Venezuela sending released prisoners across US border to ‘neutralize’ targets: report

The report, sourced from an anonymous US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) insider, is classified as a Field Intelligence Report (FIR), a type of document typically prepared and distributed by the agency's intelligence units. The FIR relies on information gathered through interviews with criminal suspects, though the source emphasized that the report is preliminary and requires further investigation.

"The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector Intelligence Unit (SIU) received information pertaining to the Venezuelan Government counterintelligence operations. Information received indicates that the Venezuelan government released criminals from prison and teamed them up with intelligence and counterintelligence agents to be deployed to the United States to conduct operations on selected targets. The infiltration by the teams into the United States are designed to locate and neutralize former Venezuelan military, law enforcement, and politicians that have knowledge of classified Venezuelan intelligence information and to stop this information from being divulged," the report stated.

“This is not the first report we have developed related to Venezuelan prison releases from sources we have interviewed,” the CBP source told Breitbart. “This is alarming, considering we have a new administration entering office in January.”

Breitbart reported that the Venezuelan government believes nearly 600,000 Venezuelan nationals have entered the US during the Biden administration. With Donald Trump poised to assume a second term, and the potential for mass deportation programs on the horizon, the Venezuelan government has acknowledged that those nationals may soon face scrutiny from immigration authorities.

“The report’s timing raises more questions as the Maduro regime may fear some Venezuelans may trade information to avoid removal,” the source added. “It certainly merits more investigation.”

While running for president, Trump cited claims that Venezuela has been sending prisoners to the US. These claims were quickly “fact-checked” by multiple outlets and deemed false. But Trump’s claims stemmed from a 2022 Breitbart report which found that Border Patrol agents were warned to look out for released Venezuelan prison inmates attempting to enter the US.