“Everything this government does is bad, that’s why now I love the crooks, killers, bachaqueros, and all those who are destroying this country.” Thanks for that, Señora Disociada.
Me oh my, what a bad week it’s been for the disociad@s. And especially their pets, the bachaqueros, those illegal traffickers and speculators in basic necessities from Venezuela, who do such lucrative trade with corruptos across the border in Colombia. Since their preferred overland routes to Narcolandia have been sealed off by the Bolivarian National Guard, they’ve been resorting to corrupting the captains who ferry petroleum products for the state oil company PDVSA. Or rather, trying to…that is, until other state officials stepped in and put the kibosh on that:
Last week, the Venezuelan navy detained three boats suspected of trafficking in contraband subsidized fuel from Paraguaná Peninsula, where the principal refinery of the land is located, a Venezuelan commander said on Saturday.
Sources told Reuters on Monday that seven persons had been arrested for attempting to traffick diesel illicitly in a ship belonging to the state oil company, PDVSA.
Admiral Andrés Gómez, commander of the local navy unit, confirmed that on the ship “Negra Hipólita”, they had found a cargo exceeding 50,000 barrels of diesel from the Cardón refinery, when the ship only had authorization to carry 10,000 barrels.
The situation worsened over the weekend, as it became known that two other vessels, both coming from Panama, had been detained by the Venezuelan navy, also under suspicion of illegal fuel trafficking, Gómez added. It was not immediately clear where they were detained. PDVSA did not respond to requests for comment.
The ship “Mario G”, rented by PDVSA, was detained at the Amuay refinery with more than 1,108 barrels of gasoline, worth some $186,000 US, said Gómez. “Paola Valentina”, likewise, was intercepted for carrying some 4,000 litres of gas oil without the correct invoices, among other anomalies. Nine persons were detained, seven of them in the case of the “Negra Hipólita”.
The arrests come at a time when president Nicolás Maduro is seeking to end contraband-trafficking in Venezuela, and has also closed several border crossings to Colombia in recent weeks.
On Friday, Maduro “ordered that corrupt state officials be prosecuted for collaborating in the illegal trade in gasoline”. He confirmed that “a ship which was transporting 50,000 barrels of fuel was detained, which had only stated it was carrying 10,000; it was the oil ship Negra Hipólita, whose captain and first officer and five other PDVSA workers were detained”.
“They were taking it by way of the Caribbean; we handcuffed them, and they’re in jail.”
Translation mine.
Illegal fuel trafficking isn’t just highway robbery for honest Venezuelans. It’s also dangerous; a ship carrying more flammable material than is allowed is a fire and explosion hazard, a floating bomb waiting to go off. Not to mention that rough seas can sink an overloaded freighter in almost no time. (Remember the Edmund Fitzgerald?) And since fuel traffickers don’t care who they’re ripping off in the name of a couple hundred thousand extra gringo dollars, it stands to reason that they would not hesitate to risk unsuspecting people’s lives, as well. And let’s not even get started on the potential for environmental damage…
What’s really striking in the case of the Negra Hipólita is that they corrupted the captain and first officer of a flagship of the PDVSA fleet. Of all the people who should know better! That’s pretty damn scary. Good luck finding any more oil-tanker jobs in the future, fellas. Which is to say, ROT IN JAIL, CORRUPTOS.
