The DEA accused the Maduro regime of collaborating with the FARC and ELN to traffic drugs to the US
"They continue to send this poison into the United States, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, not to mention the members of the Tren de Aragua gang that they send into our country to destroy its beautiful streets," said Terry Cole, the agency's director.
Terry Cole, DEA director
Terry Cole, director of the DEA, said the regime of Nicolas Maduro is collaborating with the ELN and FARC dissidents in Colombia to send "unprecedented levels of cocaine" to Mexican cartels that smuggle it into the United States.
"Venezuela has turned into a narco-terror state that continues to work with the FARC, continues to work with ELN from Colombia to send record amounts of cocaine from Venezuela, from Colombia, into the Mexican cartels that continue to come into the United States at record amounts," Cole said during an interview on Fox News.
Similarly, Cole stressed that "Venezuelan corruption, the Venezuelan dictatorship, is narcoterrorist, and they continue to send this poison to the United States, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, not to mention the TDA members that they send to our country to destroy the beautiful streets of the United States."
Authorities ask Americans not to travel to the Caribbean country
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy for Venezuela issued an alert in which it asks Americans to avoid traveling to the Caribbean country.
"The U.S. Government warns any citizen of the United States or who has any type of U.S. residency, not to travel to or remain in Venezuela," the embassy wrote.
">🚨 NO VIAJAR 🚨
— Embajada de los EE.UU., Venezuela (@usembassyve) August 21, 2025
El Gobierno de los Estados Unidos advierte a cualquier ciudadano de los Estados Unidos o que tenga cualquier tipo de residencia en los Estados Unidos, que no viajen ni permanezcan en Venezuela debido a los graves riesgos de detención ilegal, tortura durante la… pic.twitter.com/UFaZJoI4v4
In addition, officials said the alert is being made "due to the serious risks of unlawful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, unjust police practices, violent crime, and civil unrest."
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