow.
The runners are moving gasoline, food, and hygiene products, the result of extremely low prices in Venezuela as the government struggles to contain disturbances amid ballooning inflation and political unrest. Colombia's government disagrees with the closure, and the countries' foreign ministers plan to meet this week in New York to discuss the move.
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One such spot is River Sardinata, where Maicao resident Phaola Torres said she recently crossed by canoe and had to pay 400 bolivars, about $64, to the Venezuelan army. The practice appears to be widespread. Fifteen Venezuelan soldiers were recently jailed for opening an illegal crossing for contraband.
https://news.vice.com/article/a-contraband-crackdown-is-rattling-the-border-between-colombia-and-venezuela
It is currently illegal to transport even a bag of rice for personal consumption across the border, but VICE News witnessed civilians accepting cash in exchange for stamping passports for people with food at the official Paraguachon-Paraguaipoa border crossing, suggesting a criminal link with corrupt Venezuelan border guards. These men said they worked with the Venezuelan guards, giving them a portion of the money they take from travelers.
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