[1] Following the 1992 coup attempts, the Los Angeles Times noted that Venezuelan officers may have sought to take over the government since there was "money to be made from corruption, particularly in drugs".

Shortly before he was murdered, Marcano alleged that Alexis Maneiro, head of the National Guard and the Dirección General de Inteligencia Militar, was involved in drug trafficking.

[8][11] On 15 February 2014, a commander for the Venezuelan National Guard was stopped while driving to Valencia with his family and was arrested for having 554 kilos of cocaine in his possession.

[15] President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro has personally promoted individuals accused of drug trafficking to high positions of the Venezuelan government.

[18][19] The alleged international drug operation had possibly involved other senior members of Venezuela's government as well, such as Tarek El Aissami and José David Cabello, Diosdado's brother.

[18][19] On 18 May 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury placed sanctions in effect against Cabello, his wife, his brother and his "testaferro" (frontman) Rafael Sarria.

[20][21] Head of the Bolivarian National Guard, Néstor Reverol, has been indicted by the United States government in August 2016 of assisting with drug trafficking in Venezuela.

[31] Yazenky Lamas, former pilot to First Lady Cilia Flores, was extradited to the United States from Colombia, having allegedly provided air traffic codes to allow planes carrying cocaine to impersonate commercial flights.

[32][33] Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro reportedly asked Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas Echeverri to reject the request for extradition.

Mildred Camero, former anti-drug official of the Chávez government, stated that this data created competition within the ranks of the military who fought to make deals with the FARC to actively partake in drug trafficking.

[40][41] In 2008, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, testified before the U.S. Congress that "there are no evidences" that Venezuela is supporting "terrorist groups", including the FARC.

[42] Three years later in 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) concluded that Chávez's government funded FARC's Caracas office and granted it access to intelligence services.