VENEZUELAN tyrant Nicolás Maduro is not simply complicit in organized crime: he leads it.

From generals to judges, Venezuela’s political and military elite are deeply embedded in a powerful and extensive cocaine trafficking network, experts say.

The Cartel de los Soles, translated as Poster of the Suns, is not a poster in the traditional sense.

It is a network of Venezuelan military, intelligence and political elites accused of taxing, protecting and moving cocaine with state resources.

With parts of Maduro’s government deeply involved in drug trafficking, the lines between state power and organized crime have become blurred.

Dr César Álvarez, from Charles Sturt University, told The Sun: “Without a doubt, the leader of the Cartel of the Suns is Nicolás Maduro.

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“The participation of the highest-ranking members of his military has been clearly demonstrated, not only government officials, but all leaders of other criminal groups, not only in Venezuela but in Colombia, have been clearly established.”

U.S. prosecutors first charged Maduro in 2020 with narcoterrorism, accusing him and senior officials of conspiring with Colombia’s FARC guerrillas to “flood” the United States with cocaine.

The case alleges that Venezuela’s state institutions – from the military and intelligence services to the judiciary – were weaponized to enable multi-ton shipments and protect traffickers from prosecution.

Maduro denies the charges and calls them politically motivated.

But a recent guilty plea by Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, the regime’s former intelligence chief, reinforced claims that elements of the state apparatus directly facilitated cocaine flights and armed the FARC.

His comments come as Donald Trump declared war on the cartels, reportedly moving US naval and air assets closer to Venezuelan coasts in a bid to eventually seize ports and airfields in the Latin American country.

In recent weeks, tensions between Washington and Caracas have reached their most dangerous point in years.

Trump escalated the fight beyond rhetoric, declaring the United States in a “non-international armed conflict” with cartel groups and cutting off any diplomatic contact with the country.

That unusual legal framework, combined with the designation of several cartels and the Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations, gives Washington broad wartime powers to attack, detain and kill suspected traffickers without trial.

Stealthy F-35s, B-52 bombers, Reaper drones, eight warships and even a nuclear-powered submarine lurk off Maduro’s coast.

About 10,000 soldiers and military helicopters. andCIA intelligence assets are also keeping a close eye on Venezuela, and Pentagon planners are said to be preparing contingencies to seize ports and airfields if ordered.

This week, Trump also sent America’s deadliest fighter jets to Venezuela’s doorstep.

Two B-1B Lancer bombers, each capable of delivering 75,000 pounds of ammunition, flew out of Texas on Thursday, closing in on Venezuelan airspace in a thunderous show of force.

Meanwhile, Maduro has publicly called for calm after Trump warned that US forces were ready to carry out attacks on Venezuelan soil if his regime continued to protect drug traffickers.

The Pentagon confirmed that at least seven drug trafficking vessels were destroyed in recent weeks off the coast of Venezuela, with dozens of suspected traffickers killed.

“There are few ships that travel by water, so now they will come over land to a lesser extent, and they will also be attacked on land,” Trump said, hinting that US ground attacks could follow.

The embattled Venezuelan dictator, visibly shaken, appealed directly to Trump this week.

“Yes, peace, yes, peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!” Maduro said before an enthusiastic crowd of unions aligned with the regime.

But the plea failed to hide his fear.

The tyrant has boasted that Venezuela has 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S missiles placed throughout the country and has promised to defend its skies.

And inside Caracas, intelligence reports suggest that Hezbollah militants, Colombian guerrillas and Cuban special forces are integrated into Maduro’s security apparatus, a sign, analysts say, that the embattled dictator is preparing for a victory.

The US measures, Álvarez said, could shake Maduro’s criminal empire, but dismantling it will take time.

Álvarez says Tren de Aragua, another major Venezuelan criminal organization, began as a small prison gang around 2013-2014, and was never intended to become the sprawling multinational network it is today.

“People think it’s a relatively new organization,” he said.

“Tren de Aragua was born around 2013, 2014, and emerged from a relatively small gang that was being expelled from prison.”

It was originally dedicated to extortion, weapons and drug smuggling, but it evolved quickly.

“It was never intended to be, from the beginning, a transnational or international drug trafficking syndicate,” says Álvarez.

“But their evolution and the speed at which these groups began to grow is remarkable.”

The growth of the Aragua Train was fueled by years of impunity inside the Tocorón prison, where gang leaders operated openly from a complex that featured bars, swimming pools and even a zoo.

Authorities claimed to have “dismantled” the group after breaking into the facilities in September 2023, but their networks have since been detected in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and beyond, often embedded in migratory routes and informal economies.

Analysts say that while there is no formal state protection policy, entrenched corruption and weak prison oversight allowed the gang to thrive, pointing to systemic complicity even if Maduro’s inner circle does not directly run it.

The Cartel de los Soles (literally “Cartel of the Suns,” a nod to the insignia of Venezuelan military generals) is not a traditional cartel, Álvarez explains.

It is a vast network of military and political elites that have facilitated cocaine trafficking since the 1990s.

“The term ‘cartel’ is used to describe this network of Venezuelan military and political elites involved in cocaine trafficking,” he said.

“When the president of a country like Venezuela has been accused by the US government for this participation and this leadership in this group, that speaks to the notable influence and worrying situation when it comes to democracy and governance.”

Experts warn that the Cartel of the Suns is not so much a single top-down organization as a fragmented patronage network, in which officials tax, protect or directly manage cocaine shipments in exchange for loyalty and profits.

That murky structure complicates efforts to dismantle it: Even if Maduro denies involvement, the network’s dependence on state power for coverage and logistics means corruption is built into Venezuela’s institutions.

According to Álvarez, the Maduro regime actively protects both the Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua.

The network extends beyond Latin America, with money laundering operations in West Africa, Türkiye and Iran.

“This says a lot about how deeply entrenched corruption and criminality have taken over the democratic process in Venezuela.”

While it’s impossible to pin down exact figures, Alvarez says the cocaine trade fueled by Colombia and Venezuela is enormous: easily worth tens or even hundreds of billions a year.

Colombia now produces almost 300,000 hectares of coca crops, producing around 3,000 metric tons of cocaine each year.

“If you look at the numbers, a kilo of cocaine produced in Colombia can cost around $2,000. That same kilo in New York perhaps costs $50,000, and on Australian coasts, about $200,000,” he explained.

According to their estimates, the Cartel of the Suns is involved in more than half of all cocaine trafficking activity in the region, making it “without a doubt one of the most important actors in Latin America.”

As US warships approach Venezuelan waters, Álvarez believes the Trump administration’s offensive will unfold in three phases: short, medium and long term.

“In the short term, direct, clear and decisive messages from the US administration will definitely have an effect on these smuggling operations,” he said.

“If we witness live drone-driven activity, where those speed boats and semi-submersibles are being targeted directly… that will create a deterrent effect.”

In the medium term, internal cracks may begin to appear.

“There will be increasing pressure, particularly to turn President Maduro over to the US administration to claim that $50 million reward that is now placed on his head,” Álvarez said.

“That pressure will create tension and friction within the ranks of the cartel.”

In the long term, Álvarez predicts a possible regional restart.

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“If the US government does this correctly over the next three years, it will create a path to stabilizing the security situation in the region.

“The new governments of Colombia, Chile and Peru may be more inclined to put pressure on the Maduro regime to ensure it stops completely.”