Venezuela is installing some 20,000 fingerprint scanners at supermarkets nationwide in an effort to put a stop to hoarding and panic buying among its citizens.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the government of the South American nation has been "selectively rolling out the rationing system for months at state-run supermarkets along the western border with Colombia," where smuggling of price-related goods is a rampant problem. Seven large private retail chains have already agreed to install the scanners, it added.

Venezuela's government reportedly claimed that the shortages were due to price-controlled goods and the manipulation of the food supply by Colombian smugglers.

"I ask for the comprehension of all of Venezuela, to understand this problem, because there is a lot of manipulation taking place," President Nicolás Maduro said on Saturday, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Last month, owners of supermarket chains and drugstores were arrested for "allegedly artificially creating long queues by not opening enough tills," BBC wrote. Some of those arrested are the executives of pharmacy chain Farmatodo and Día Día CEO José Vicente Aguerrevere, whose stores are situated in poor neighborhoods, New York Times noted.

President Maduro stated that Día Día was "hiding corn flour and cooking oil" in its warehouse, which was found during the takeover, New York Times wrote. Aguerrevere, however, denied the government's charges against his company, insisting that its warehouse had "only three days' supply of basic goods" and that the government does not want to be held responsible for the nation's widespread problem.

New York Times wrote that according to Aguerrevere, "a computerized government system keeps track of and authorizes all shipments to and from the warehouse," so the stored goods in his distribution centers shouldn't be a shocker for the government officials. The company's general director, Manuel Morales, has been charged for sabotaging and destabilizing Venezuela's economy.

"He is illegally detained," said Mr. Aguerrevere, saying that Morales was arrested inside the presidential palace after a meeting with the vice president in charge of food supplies. "It's crazy. He's totally not guilty. It's not fair to his human rights," the New York Times quoted Aguerrevere as saying. Morales could be imprisoned for 10 years.

The lack of available foodstuffs and medicines in the country have caused discontent among the citizens and fueled violent anti-government demonstrations. Falling oil prices and dwindling currency rates since November also contributed to Venezuela's economic crisis, BBC reported. These issues resulted in a "diminished its supply of dollars to buy imported food," BBC further explained.

Some economists, however, claimed that Venezuela's effort to end food shortage is bound to fail, Associated Press reported. The professionals blame "decade-old price controls for destroying local manufacturing," AP wrote, which prompts smugglers to resell goods on the black market to earn big.