Media Denies Existence of Drug Cartel Whose Leader Was Prosecuted by Biden Admin

Despite some mainstream media outlets claiming the cartel does not exist or is a “nonexistent” network, the Biden administration prosecuted a leader of Venezuela's Cartel de los Soles, a drug trafficking and narco-terrorism network within the Venezuelan government, the Washington Free Beacon reports. In 2023, the DOJ extradited Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, a former Venezuelan spy chief, charged with narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. Carvajal reportedly coordinated cocaine shipments and collaborated with Colombian terrorist groups, reinforcing the cartel's organized violent operations. This directly conflicts with media narratives from outlets like CNN, AP, and The New York Times, which have recently cast doubt on the cartel's existence or legitimacy.

According to the Free Beacon, “the claim that Cartel de los Soles is a nonexistent entity has taken hold after the State Department designated Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization led by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. As President Donald Trump warned Maduro to ‘stop sending poison to our country’ through the narcotics trade or face military action, his critics in the media downplayed the threat posed by Cartel de los Soles, arguing it is a leaderless network or that it doesn’t exist at all.”

Formed in 1999, the Cartel de los Soles emerged as a network of senior Venezuelan officials who sought to enrich themselves primarily through the large-scale smuggling of cocaine into the United States, according to the Biden Department of Justice. The Free Beacon reports, Carvajal Barrios rose to prominence under Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez, serving as the head of the country’s military intelligence agency until 2011. After Chávez’s death, Nicolás Maduro reappointed him to the same post. Carvajal Barrios ultimately broke with Maduro following his arrest in Spain in 2019.

While Maduro has denied any association with the Cartel de los Soles, federal prosecutors during Trump’s first term alleged that the Venezuelan leader helped direct and eventually took charge of the organization as he rose to power. The 2019 indictment against Maduro, Carvajal Barrios, and other Venezuelan officials claims he attended a 2008 meeting with FARC representatives to negotiate an expansion of cocaine production.