WILLEMSTAD - According to the Colombian news channel Noticias Caracol, in February 2020, Curaçao was on an oil product smuggling route involving companies in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. The network managed to circumvent international export restrictions on Venezuelan oil. Several journalists investigated this case.
The organization used the infrastructure of Colombia's largest oil company, Ecopetrol, to set up the illegal network. By forging forms and giving the impression that the oil came from a country other than Venezuela, the controlling authorities were misled. But the oil smuggling has reached such proportions that alarm bells have gone off with authorities in the United States and Colombia. Ultimately, the network was exposed through thirteen illegal operations. It is estimated that in 2019 and 2020 about ten million dollars was earned monthly with the contraband.
One of the shipments with 64,000 barrels on board reached the oil terminal in the Colombian port city of Barranquilla on February 21, 2020. According to the invoices, the cargo had arrived in Colombia via Curaçao and Panama. The batch aboard the oil tanker Star Balbao is said to be worth $36 a barrel. But after engineers examined the samples, they turned out to be high-quality crudes with a much higher market value. The oil on board the Star Balbao would yield at least $55 a barrel at that time. The organization behind the network thus paid 6,800 million pesos for a product that had an actual market value of 11,000 million pesos, the Colombian medium calculates. According to the authorities' investigation, the parties involved have made a double impact with this operation. They had to pay less tax by stating a lower value of the products, namely $36 per barrel. At the same time, they made millions on the purchase price by exporting the products at a price of $55 per barrel.
Information on vesseltracker.com indicates that the Star Balboa flies Panamanian flag. Yesterday the ship was anchored in the port of Cristobal in Panama. According to this website, the Star Balboa docked in Curaçao on February 28, 2020 and remained there until August 5 that year. Also on May 6, 2020, the tanker came to Curaçao and sailed away the next day.