Ex-Venezuela spy chief “El Pollo” pleads responsible to U.S. drug trafficking fees together with narco-terrorism

Miami — A former Venezuelan spymaster who was near the nation’s late President Hugo Chávez pleaded responsible Wednesday to drug trafficking fees per week earlier than his trial was set to start in a Manhattan federal court docket.

Retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal was extradited from Spain in 2023 after greater than a decade on the run from U.S. legislation enforcement, together with a botched arrest in Aruba whereas he was serving as a diplomat representing present Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s authorities.

Carvajal pleaded responsible in court docket to all 4 felony counts, together with narco-terrorism, in an indictment accusing him of main a cartel made up of senior Venezuelan navy officers that tried to “flood” the U.S. with cocaine in cahoots with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.

In a letter this week to protection counsel, prosecutors stated they consider federal sentencing pointers name for the 65-year-old Carvajal to serve a compulsory minimal of fifty years in jail.

Nicknamed “El Pollo,” Spanish for “the rooster,” Carvajal suggested Chávez for greater than a decade. He later broke with Maduro, Chávez’s handpicked successor, and threw his assist behind the U.S.-backed political opposition – in dramatic trend.

In a recording created from an undisclosed location, Carvajal known as on his former navy cohorts to insurgent a month into mass protests searching for to switch Maduro with lawmaker Juan Guaidó, whom the primary Trump administration acknowledged as Venezuela’s reliable chief as head of the democratically elected Nationwide Meeting.

The hoped-for barracks revolt by no means materialized, and Carvajal fled to Spain. In 2021, he was captured hiding out in a Madrid house after he defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared.

Carvajal’s straight-up responsible plea, with none promise of leniency, could possibly be a part of a bet to win credit score down the road for cooperating with U.S. efforts towards a prime international adversary that sits atop the world’s largest petroleum reserves.

Though Carvajal has been out of energy for years, his backers say he can present probably worthwhile insights on the interior workings of the unfold of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua into the U.S. and spying actions of the Maduro-allied governments of Cuba, Russia, China and Iran.

He might also be angling for President Trump’s consideration with details about voting expertise firm Smartmatic. One among Carvajal’s deputies was a significant participant in Venezuela’s electoral authority when the corporate was getting off the bottom.

Florida-based Smartmatic says its international enterprise was decimated when Fox Information aired false claims by Trump allies that it helped rig the 2020 U.S. election. One of many firm’s Venezuelan founders was later charged within the U.S. in a bribery case involving its work within the Philippines.

Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer in Latin America who oversaw commandos that hunted al-Qaeda, despatched a public letter this week to Mr. Trump urging the Justice Division to delay the beginning of Carvajal’s trial so officers might debrief the previous spymaster.

“He is no angel, he is a really dangerous man,” Berntsen stated in an interview. “However we have to defend democracy.”

Carvajal’s legal professional, Robert Feitel, stated prosecutors introduced in court docket this month that they by no means prolonged a plea supply to his shopper or sought to fulfill with him.

“I feel that was an infinite mistake,” Feitel instructed The Related Press whereas declining additional remark. “He has info that’s terribly necessary to our nationwide safety and legislation enforcement.”

In 2011, prosecutors alleged that Carvajal used his workplace to coordinate the smuggling of roughly 5,600 kilograms (12,300 kilos) of cocaine aboard a jet from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006. In trade, he accepted tens of millions of {dollars} from drug traffickers, prosecutors stated.

He allegedly organized the cargo as one of many leaders of the so-called Cartel of the Suns – a nod to the solar insignias affixed to the uniforms of senior Venezuelan navy officers. The cocaine was sourced by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group and which for years took refuge in Venezuela because it sought to overthrow Colombia’s authorities.

Carvajal “exploited his place because the director of Venezuela’s navy intelligence and deserted his duty to the individuals of Venezuela to be able to deliberately trigger hurt to america,” DEA Appearing Administrator Robert Murphy stated. “After years of attempting to evade legislation enforcement, (he) will now seemingly spend the remainder of his life in federal jail.”

Carjaval’s “responsible plea demonstrates our dedication to holding accountable international officers who abuse their energy to poison our residents,” U.S. Legal professional Jay Clayton was quoted as saying in a Justice Division assertion.