REDI Occidental offers the FANB's 2025 balance sheet: More than 52 thousand kg of drugs seized

Western REDI Balance
Video capture

Published at: 30/12/2025 12:24 PM

The Commander of the Strategic Integral Defense Region (REDI) No. 1 Western, M/G Pedro Esteban González Ovalles, provided the balance of the operational results obtained by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) during the year 2025, in the context of defense and national security actions.

From the bridge over Lake Maracaibo, Chief General Rafael Urdaneta, González Ovalles highlighted the advances made by the FANB in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, through the various high-impact operations carried out in the region.

In the fight against drug trafficking, he highlighted the historic record of 52,885 kg of drugs seized, “which is not produced in our country, but that these criminals are trying to pass it through our territory through the states of Zulia, Falcón and Lara.”

As part of the Catatumbo Lightning operation, the Rapid Reaction Units (URRA) in the state of Zulia, in municipalities bordering Colombia, have destroyed 45 clandestine camps, 40 logistics structures, 35 laboratories, a clandestine runway, 17 artisanal gunners; and three semi-submersibles, 71 boats, 122 outboard engines, 223 firearms, 86,600 liters of fuel have been seized and put to the Venezuelan justice order 1,630 individuals.

In Operation Binational Peace, the URRA combat forces have succeeded in suppressing the actions of armed groups that generate violence, “achieving the seizure of 119 firearms, 94 magazines, 11,585 cartridges, 216 grenades, 757 detonators, 402 meters of detonating cord and 53,200 liters of fuel. 250 criminals have been arrested and brought to justice.”

During the Cacique Manaure operation, the URRA combat forces in Falcón disbanded 15 clandestine runways, destroyed two camps, and seized 32 boats, 12 unsubmersibles, 48 outboard engines, 116 firearms and 69,900 liters of fuel.

As part of the Iron Hand operation, in five multidisciplinary comprehensive care posts installed in the states of Zulia and Lara, 458 thousand kilograms of food, 1,449 live animals, 5 thousand 086 kg of strategic material, 124 thousand 560 liters of fuel, 12 thousand 650 liters of lubricant and 11 thousand 900 units of medicine have been seized.

The Commander highlighted the deployment of mixed combat URRAs in concentric rings, as part of a shock force to ensure the comprehensive safety of the Ana María Campos Petrochemical Complex, the Bajo Grande Refinery and the Paraguaná Refining Center.

“To close this balance sheet, we must highlight our active participation in the Independence 2000 exercise, Cacique Guaicaipura, protection of ports and airports and the coastal defense exercise in Cabo San Román. To achieve the optimal point of preparation in defense,” he said.

González Ovalles emphasized that all these results were possible thanks to the perfect popular-military-police fusion, reflecting the commitment of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) to the defense of sovereignty, the protection of the people and the guarantee of peace in the western territory of the country.

Mazo News Team

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