In Guyanese localities close to the (contested) border with Venezuela, I witnessed in late 2018 numerous Venezuelans smuggling fuel, which they had bought for almost nothing in their country and sold in Guyana for about US$100 per drum, so they could go back with food and manufactured goods. Venezuela had been suffering a deep crisis for several years, characterized by high inflation and shortages of basic products, but fuel was still available at the time. In previous years, the country had also known another widespread form of small-scale illicit trade, the sale of subsidized food on the interior black market, commonly known as bachaqueo (after bachaco, a term for leafcutter ants, which are known for carrying heavy loads). In both cases, trade was illegal because people were not allowed to resell subsidized goods, intended for domestic consumption only, and certainly not at a price set above the official one and therefore deemed ‘speculative’. Venezuelans were not selling goods that were illicit per se (such as drugs), but rather infringing trade regulations: it therefore represents ‘contraband’ in a broad sense, even though only fuel was exported across an international border.