998 saw progress in negotiations for a comprehensive Maritime Cooperation Treaty. Actions by the Government of Venezuela (GOV) to enhance counter narcotics efforts included. programs to implement a major reform of the judicial system due to enter into force in mid-1999, establishment of a central Financial Intelligence Unit, adoption of a unified regulatory system for essential chemicals, and passage of a new customs law. Efforts to gain passage of a Comprehensive Anti-Organized Crime Bill were ultimately unsuccessful when the Senate failed to pass the bill before Congress adjourned for elections. U.S.-Venezuela bilateral counternarcotics cooperation continued in the political and law enforcement arenas.In 1998, Venezuela established a new regulatory structure to control essential chemicals subject to diversion. The Government has acknowledged that Venezuelan financial institutions and other sectors of the economy are vulnerable to laundering of drug profits. U.S. Customs Service's Operation "Casablanca" identified Venezuela as one of the routes by which Colombian narco-traffickers repatriate drug proceeds. In 1998, the Government began to enforce the 1997 currency transaction reporting regulations and began to investigate suspicious financial transactions. Some of these investigations were developed in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement agencies. The Venezuelan military continued an aggressive campaign against small-scale opium cultivation that occurs in area along the northern part of the border with Colombia. Rivalries and duplication of effort among Venezuelan anti-drug agencies continue to be obstacles to more effective law enforcement action. Moreover, narcotics-related corruption within law enforcement agencies and the judiciary undermined counter-narcotics activities. The volume of drugs crossing the border from Colombia and leaving Venezuela's ports suggests collusion by officials charged with inspecting cargo. Venezuela's r...
