Venezuelan Officials Find Large Cache of
Weapons in "Aid" Shipment from U.S.

Venezuela’s Deputy Minister of Public Security, Endes Palencia (first from left), displays the
cache of weapons delivered by a commercial cargo plane from Miami on February 3, 2019.

On February 3, a Boeing 767 took off from Miami International Airport loaded with high-powered weaponry for use ostensibly by the "democratic" opponents of the government of Nicolás Maduro. It landed at Arturo Michelena International Airport in the northern city of Valencia, Venezuela's third-largest city, some 170 kilometres west of the capital, Caracas. This was the day before the Lima Group countries met in Ottawa to fraudulently call for a "peaceful transition of power" in Venezuela, and for the opposition forces and their self-proclaimed president to be able to accept this "humanitarian aid."

The aircraft is one of just two owned by an U.S.-registered air freight company, 21 Air LLC, based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The aircraft landed, unloaded and then took off. It reportedly then flew from Valencia to Medellín in northwest Colombia before returning to Miami on February 7.

Photo of Boeing 767 from the website of 21 Air LLC freight company.

McClatchy News reports that Steffan Watkins of Ottawa has documented that the Boeing 767 had made dozens of flights between Miami International Airport and destinations in Colombia and Venezuela since January 11, often returning to Miami for only a few hours before flying again to South America:

- Miami to Caracas on January 11, 16 18 and February 5
- Miami to Valencia on January 15, 21, 30 and February 3
- Miami to Bogotá on January 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, February 2, 3, and 4
- Miami to Medellín on February 6

Prior to January, 21 Air had only made flights within the continental U.S. Subsequent reports indicate that 21 Air is linked to various shady individuals and activities.[1]

The clandestine flight occurred just days after the appointment of former Assistant Secretary of State and unrepentant war criminal Elliott Abrams by President Donald Trump late last month as his special envoy overseeing policy toward Venezuela. Abrams was at the centre of the Iran-Contra affair, in which the CIA had weapons shipped to Iran, in violation of an arms embargo that the U.S. ostensibly supported. This had the purpose of not only fomenting conflict between Iran and Iraq, but the profits from the arms sales were to be used to fund U.S.-backed Contra terrorist forces in Nicaragua. Abrams was one of those convicted of breaking U.S. law for his role in the shipment of weapons to these U.S. proxy forces.[2]

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations, the transport of military cargo by civil aircraft is not allowed. Under IATA regulations operators transporting dangerous goods forbidden for transportation by air by civil aircraft, must apply for exemption for transportation of dangerous goods by air. 

On February 5, the Venezuelan National Guard seized the assault weapons at the airport in a routine customs check carried out by the National Integrated Service of Customs and Tax Administration (SENIAT), according to a statement by the Carabobo state governor's office. U.S. arms have been embargoed from Venezuela since 2006.

According to a detailed report from McClatchy News, quoting the governor's statement, the contraband shipment included 15 AR-15 assault weapons, a Micro Draco semi-automatic pistol with a jumbo magazine, a Colt 7.62 rifle, two telescopic sights, three rifle scopes, 118 ammunition cartridges and stands for long-range targeting and sniping. Also found were 90 wireless military-grade radio antennas and six iPhones. 21 Air's Boeing 767 has a payload capacity of 42 tons. What else was carried or unloaded, if anything, has not been revealed, nor what was unloaded at the freight terminal in Medellín, Colombia.

"This materiel was destined for criminal groups and terrorist actions in the country, financed by the fascist extreme right and the government of the United States," General Palencia Ortiz was quoted as saying. He added that the information was now in the hands of a national prosecutor. He did not reveal whether any prior shipments had been intercepted.

Similar arms caches destined for opposition forces in Venezuela were intercepted in 2014.

Notes

1. "Air America: Venezuelan officials find large cache of weapons at airport delivered from Miami," Tony Seed's Weblog, February 11, 2019.

2. Abrams later gave the green light to the attempted coup d'état of the popular government of Hugo Chávez in 2002, was involved in the planning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and then joined the board of the National Endowment for Democracy, which has funnelled millions of dollars to the opponents of the Venezuelan government.

Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/contra Matters: Chapter 25: United States V. Elliott Abrams: November 1986, 8/4/1993.

This article was published in

Volume 49 Number 5 - February 16, 2019

Article Link:
Venezuelan Officials Find Large Cache of Weapons in "Aid" Shipment from U.S.

    

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