Venezuela’s Cartel del Soles Sanctioned as Terrorist Group Supporting Sinaloa Cartel & Tren de Aragua

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Cartel de los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The US stated that Cartel de los Soles is a Venezuela-based criminal group headed by Nicolas Maduro Moros and other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals in the Maduro regime that provides material support to foreign terrorist organizations threatening the peace and security of the United States, namely Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.

“Today’s action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime’s facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Trump’s pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles.”

The OFAC is sanctioning the Cartel de los Soles, which has provided material support to Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel. Tren de Aragua is a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) that originated in Venezuela and is involved in the illicit drug trade, human smuggling and trafficking, extortion, sexual exploitation of women and children, and money laundering, among other criminal activities.

 
Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) is said to be headed by Nicolas Maduro Moros and other Venezuelan high-ranking individuals in the Maduro regime who corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela, including parts of the military, intelligence apparatus, legislature, and the judiciary, to assist the cartel’s endeavors of trafficking narcotics into the United States. 

The cartel’s name is derived from the sun insignias often portrayed on the uniforms of Venezuelan military (GNB) officials. The Cartel de los Soles supports Tren de Aragua in carrying out its objective of using the flood of illegal narcotics as a so-called weapon against the United States. Additionally, the Cartel de los Soles has provided support to the Sinaloa Cartel.

The cartel uses Venezuelan state infrastructure, including airports, seaports, and official convoys, to move cocaine to the Caribbean, Central America, West Africa, and Europe.

FBI investigations are focusing on the cartel's senior leadership which includes members of the Venezuelan Armed Forces and Executive Branch officials. The Cartel de los Soles has been the subject of investigation since 1993, when two Venezuelan National Guard Generals, Ramón Guillén Dávila and Orlando Hernández Villegas, were indicted for drug trafficking in the US. Indictments showed they were going beyond collecting bribes to being directly involved in transport and protection of narcotics trafficking.

During the 2000s, high-ranking officials, including the country's former intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal and Henry de Jesús Rangel Silva, were linked to collaboration with the FARC. Carvajal, also known as "El Pollo" has pleaded guilty in the US to conspiring to traffic cocaine with the FARC and was said to have led the cartel since 1999.

In 2006, Carvajal coordinated the shipment of 5.6 tons of cocaine aboard a US-registered DC-9 aircraft. The aircraft took off from Venezuela and was intercepted in Mexico, where authorities seized the shipment.

In March 2020, the US Department of Justice formalized drug trafficking and money laundering charges against President Maduro, Diosdado Cabello and other members of the Chavista leadership and labeled them narco-terrorists. Cabello is identified as a key figure, while Tareck El Aissami, a former minister and vice president of the regime, was arrested in 2024 on corruption charges related to PDVSA. The DEA maintains a $25 million reward for Maduro.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X on Sunday that dictator Nicolás Maduro “is NOT the president of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.” Rubio said Maduro leads the Cartel of the Suns, “a narco-terrorist organization that has taken over a country,” and that he faces charges of smuggling drugs into the United States.

The Venezuelan government has rejected Washington's accusations, calling them interventionist. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, in turn, has denied the existence of the 'Aragua Train,' claiming it is a "media fiction."

Meanwhile, Venezuela is holding municipal elections today to elect 335 mayors and 2,471 council members. This election is marked by abstention, promoted by the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD)  and the tight control of the National Electoral Council (CNE) under Chavista leadership.

More than 21.5 million citizens are expected to vote in an election under tight security measures and the temporary closure of borders ordered by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. The election came exactly one year after the illegal elections allowing Maduro to maintain his power.

The opposition, led by María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, denounces a lack of guarantees and accuses the CNE of favoring Chavismo. In recent weeks, at least ten opposition mayors have been detained, and figures such as the former mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez Colina, have been replaced by regime candidates. The process includes the selection of more than 5,300 community projects and the intervention of 1,400 national and international observers.

"The closure seeks to facilitate the municipal elections that will be held on Sunday, July 27, throughout the country," read the official statement from the Chavista government. The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) maintain control of movement by land, air, and sea until midnight on Monday.

Sources OFAC, DOJ, Infobae, Infobae, El Comercio