Armament Research Services (ARES) is pleased to announce the release of Research Report No. 11, Cartridges of Caracas: The illicit trade in small-calibre ammunition in Venezuela’s capital. Research Report 11 adds an analysis of ammunition to the information presented in Research Report 10, which looked a the online trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in Venezuela.
Benefiting from the same long-running investigation that informed the previous report, Research Report 11 also adds additional material developed primarily though interacting with a range of confidential sources in Venezuela. Employing traditional human intelligence (HUMINT) techniques, ARES researchers were able to verify and expand upon the conclusions reached by an analysis of social media intelligence (SOCMINT) sources.
The report found that small-calibre ammunition manufactured in at least 15 modern states was circulating via online markets, and identifies the United States and Venezuela as the homes of the majority of manufacturers represented in the dataset. Pistol-calibre cartridges—in high demand for self-defence and sports shooting—were the most common types traded. The report also presents important reference information regarding the production of small-calibre ammunition by Venezuelan state-owned arms company CAVIM, much of it published in English for the first time.
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