At least 40 Venezuelan butchers were detained last week on charges of allegedly violating government price controls on beef.

According to butchers and wholesalers, government price controls have eliminated profit margins. The recent arrests have prompted some to stop selling beef altogether for fear of ending up behind bars.

Cattle ranchers are also affected as supplies have suffered because price controls and other government policies have kept prices unchanged since 2008, even as inflation is high, sending their costs skyrocketing.

Venezuela was self-sufficient in beef in 2003, but it imported 52% of what it consumed last year, according to the national cattle ranchers' association.

Despite rising demand, the ranchers are raising fewer cattle. The association said the country had 12 million head this year, down from 13.5 million in 1998.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had called on officials to scrutinise distributors and big players in the beef business in a move to clamp down price-control violation.