Black Market Bullets Are Killing Venezuelans
Members of the National Police are deployed during a protest, in Caracas on Feb. 22, 2014.
Photographer: Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Venezuelan military’s failure to comply with bullet coding laws is fueling the world’s second-highest murder rate and enriching black market speculators, according to lawmakers, police officers and activists.
Almost two years after President Nicolas Maduro ordered Cavim, the army-owned munitions company, to code bullets according to intended users among the police, military and sports shooters, the company has yet to comply. That means security forces have no way of tracing who is selling ammunition to the country’s armed gangs.