Venezuela represents one of the world’s most complex financial crime risk environments, characterised by the convergence of state-level corruption, transnational organised crime, humanitarian crisis, and sanctions evasion networks. The country’s financial crime landscape is fundamentally shaped by systemic state involvement in illicit activities, with credible allegations of senior government and military officials facilitating drug trafficking, illegal mining, and sanctions evasion schemes that generate billions in criminal proceeds.

President Maduro’s arrest and subsequent detention, and resulting political turbulence, has further degraded what limited regulatory oversight existed, creating heightened risks for financial crime as institutional control fractures and opportunistic actors exploit a chaotic transition period. 2026 will prove critical in determining whether Venezuela moves toward institutional reconstruction or descends into further fragmentation that could intensify criminal exploitation of state apparatus.