Daily newspaper El Tiempo de Bogotá reported that a new drug cartel comprising somes 1,200 people and headed by brothers Víctor and Miguel Mejía Múnera -known as "Los Mellizos" (the twins)- has emerged in Colombia and has connections in Venezuela.

The report added that new cartel also controls the band "Los Generales" which is "a drug-traffic organization in Venezuela which, according to investigations, comprises Venezuelan active and retired officers."

El Tiempo stated that, together with other groups, "they control the drug routes via Maracaibo, Caracas and Puerto La Cruz, which reach out to Aruba and Curazao, and from there to the United States and Europe."

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of the Interior Pedro Carreño said Plan Colombia, following five years and a USD 5 billion investment, failed to curb violence in Colombia or cut drug production and traffic.