This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge
Source: GD Endes Palencia Ortiz, Venezuelan deputy minister of prevention and public safety
Venezuelan officials have announced the seizure of a large shipment of American weapons which they say were bound for anti-Maduro “terrorist groups”. This comes following US national security advisor John Bolton’s pledge to deliver “humanitarian aid” into the country, covertly if need be, despite embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s vow to prevent such unauthorized shipments from entering.
A state official, Endes Palencia, the deputy minister of prevention and public safety, published photographs of the intercepted weapons shipment to social media, purportedly seized at a Venezuelan airport. According to his statementat least 19 rifles, 118 rifle chargers, 90 radio antennas, high-caliber ammunition, and six cellphones were shippedfrom the US to Arturo Michelena International Airport in Valencia.
Palencia stated authorities believe the illegal arms entered Venezuela on Sunday aboard an Airbus N881YV that departed Miami, Florida after which it was found in a storage yard within the airport grounds.
✔19 fusiles
✔118 cargadores de fusil
✔4 porta fusil
✔3 miras para fusil
✔90 antenas de radio
✔6 teléfonos fueron hallados en el patio de almacenamiento del aeropuerto de Valencia los cuales ingresaron al país el #3Feb en el Air Bus N881YV procedente de Miami,EEUU #5Feb pic.twitter.com/5wnBFnxaFt— GD Endes Palencia Ortiz (@PalenciaEndes) February 5, 2019
An investigation has been launched amidst tightened security at all ports of entry and customs checkpoints throughout the country, and as a military build-up ordered by Caracas continues along the the border with Colombia, considered a close ally of the United States and potential staging ground for US assets.
#5Feb | #EsNoticia Incautado armamento bélico procedente de EEUU en aeropuerto internacional de Valencia ?? Aquí los detalles https://t.co/PWyD5axrUh pic.twitter.com/sipf2Xfiv1
— MPPRIJP (@MIJPVenezuela) February 5, 2019
According to a quote in Turkish media, pro-Maduro officials pointed to “terrorist groups” and external financiers as likely responsible for the covert arms shipment.
They said they’ll find those responsible “for financing terrorist groups that seek to undermine the peace of the people of Venezuela.”Turkey is among countries that have remained vocally supportive of Maduro, along with Russia, China, and Iran, while some 19 European countries have backed US recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as “Interim President”.
Caracas security forces have been on high alert for what Maduro and his officials have slammed as a US-led “coup attempt” and plotting related to external meddling, which they’ve further said neighboring Colombia has played a role in fostering.
The announcement of a US weapons seizure also comes following President Trump’s State of the Union Address wherein he said, “We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom,” and further, “We condemn the brutality of Maduro regime.”
Palencia said authorities believe the illegal arms entered Venezuela on Sunday aboard an Airbus N881YV that departed Miami, Florida. Source: Venezuelan state media
Trump administration officials like John Bolton have also of late actively encouraged Venezuelan military defections, something that so far has been limited to a tiny handful of officers, at least one of them a high ranking Air Force commander.
Late last week Bolton also stated: “Pursuant to the request of Interim President Juan Guaido, and in consultation with his officials the US will mobilize and transport humanitarian aid -medicine, surgical supplies, and nutritional supplements for the people of Venezuela. It’s time for Maduro to get out of the way.”
As we noted previously this raises the interesting scenario or possibility of the US initiating covert weapons“humanitarian” shipments across the border, likely from ally Colombia. And it further raises the question: how long until Syria-style US covert weapons shipments make their way into the “humanitarian” supply line?
If the Maduro regime’s latest claim to have uncovered a covert US weapons shipment is confirmed, it appears the “Syria option” is already in full gear, which means a greater likelihood of significant bloodshed to come.
Damn, when Amazon said they lost my order, I sure didn’t expect this!!!
We all know those guns did not come from the US Government. They are too nice looking.
Legality and morality aside, the thought process is, “When you believe that you’re in the right you can do no wrong”. From the covert to the overt from economics to executions whatever we do is good. The us or them is not relevant, us = right, them = wrong regardless who us and them are.
Pretty lame. Even for the Venezuela government.
What is “high caliber ammunition”?
90 radio antennas, but no radios.
If these socialists weren’t so dangerous,
we’d pity them for there mental problems.
“there” S/B their. We need a edit function!
“An” edit function. Yes we do, don’t we?
Blame Google translate or similar. I read elsewhere both
‘High Velocity Ammunition’, and ‘High Power Ammunition’.
I would guess ‘High velocity ammunition’ is the correct translation looking at the rifles.
Where’s Ollie North when you need him?
What’s with the cellphones? Special encryption installed by Langley?
I was thinking this was for a Maidan-type covert operation where they shoot both protestors and government officials to foment chaos and a he-said, she-said type of attack on both sides, but this doesn’t really seem to be the right hardware for that.
Anyway, Little Marco is probably behind it and will soon be flying in to distribute cookies and take photos with the Guaido supporters.
Since the infamous ‘Simon Mann’ incident (failed coup in some god forsaken place about 15 years ago) Mercenaries / Contractors / Hired Guns / psychos (take your pick how you describe these paid killers) often send a small shipment of arms AHEAD of travel, with the rest to follow AFTER the mercs themselves have travelled and secured a B of O.
Mercs travelling with guns often become dead mercs (or badly tortured and long term jailed mercs in the case of Simon Mann), whereas mercs without guns are just tourists (and guns without mercs are just guns).
Very sloppy ‘mailing’ of these guns – or the authorities were tipped off.
Or this one was a decoy to deter them from the real shipment?
just like drugs, sacrifice a token shipment, while the big load goes right by.
Judging by the small amount of equipment, it was probably shipped by a small activist group. The CIA stuff usually doesn’t get intercepted. There was recently a good expose’ on the US arming the terrorists in Syria and Iraq. With documentation. The arms were purchased from Bulgaria and the Balkans. Flown into Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Then moved by truck into the conflict zones. We must ask ourselves, how can this be? Aren’t we fighting terrorists? Why are we arming the terrs? We arm the terrorists and they attack Syria. But then who the hell are we bombing in Syria? We claim to be fighting ISIS. But we’re arming ISIS. The government story just doesn’t add up, does it? Now what?
There are 1001 uses for a cell phone, particularly a ‘smart’ phone, non of which actually involve the devices being used as ‘phones’.
I have always told people to look at those things as ‘pocket computers’ rather than ‘phones’ which a term retained for psychological reasons.
Pocket computers can be programmed to do just about anything and the actual ‘phone’ feature is just that – a single feature – which may actually be superflouous to many applications.
Covert? 19 rifles, along with a few other things. What a joke! What a waste of time put this out? Communist propaganda! On a different note, President Trump did a HELL of a job at the state of the union!!! Hope people open their eyes, and really see how evil the Democrats really are? GOD bless what is left of the USA!!
Just for the record – it is the Maduro GOVERNMENT not the Maduro Regime.
It would however be nice to see other governments refer to the US, British, and French ‘Governments’ as ‘Regimes’ (and see how the citizens like it – and if it actually wakes anyone up).
Maduro said it, so therefore it must be true and not propaganda used to bolster his lame duck status.
It occurs to me, that if we believe the Democratic progressive socialist Marxist paradigm, that we should abort the very people who are inclined to accept Democratic progressive socialist Marxist paradigms.
Problem solved, though the abortions will number in the billions.Lucifer would be thrilled.
Eventually people would stop accepting this drivel as it plays havoc with one’s longevity.
Shouldn’t you be home… studying your TalMUD?
They are filmed, going door-to-door, disarming civilians, in a theater of war, or under a state of declared emergency, saying they just want to figure it all out, so are keeping everyone calm.
Anyone who comes back, and does not say that peacekeeping is part of the job, is being disingenuous. It is considered procedural, clinical, boring, in the public domain.
I imagine that nature and ideology provides people with ample incentives to fight. Except, these things never happen organically, or in good faith, ever.
“Venezuelan officials have announced the seizure of a large shipment of American weapons”.
I’d hardly call 19 rifles a “large shipment”.
None of that is Standard Issue MilSpec gear.
More likely purchased legally for the little dog & pony show in social media.
But it absolutely is not standard issue gear.
USSA – Satan’s Minion – up to its “old tricks”… what else is new?
I’m just waiting for another “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” false flag to get us into another “jungle” war.
Got to feed the neocon war machine with our blood and treasure. Sheesh…we can’t even leave Syria or Afghanistan or Nato! The dems won’t allow it!
The US has no business in Venezuela.It will bomb the country to shit and leave it in ruins as the zionists steal the oil and resources, just as every other country they have destroyed since 911. Ask the people in Libya who had the best life style in Africa, how it’s going for them since the US helped them out. They leave the target nations with total destruction as the zio corps loot the nations wealth. The US helps nobody but the boyz club, as they spread democracy one bomb at a time.
Fast And Furious 2.0? Let Venezuela solve their own problems. I doubt if we even have enough troops for a full-scale invasion. Remember all the personnel cutbacks, especially in the officer corps, that took place under Obama? They just need to leave Venezuela the hell alone!
The Deplorable Renegade
If we have or do not have the manpower the question is why should one American die over this? We have become anesthetized / conditioned to the blatant use of US military force for very age threats to no threat at all.
vague not age
DEPLORABLE
i
DEPLORABLE
I agree 100%
We spilled enough blood.
We need to rebuild, and get ready for the BIG ONE.
I have no doubt that this was Steven Paddock’s line of work.
K2, you should have left the word ‘no’ out. All the proof is on the other side.
Paddock earned his living beating Casino Poker Machines? Preposterous as its mathematically impossible. His travels are indicative of a gun runner when one looks at what was in his room. He was awaiting a sale. Interestingly there was no continuous video of the hallway to his room, unheard of in Vegas. Paddock had no political ax to grind by every indication of his conversations / social media / E mail. Paddock “committed suicide” by a shot to the chest. Unusual as the dead is the overwhelming method used.
1. Paddock was a character like in “Lord Of War”
2.Paddock was awaiting an arms sale
3. The “purchasers” arrived
4. He was murdered
5. The mass shooting occurred
6. The perpetrators of the False Flag fled
Why so many different guns in the room?
Why no investigation into Paddock’s source of income as his claimed source as impossible?
Why no video?
Would these shipments be from “Eric and “Barry’s” Fast and Furious operation? Maybe it’s still going on?
Watch the deep state shit themselves, if the venezuelans gave the phones to the russian or chinese for intelligence to pick over…. You can test that theory bu how loud US piss stream misledia covers it by how often and loudly RT or chinese media crows about the intelligence coup. If the us misledia is silent, then its a set up against the enemy intelligence… Meaning they are bait to insert viruses or test how fast they reverse engineer and adapt and employ.
Its was a setup. Aside from the technology captured, all the rest is humdrum equipment (from a battlefield perspective, easy to get cheap guns and mags, notice no ammo at all). Its all a bait package to inject infected code into the chinese and russian intel networks.. It looks like a big deal but all that equipment including the cheap scopes, looks like shit the police destroy on daily basis, likely all BATF seized from a major metro drug bust.. I would not get too excited… Its a setup and distraction. Real US actions would fast boat a whole package of men arms and equipment directly onshore themselves or onshore near a venezuela border or directly by air under US or other diplomatic flag.
Not even close to what I have.
what is a rifle charger? did they mean the charging handle???
Could be a bad translation. Charge; as in to charge or load the rifle aka magazines. Just a guess.
The last photo where the guy with the blue shirt is in the middle pointing; looks like a stack of many Magpul magazines in their packages.