DICING WITH DEATH: Colombia/Venezuela – Trafficking across the border

In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world’s most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.

It’s a no-man’s land of 2200km in height in the middle of the jungle, dominated by the Andes Mountains. The ever-uncontrollable border between Columbia and Venezuela. It’s a paradise for cartels, except here, it’s not the traffic of cocaine, but of petrol. Venezuela is the country of black gold, home to one quarter of the world’s petrol reserves. With the fall in the price of petrol, the economy has collapsed, and Venezuelans are now spread as thinly as ever. Many have been retrained in the traffic of petrol. After buying the fuel in Venezuela, they then re-sell it at thirty times the price in Columbia… Everyday they cross the border on foot, lugging 50-litre tanks on their backs. This is a high-risk form of trafficking, as on the other side of the border lies the Venezuelan military, all too ready to fire. This is the first time cameras have been able to film these smugglers of a whole new genre, and they are not given the warmest welcome…

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