Latest news with #HugoCarvajal
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Hugo Carvajal: Venezuelan ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terror charges
Venezuela's former head of military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal - also known as "El Pollo", or The Chicken - has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US. US officials accused the 65-year-old of forming part of a drug-smuggling organisation made up of high-ranking members of the Venezuelan guilty plea is the latest twist in Carvajal's demise from feared spymaster to convict via his ignominious arrest in a hideout in Madrid, where he had been spotted despite donning a fake moustache and a who was a close ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, is thought to hold key information about Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro. Carvajal was part of the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) - named after the suns which feature on the lapels of high-ranking officers in the Venezuelan military - according to a statement released by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where Carvajal was due to go on trial in the coming days."For years, he and other officials in the Cartel de Los Soles used cocaine as a weapon - flooding New York and other American cities with poison," the statement added that he partnered with left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in neighbouring Colombia, whom he supplied with weapons and whose cocaine shipments to the US via Venezuela he received millions of dollars in payment in exchange, according to US Attorney Jay Clayton. The fact that Carvajal changed his plea to "guilty" two years after he denied all of the charges brought against him led to speculation he may have reached a deal for a lower sentence in exchange for providing incriminating information about the Maduro's US charged Maduro with "narco-terrorism" five years ago and has imposed sanctions on him and his inner circle. As former spy chief, Carvajal is thought to have access to a wealth of material about the current and past Venezuelan between Carvajal and Maduro soured in 2017, when anti-government protests that Carvajal spoke out in favour of swept the country. They broke down completely in 2019, when Carvajal urged the military to back opposition leader Juan Guaidó's attempt to overthrow Maduro. When the military remained loyal to Maduro, Carvajal fled to several years during which he was on the run, he was finally tracked down to an apartment in Madrid and extradited to the US.
CBS News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Ex-Venezuela spy chief "El Pollo" pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges including narco-terrorism
Miami — A former Venezuelan spymaster who was close to the country's late President Hugo Chávez pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug trafficking charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a Manhattan federal court. Retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal was extradited from Spain in 2023 after more than a decade on the run from U.S. law enforcement, including a botched arrest in Aruba while he was serving as a diplomat representing current Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government. Carvajal pleaded guilty in court to all four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism, in an indictment accusing him of leading a cartel made up of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to "flood" the U.S. with cocaine in cahoots with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia. In a letter this week to defense counsel, prosecutors said they believe federal sentencing guidelines call for the 65-year-old Carvajal to serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison. Nicknamed "El Pollo," Spanish for "the chicken," Carvajal advised Chávez for more than a decade. He later broke with Maduro, Chávez's handpicked successor, and threw his support behind the U.S.-backed political opposition - in dramatic fashion. In a recording made from an undisclosed location, Carvajal called on his former military cohorts to rebel a month into mass protests seeking to replace Maduro with lawmaker Juan Guaidó, whom the first Trump administration recognized as Venezuela's legitimate leader as head of the democratically elected National Assembly. The hoped-for barracks revolt never materialized, and Carvajal fled to Spain. In 2021, he was captured hiding out in a Madrid apartment after he defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared. Carvajal's straight-up guilty plea, without any promise of leniency, could be part of a gamble to win credit down the line for cooperating with U.S. efforts against a top foreign adversary that sits atop the world's largest petroleum reserves. Although Carvajal has been out of power for years, his backers say he can provide potentially valuable insights on the inner workings of the spread of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua into the U.S. and spying activities of the Maduro-allied governments of Cuba, Russia, China and Iran. He may also be angling for Trump's attention with information about voting technology company Smartmatic. One of Carvajal's deputies was a major player in Venezuela's electoral authority when the company was getting off the ground. Former Venezuelan military spy chief, retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, walks out of prison in Estremera on the outskirts of Madrid on Sept. 15, 2019. Manu Fernandez / AP Florida-based Smartmatic says its global business was decimated when Fox News aired false claims by Trump allies that it helped rig the 2020 U.S. election. One of the company's Venezuelan founders was later charged in the U.S. in a bribery case involving its work in the Philippines. Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer in Latin America who oversaw commandos that hunted al-Qaeda, sent a public letter this week to Mr. Trump urging the Justice Department to delay the start of Carvajal's trial so officials could debrief the former spymaster. "He's no angel, he's a very bad man," Berntsen said in an interview. "But we need to defend democracy." Carvajal's attorney, Robert Feitel, said prosecutors announced in court this month that they never extended a plea offer to his client or sought to meet with him. "I think that was an enormous mistake," Feitel told The Associated Press while declining further comment. "He has information that is extraordinarily important to our national security and law enforcement." In 2011, prosecutors alleged that Carvajal used his office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms (12,300 pounds) of cocaine aboard a jet from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006. In exchange, he accepted millions of dollars from drug traffickers, prosecutors said. He allegedly arranged the shipment as one of the leaders of the so-called Cartel of the Suns - a nod to the sun insignias affixed to the uniforms of senior Venezuelan military officers. The cocaine was sourced by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization and which for years took refuge in Venezuela as it sought to overthrow Colombia's government. Carvajal "exploited his position as the director of Venezuela's military intelligence and abandoned his responsibility to the people of Venezuela in order to intentionally cause harm to the United States," DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said. "After years of trying to evade law enforcement, (he) will now likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison."
DW
26-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
US: Ex-Venezuelan general pleads guilty to drug trafficking – DW – 06/26/2025
Hugo Carvajal was extradited to the US from Spain in 2023. The former spy chief pleaded guilty to narcoterrorism, weapons, and drug trafficking charges. A former head of Venezuela's military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a United States federal court. Hugo Carvajal — a close aide of the country's late President Hugo Chavez — on Wednesday pleaded guilty to four criminal counts, including narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges. The indictment accused the retired major general of leading a cartel composed of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to "flood" the US with cocaine in collusion with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia. The 65-year-old faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Carvajal's sentencing is slated for October. Nicknamed "El Pollo," Spanish for "the chicken," Carvajal advised Chavez for over a decade and was considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader's rule. The spymaster later broke with current President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's chosen successor, to support the US-backed political opposition. In 2023, Carvajal was extradited from Spain after being on the run from US law enforcement for more than 10 years. "The deeply troubling reality is that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs that kill and debilitate," Jay Clayton, the interim US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement on Wednesday. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Al Jazeera
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Former Venezuelan spymaster pleads guilty to US drug trafficking charges
A former director of Venezuelan military intelligence has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges in a United States federal court, according to the Justice Department, a week before his trial was set to begin. Hugo Carvajal, who served in the country's late President Hugo Chavez's government from 2004 to 2011, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday to four criminal counts including narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges. Federal prosecutors alleged the former major-general, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan government and military officials, led a drug cartel that attempted to 'flood' the US with cocaine. The cartel partnered with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a now demobilised armed group that the US once considered a 'terrorist' organisation, to produce and distribute cocaine, prosecutors alleged. In a letter this week to the defence counsel, prosecutors said they believe federal sentencing guidelines call for the 65-year-old to serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison. 'The deeply troubling reality is that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs that kill and debilitate,' Jay Clayton, the interim US lawyer in Manhattan, said in a statement. 'El Pollo' Nicknamed 'El Pollo', 'the chicken' in Spanish, Carvajal took part in the failed 1992 coup that lifted Chavez to political prominence and is considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader's 1999-2013 rule. Carvajal then served as a diplomat representing current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government before breaking with him to support the US-backed political opposition. Carvajal was extradited to the US from Spain in July 2023 following a more than 10-year effort by the Justice Department to bring him to US soil. Carvajal's sentencing is scheduled for October.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Venezuela's ex-spymaster pleads guilty to US drug trafficking charges
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A former director of Venezuelan military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges in U.S. federal court, the Justice Department said in a statement. Carvajal, 65, once one of the most powerful figures in the Venezuelan government, pleaded guilty to four criminal counts including narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons charges. He faces a maximum of life in prison. 'The deeply troubling reality is that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs that kill and debilitate,' Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. A lawyer for Carvajal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal prosecutors alleged Carvajal, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan government and military officials, led a drug cartel that coordinated the shipment of tons of cocaine bound for the United States. The cartel partnered with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a now demobilized guerrilla group that the United States once considered a terrorist organization, to produce and distribute cocaine, prosecutors alleged. Carvajal was late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's eyes and ears within the South American country's military for more than a decade. Nicknamed "El Pollo," the chicken, Carvajal took part in the failed 1992 coup that lifted Chavez to political prominence and is considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader's 1999-2013 rule. Carvajal was extradited to the United States from Spain in 2023 following a more than 10-year effort by the Justice Department to bring him to U.S. soil. His sentencing in U.S. court in Manhattan is scheduled for October.
