Maracaibo, Venezuela. The mass exodus of Venezuelans over the past decade has reshaped the country’s political and criminal landscape in ways that are now becoming clearer.
A new report from the World Bank, released in January 2025, draws a stark connection between Venezuela’s forced migration crisis and the rise of powerful organized crime networks.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since 2014, over 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country.
The World Bank report categorizes this migration as “forced displacement,” emphasizing that the vast majority of migrants left not by choice but because staying meant living in conditions of extreme deprivation and insecurity.
The World Bank’s report states that the massive outflow of people hasn’t just torn apart the country’s social fabric; it has also had some unexpected effects that have strengthened both the Maduro regime and organized criminal groups.
The country has fewer citizens staying to resist or hold authorities accountable; the government has been able to tighten its grip on power. At the same time, criminal organizations have rapidly expanded their territorial and economic influence.
Criminal Groups Fill the Power Vacuum
One of the report’s most alarming findings is how forced displacement has allowed hybrid criminal groups—blending state and illicit interests—to thrive.
In areas that have been hit the hardest by immigration, criminal organizations have stepped in to take control—often filling the void left by absent or weakened civic institutions.
With fewer civilians to monitor their actions or resist their authority, these groups operate with growing impunity.
Among the most prominent actors are government-linked armed civilian groups known as Peace Squads (Cuadrillas de Paz – CUPAZ) and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN), a Colombian guerrilla group now entrenched in Venezuela.
According to the WB report, these criminal groups enforce local control and play a direct role in suppressing political dissent and deterring protests—they ensure the longevity of the Maduro government while expanding access to lucrative criminal markets.
The report highlights a disturbing trend: political opposition has declined significantly in municipalities most affected by mass migration.
Losing active citizens and community leaders has hollowed out local democratic structures, giving criminal groups a freer hand to operate and stifle dissent.
Interestingly, in some central regions of the country, migration has coincided with a decrease in petty crime—not due to improved governance but because dominant criminal organizations have enforced their own strict controls, eliminating lower-level criminal activity to maintain an illusion of order.
Human Trafficking Networks Flourish Amid Crisis
The report also underscores how mass migration has become a catalyst for human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Venezuelan and transnational criminal groups have exploited vulnerable migrants—especially women—luring them with false promises and forcing them into exploitative labor, particularly sex work.
One of the most notorious players in this space is Tren de Aragua. This mega-gang has built a transnational criminal empire through human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and smuggling across countries like Colombia, Peru, and Chile.
Additionally, border states like Falcón, Sucre, and Delta Amacuro have become key departure points for trafficking victims destined for Caribbean nations such as Trinidad and Tobago and the Dutch islands.
Millions of Venezuelans have been forced to flee their homes, creating a symbiotic relationship between authoritarian rule and organized crime. Without democratic checks and a stable civil society, both grow more powerful.
