Guyana’s rapid economic expansion and new port development could make the country a more important cocaine transshipment point as U.S. military strikes in and near Venezuela disrupt established trafficking routes, according to an InSight Crime report.

Recent cocaine seizures linked to Guyana suggest traffickers may already be moving larger volumes through the country, the think tank said. In mid-February, authorities in Antwerp seized more than 1.8 tons of cocaine from a shipment of oils that had departed Guyana, while officials in Cartagena seized 300 kilograms hidden in a rice shipment from the country. 

Those totals exceeded the amounts Guyanese authorities reported seizing in all of 2025 and 2023, according to InSight Crime.

Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit said both containers were inspected before departure and appeared intact when they left the country, with agency head James Singh telling InSight Crime that the seals were later tampered with.

Drug traffickers may be shifting eastward as the U.S. military, since September 2025, has carried out strikes on suspected cocaine-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. Security sources and residents in Venezuela’s Sucre and Falcón states told the media organization that the strikes had largely halted trafficking to nearby islands. 

Singh said unregistered flights through Guyanese airspace increased after the strikes began, which the report described as a sign routes may be moving toward Guyana and neighboring states.

Guyana’s oil-fueled growth and expanding seaport infrastructure could create more opportunities both for concealment of drug shipments and for money laundering. Construction growth, along with cash-heavy sectors such as hotels, restaurants, and casinos, could offer channels for illicit funds to be blended with legal income, InSight Crime said. 

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