Venezuelan oil stolen by shadowy brokers.

Dozens of obscure middlemen and go-betweens are at the center of a new crackdown in Venezuela on corruption in the state-run oil industry that has government insiders scurrying for cover. Regular Venezuelans are asking how more than $20 billion in proceeds from oil shipments seemingly vanished. Corruption has long plagued Venezuela, but those in positions of power are rarely held accountable. The country's reliance on intermediaries surged in 2020, when the Trump administration expanded sanctions with the threat to lock out of the U.S. economy any individual or company, regardless of nationality or location, that did business with Maduro’s government.