DORAL, Fla. — A week after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela, the Global Empowerment Mission had dispatched more than $1 million in aid, according to the Doral-based nonprofit’s representatives.

A team of donors, volunteers, and GEM’s staff moved some 235,000 pounds of donations in a logistics-heavy operation that includes two warehouses in Doral and Valencia, operating as a distribution center.

“It’s the worst disaster that we have ever experienced,” said Doral Councilman Rafael Pineyro, a GEM volunteer who was born in Caracas.

GEM had the support of the U.S. State Department, the agency President Donald Trump tasked with running the U.S. response in Venezuela. The U.S. Southern Command has deployed every branch of the military.

Venezuela Earthquake Rescuers search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

The State Department also activated the Florida Task Forces from Miami and Miami-Dade County. They joined two other highly-trained search-and-rescue teams from Fairfax, Virginia, and California.

Hassel Mendoza, a Venezuelan engineer who lives in Tampa, traveled to La Guaira to search for his mother, sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in the ruins of a collapsed nine-story apartment building.

“We lost a lot of time trying to figure out new tools to use for a specific activity, like to cut steel,” Mendoza told CNN, adding that the government teams and volunteers didn’t have equipment such as drills or sensors.

APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers stand on the rubble of a building that collapsed during the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Houses in the Caribe neighborhood are seen at the top. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix/AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

On Tuesday, Diosdado Cabello, a former Venezuelan military officer who serves as the minister of justice, announced the arrests of law enforcement personnel who were accused of looting in La Guaira.

Cabello, who is wanted in the U.S. for narcotrafficking, identified the four suspects as Maya Aguilar Reyes, an officer; Fredy Rafael Lugo Oliveros, Roger Andrés Omaña, and Josue Jhonatan Burgos Sánchez.

A witness recorded and shared a video that went viral. It showed Aguilar Reyes, his identification, and a woman in tears who confronted him, took a bag he was holding full of U.S. dollars, and ripped the bills into pieces over the rubble near a collapsed building.

LAW ENFORCEMENT IN VENEZUELA: Maya Aguilar Reyes, Fredy Rafael Lugo Oliveros, Roger Andrés Omaña, and Josue Jhonatan Burgos Sánchez, all members of Venezuela's top law enforcement agency, the Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas, were arrested on Tuesday after they were accused of looting in La Guaira.

“I know that many Venezuelans are feeling pain and frustration; I deeply share those sentiments,” said Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president since the U.S. military captured Nicolás Maduro.

Rodríguez’s brother Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the National Assembly, announced on Wednesday that the death toll had increased to 2,295.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates fatalities in the tens of thousands, and the United Nations announced the procurement of 10,000 body bags.

GEM staff and partners asked the public for cash donations to be made online at this page. The GEM warehouse at 1850 NW 84th Ave., in Doral, still needs volunteers to help sort and pack donations, and there is a signup page online.

The warehouse, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., was one of the many drop-off locations in South Florida. The high-priority needs included hygiene products, non-perishable foods, and first-aid items.

Helpful list: Aid drop-off locations in South Florida

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